Rovanperä is on track for a conditional 18-point haul before Sunday’s stages. Toyota’s 1-2 is completed by Sebastien Ogier, who is a substantial 44.2 seconds behind Rovanperä. The Finnish star capped off his day with a commanding fastest time on Ouninpohja. Rovanperä set the fastest time on five of the six stages of the day.
“I had one big moment this morning and I thought I’d back off. When you know the stage once it is a hell of a difference. We took it easy in the rough part, just tried to enjoy myself,” Rovanperä summed up.
“It was an insanely cool day. The stages have been incredibly nice, but the weather has been really tough. We tried to enjoy it and drive fast. It’s not like there’s a fire under us tomorrow,”
Toyota’s Rally1 debutant Sami Pajari, who is fifth in the competition, performed excellently on the second run of Ouninpohja. Ahead of Pajari in the standings are M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who is holding onto the last podium spot.
“It was amazing, I had a clean and good stage. For the moment, I feel like I can’t go much faster than that. I enjoyed it a lot. That’s a proper stage,” Pajari said.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, who had already retired once on Friday, faced problems again on the second run of Ouninpohja. In the morning, Lappi suffered a puncture, and the same fate befell him in the afternoon. The right front tyre burst mid-drive without any major impact.
“The tyre’s surface exploded in fifth gear. Quite a bang, and the steering bent at the same time. Probably drove too fast. The splits were okay until then, and the car felt good. We’re not fighting for anything, so it doesn’t matter,” Lappi explained.
Oliver Solberg continues to lead the WRC2 class, with nearly a 50-second advantage over Toyota’s team principal Jari-Matti Latvala. Latvala spun on the stage, losing a lot of time.
“Stupid from my side, I was coming very fast to the downhill braking, braking slightly too late and we lost the speed, I thought to let it spin so we let it spin and had to pull the handbrake. Luckily everything is okay,” Latvala noted.
On Sunday, Rally Finland has four more special stages, with Sahloinen-Moksi and Laajavuori stages being run twice. These stages total only 41.66 kilometers.
The top seven drivers on the final day of the rally will earn WRC points, as will the top five finishers on the Power Stage.
Rally Finland standings after SS16/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:03:53.8 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +44.2 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:23:8 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:49.7 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2:19.2 |
| 6. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +7:32.4 |
| 7. | Jari-Matti Latvala | Toyota | +8:20.0 |
| 8. | Lauri Joona | Skoda | +8:52.4 |
| 9. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +9:04.8 |
Rally Finland Itinerary
Thursday 1.8. 09.01 Shakedown: Ruuhimäki (4.12 km) 18.05 SS1: Harju 1 (3.48 km) Friday 2.8. 07.13 SS2: Laukaa 1 (17.96 km) 08.20 SS3: Saarikas 1 (15.93 km) 09.35 SS4: Myhinpää 1 (15.51 km) 11.05 SS5: Ruuhimäki 1 (7.76 km) 14.10 SS6: Laukaa 2 (17.96 km) 15.17 SS7: Saarikas 2 (15.93 km) 16.32 SS8: Myhinpää 2 (15.51 km) 18.05 SS9: Ruuhimäki 2 (7.76 km) 19.05 SS10: Harju 2 (2.01 km) Saturday 3.8. 08.05 SS11: Västilä 1 (18.94 km) 09.05 SS12: Päijälä 1 (20.19 km) 10.05 SS13: Ouninpohja 1 (32.98 km) 14.35 SS14: Västilä 2 (18.94 km) 15.35 SS15: Päijälä 2 (20.19 km) 16.35 SS16: Ouninpohja 2 (32.98 km) Sunday 4.8. 07.55 SS17: Sahloinen-Moksi 1 (14.27 km) 09.05 SS18: Laajavuori 1 (4.35 km) 10.17 SS19: Sahloinen-Moksi 2 (24.27 km) 12.15 SS20: Laajavuori 2 (8.77 km)* Power Stage
