Sebastien Ogier took the FIA WRC Rally Finland win after late dramas to his teammates, which allowed Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux on the podium.
Friday –
Kalle Rovanperä held an 8.0sec Secto Rally Finland lead on Friday night after an action-packed opening leg ended with Toyota GAZOO Racing crews locking out the podium. The two-time world champion Finn, who is yet to win his home round of the FIA World Rally Championship, headed GR Yaris Rally1 team-mate Elfyn Evans after winning four of today’s nine speed tests. Sébastien Ogier rounded out the top three, six-tenths of a second further back.
In stark contrast, rival team Hyundai faced a disastrous day, losing two of its i20 N Rally1 cars to crashes. Title hopeful Ott Tänak was forced out by a roll in SS3, resulting in co-driver Martin Järveoja being taken to hospital for medical checks where he will remain overnight for monitoring. Meanwhile, Esapekka Lappi retired from fourth after hitting a tree which tore the rear suspension from his car. Lappi is expected to restart on Saturday.
Rovanpera overcame excessive oversteer in the early stages to hold a slender lead of 0.2sec over Evans at the day’s midpoint, but he raised the bar on the repeated afternoon loop to widen that gap as the rain-hit tracks became rutted and even more challenging. The omens look good for the 23-year-old as, for the past two years, Friday night’s leader has gone on to win.
Championship leader Thierry Neuville was Hyundai’s last man standing. Climbing the standings after the retirements of his team-mates plus Takamoto Katsuta’s crash on SS5, he held fourth overnight but was hindered by his car’s setup and an overshoot in the morning. The Belgian trailed Ogier by 16.9sec at close of play and, as it stands, is set to see his points buffer over title rival Evans shrink.
The lack of a pre-event test meant Adrien Fourmaux had to adjust the setup of his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 on road sections between stages. Holding fifth with a 42.5sec buffer over Sami Pajari, the Frenchman felt he had made good progress with the car by the end of the leg. Pajari’s day was one of two halves.
Two spins saw the GR Yaris Rally1 debutant end the first stage with a damaged rear wing, forcing him to complete the morning’s remaining tests with significantly reduced aero. However, reinforcing the fact that the WRC’s future looks bright, he and co-driver Enni Mälkönen went on to win the Ruuhimäki stage in the afternoon – their first fastest time at the sport’s top level, coming just a fortnight after fellow Rally1 rookie Mārtiņš Sesks achieved a similar feat in Latvia. Grégoire Munster placed seventh in his Puma ahead of WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg, with Rally2 runners Jari-Matti Latvala and Robert Virves completing the leaderboard.
Saturday –
Kalle Rovanperä is on course to break his Secto Rally Finland victory duck after a stunning run of five stage wins on Saturday left him comfortably clear of the field. The two-time world champion completed the penultimate leg of the four-day event with a 44.2sec advantage over his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 team-mate Sébastien Ogier. Championship leader Thierry Neuville, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1, ended 39.2sec further back in third.
Finland’s fast and furious Friday turned into a super speed Saturday with Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Ogier heading up a Toyota 1-2-3 this morning. But it all went wrong for Evans when his car’s front right driveshaft broke in the blisteringly fast Päijälä test, forcing him to negotiate around 40 kilometres worth of special stages in road mode – losing almost six minutes – before repairs could be made in service.
Rovanperä’s advantage over the now second-placed Ogier had ballooned to over 20sec by the day’s midpoint and he continued his flawless drive despite changeable weather this afternoon, winning all but one stage including both passes of the legendary Ouninpohja. Ogier was not in the mood for taking unnecessary risks and admitted that having not competed here since 2021, he lacked the commitment needed to challenge Rovanperä.
After struggling for pace on Friday, today brought positivity for Neuville and his title aspirations. While Evans, currently third in the driver’s standings, has so far failed to register a score, Neuville’s overnight standing provisionally earns him 13 championship points. Ott Tänak, who was second coming into this round, did not restart following his crash on Friday morning.
Adrien Fourmaux set a similar pace to Neuville on the stages but trailed the Belgian by 25.9sec after struggling to regain time lost to him yesterday. His M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 team-mate Grégoire Munster’s day was over in a blink after the Luxembourger rolled four kilometres into the opening stage. Sami Pajari and co-driver Enni Mälkönen are on course to record a top-five result on their GR Yaris Rally1 debut, with 29.5sec separating the young Finnish pair from Fourmaux. Oliver Solberg led the WRC2 category as well holding sixth overall ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala.
Sunday –
Sébastien Ogier claimed a surprise Secto Rally Finland victory on Sunday after his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Kalle Rovanperä rolled on the event’s penultimate stage while leading. Rovanperä had led for almost every kilometre of this four-day gravel fixture and looked set to end Finland’s seven-year wait for a native winner with a 45.8sec advantage going into the rally’s penultimate stage. However, it all went wrong for the 23-year-old when he clipped a rogue rock, pushing his GR Yaris Rally1 off the line and into a rally-ending roll.
The same stage had earlier served up further drama when Rovanperä’s colleague, Elfyn Evans, also left the road while chasing down Super Sunday points to make up for a broken driveshaft on Friday. On his first Finnish outing since 2021, Ogier was on hand to pick up the pieces and took his 61st WRC victory by 40.1sec from Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver Thierry Neuville. Adrien Fourmaux, driving a Puma Rally1 for M-Sport Ford, filled the final podium spot 34.0sec further back.
Today’s events have shaken up the driver’s championship standings with Ogier, despite missing three rallies earlier this year, now up to second. After Friday retiree Ott Tänak and Evans both scored zero, the pair dropped to third and fourth respectively. But it was Neuville who was the biggest winner in terms of the title race.
Having arrived to Finland with an eight-point lead, the Belgian’s buffer now stands at 27 points while his Hyundai Motorsport team extended its lead over Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship to 20. Fourmaux’s third-place result marked his fourth podium of the season. The Frenchman trailed Neuville by 34.0sec at the final control with Sami Pajari’s Toyota 40.0sec behind.
Pajari, along with co-driver Enni Mälkönen, delivered an impressive drive on his top-flight debut. After a rocky start to the rally, which included two spins resulting in rear wing damage on Friday, the Finnish pair claimed their first-ever WRC stage win at Ruuhimäki on Saturday. Rally2 machinery filled the remainder of the top 10. Oliver Solberg won the WRC2 category and placed fifth overall ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, Lauri Joona, Mikko Heikkilä, Nikolay Gryazin and Georg Linnamäe.
Result: https://www.wrc.com/live-timing?liveTimingMenu=overall_livetiming&stage=FINAL&championshipId=245
[Note: The story is as per press release]