The French driver Sébastien Ogier, with his co-driver Vincent Landais, has concluded the first day of the Rally Canarias with an advantage of 8.9 seconds. Thus, Toyota has occupied the top five positions in this World Rally Championship (WRC) asphalt event.
Ogier took the lead after winning the second stage, increasing his distance to 5.9 seconds in a morning that saw the cancellation of the third stage. His teammate Oliver Solberg closely battled with him and managed to win the fifth stage by only 0.1 seconds, but Ogier responded in a tight competition in the sixth stage.
In the afternoon, Ogier was able to increase his gap with Solberg, who had no issues with the tires, winning the seventh stage and adding 2 more seconds. In the super special held at the Gran Canaria sports facility, the rally leader improved his time by 0.3 seconds.
Ogier commented on the intense competition: “It’s a very close fight, but that’s how we like it.” He also assured that there are always aspects to improve and that they seek to find the optimal balance.
The other Toyota drivers, Sami Pajari and Elfyn Evans, did not find the right balance and stated that, although they felt good in some stages, the times were not what they expected. Pajari finished in third place in the super special, while Evans expressed his dissatisfaction for not being able to compete at the front.
The Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta, who had started the day leading the standings, could not maintain the necessary pace and ended up fifth, 29.7 seconds behind Ogier. The Hyundai drivers, such as Dani Sordo, struggled to adapt and finished far from the leaders.
In the WRC2 category, the driver Yohan Rossel set an impressive pace, leading his class with a 22-second advantage over local driver Alejandro Cachon, who was competing with a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
The action of the rally will continue on Saturday with six stages totaling 112 competitive kilometers.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
