Rovanperä set the fastest time on the Sahloinen-Moksi special stage, beating his teammate Elfyn Evans by four-tenths of a second. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi was the third fastest, one second behind Rovanperä.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä holds a substantial lead of 45.6 seconds over Sébastien Ogier. With his excellent run in the morning, Rovanperä is also leading the Super Sunday sprint competition.
“It wasn’t an easy stage, quite slippery at times. It’s not easy because I don’t want to mess anything up. This year, Sunday’s points are important for the team, so I have to push a bit. This stage was definitely a proper wake-up call,” Rovanperä commented.
Thierry Neuville, third in the overall standings, did not dare to risk it all for extra points with a full attack. Neuville was only sixth fastest on Sahloinen-Moksi, 4.4 seconds behind the top time.
“That’s a big gap. I can’t drive any faster. I would have to take a lot more risks, but I don’t want to take them,” Neuville remarked.
Evans ran into problems on Saturday and didn’t score any conditional championship points. Because of this, the Welshman is fully focused on scoring points in the sprint competition and on the rally-ending Power Stage.
“We have to see what is possible. We drove cleanly. I don’t know if I was brave enough,” Evans said.
Sami Pajari, making his debut in a Toyota Rally1 car, had a major moment on Sunday morning’s opening stage. Pajari went off the road but was able to continue after his “excursion.” However, he lost a significant 16.4 seconds to the fastest time. Pajari remains in fifth place in the rally, behind M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux.
In the WRC2 class, Skoda driver Oliver Solberg continues to lead. Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala is in second place, 38.4 seconds behind Solberg. Lauri Joona is third in the class standings.
There are three special stages left to run in the Rally Finland.
Rally Finland standings after SS17/20:
| POS. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:10.27.4 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +45.6 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:28.2 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:55.8 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2:35.6 |
| 6. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +8:07.6 |
| 7. | Jari-Matti Latvala | Toyota | +8:20.0 |
| 8. | Lauri Joona | Skoda | +9:23.3 |
| 9. | Nikolai Grjazin | Citroen | +9:30.2 |
| 10. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +9:34.9 |
Super Sunday standings:
| POS. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 6:33.6 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +0.4 |
| 3. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +1.0 |
| 4. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +1.4 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2.7 |
| 6. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +4.4 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +6.1 |
Rally Finland Itinerary (CET):
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
