On Saturday, Rovanperä once again set the fastest time on the Tejeda – San Mateo special stage. It was his ninth consecutive stage win, meaning the Finn has been fastest on every stage of the rally so far.
Rovanperä has so far driven a completely flawless rally, leaving others only able to marvel at the Finn’s pace. This time Sébastien Ogier was 8.4 seconds adrift of Rovanperä’s benchmark.
“This felt really nice. It was a bit similar to a stage we had yesterday. Just pure circuit driving,” Rovanperä summed up.
Rovanperä then let slip a comment that is sure to dishearten his rivals.
“I wasn’t even pushing at all. The pace notes are working and the car is working extremely well, and I’m in a good flow state at the moment,” Rovanperä continued.
Sébastien Ogier heard Kalle’s split times, and it even amused the Frenchman slightly.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter anymore,” Ogier laughed.
Rovanperä is completely in a class of his own. The other Toyotas are following in a very tight group. Takamoto Katsuta was 8.6 seconds off Rovanperä’s time, and Elfyn Evans 8.9 seconds. Sami Pajari lost 9.8 seconds to Rovanperä.
After this group, the gaps grew significantly larger. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux was once again the best of his team, but even he was 13.6 seconds behind Rovanperä’s time.
Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak are still lost. Tänak’s performance, in particular, has been very poor. He lost 24.1 seconds to Rovanperä and his pace has now dropped to the level of M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä’s lead grew even further. The Finn has now left Ogier trailing by 36.9 seconds and Evans by 53 seconds. Sami Pajari continues in fourth place, but is already well over a minute behind the leader.
At Rally Islas Canarias, four more special stages will be run on Saturday. The competition will conclude on Sunday.
Rally Islas Canarias standings after SS9/18:
| Sija | Kuljettaja | Talli | Aika |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:45:45.4 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +36.9 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +53.0 |
| 4. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:16.9 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:26.0 |
| 6. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +1:39.7 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:47.5 |
| 8. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2:01.8 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:16.4 |
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
