Rovanperä pulled off an impressive feat by setting the fastest time on each of the morning’s special stages. On SS3, he beat his Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier by a margin of two seconds.
Despite the dominant run, Rovanperä was slightly self-critical at the end of the third stage.
“It was a really good loop, but the last stage wasn’t that great. I should have pushed harder to get a better feeling from the tyres. They weren’t working well at the start,” Rovanperä admitted.
“We’ll need to see if we can get the tyres working properly on the second pass,” added the Finnish Toyota star.
Rovanperä leads the Canarian asphalt rally by 17.8 seconds ahead of Ogier. Toyota currently holds a 1-2-3 position, with championship leader Elfyn Evans sitting third, 20 seconds off the lead.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux is the best-placed non-Toyota driver in fourth, already more than half a minute behind Rovanperä. Hot on his heels is Sami Pajari in fifth, after an encouraging start to his rally.
Pajari set the fourth-fastest time on SS3, closing the gap to Fourmaux to just 0.2 seconds.
“The morning’s been pretty okay. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but it’s felt good. With a better flow, we could go even quicker,” said Pajari.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta climbed to sixth overall, edging ahead of Hyundai star Ott Tänak. Both Tänak and his team-mate Thierry Neuville struggled badly throughout the morning loop.
Hyundai’s Rally1 car lacked pace, leaving its lead drivers frustrated and confused.
“Honestly, it’s not enjoyable and it’s just not working. I can’t take any line. Nothing is working,” Neuville said.
“It’s just general trouble we’re having somehow. The engineers have no idea what’s happening,” Tänak added.
After three stages, Tänak trails Rovanperä by 42.9 seconds, with Neuville a further 2.5 seconds adrift.
Friday’s itinerary at Rally Islas Canarias continues with three more stages after the midday service. The event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Islas Canarias standings after SS2/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 35:22.0 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +17.8 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +20.2 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +34.2 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +34.4 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +39.3 |
| 7. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +42.9 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +45.4 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:08.1 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +1:25.8 |
Rally Islas Canarias itinerary (CET):
Thursday 24 April
10:01 SS1 Shakedown: Santa Brígida (6.26 km)
Friday 25 April
09:03 SS1 Valsequillo - Telde 1 (26.32 km)
10:49 SS2 Velleseco - Artenara 1 (15.27 km)
12:25 SS3 La Aldea - Mogán 1 (17.83 km)
14:35 Service
16:18 SS4 Valsequillo - Telde 2 (26.32 km)
18:04 SS5 Velleseco - Artenara 2 (15.27 km)
19:40 SS6 La Aldea - Mogán 2 (17.83 km)
Saturday 26 April
09:05 SS7 Moya - Gáldar 1 (24.09 km)
10:48 SS8 Arucas - Firgas - Teror 1 (13.75 km)
11:58 SS9 Tejeda - San Mateo 1 (23.30 km)
13:40 Service
16:05 SS10 Moya - Gáldar 2 (24.09 km)
17:48 SS11 Arucas - Firgas - Teror 2 (13.75 km)
18:58 SS12 Tejeda - San Mateo 2 (23.30 km)
21:35 SS13 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1.80 km)
Sunday 27 April
09:10 SS14 Agüimes - Santa Lucía 1 (14.97 km)
10:05 SS15 Maspalomas 1 (13.47 km)
11:35 SS16 Costa Canaria (1.50 km)
12:21 SS17 Agüimes - Santa Lucía 2 (14.97 km)
14:15 SS18 Maspalomas 2 (13.47 km) *Power Stage
