Rovanperä delivered a dominant performance on Friday afternoon’s opening stage, setting the fastest time in style. It was the Finn’s fourth consecutive stage win, and he now leads the rally by 22.3 seconds over his teammate Sebastien Ogier.
“I’m quite happy. We did small changes in the service and they felt better, we still have room to improve like everyone else,” Rovanperä explained.
Toyota is enjoying a full lockout of the top four, with championship leader Elfyn Evans just 5.4 seconds behind Ogier. Rising Finnish talent Sami Pajari has moved up to fourth place, 3.2 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux. On SS4, Toyota even swept the top five stage times, as Takamoto Katsuta finished fifth.
“Right from the start I didn’t have a good feeling. Felt a bit more slippery,” Evans admitted.
“Much better feeling than in the morning. I felt that the tyre was starting to move already quite a bit, so I was trying to be really, really tidy,” Pajari reflected.
Hyundai’s rally has had a sluggish start in the Canaries. Behind Fourmaux, Katsuta is now just 3.2 seconds off his tail. Ott Tänak holds seventh place, but trails the leader by nearly a full minute. Thierry Neuville is back in eighth, 2.9 seconds behind Tänak.
“We made maybe some improvements, but definitely not enough,” Neuville said with frustration.
Two more stages remain on Friday in the Rally Islas Canarias. The event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Islas Canarias standings after SS4/18:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 51:01.9 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +22.3 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +27.7 |
| 4. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +45.6 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +48.8 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +51.9 |
| 7. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +56.9 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +59.8 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:36.1 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +x.xx,x |
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
