Perfect start for Evans in Estonia

And if this Rally d’Estonie était enfin le bon pour Elfyn Evans ? Dans le dur depuis le début de la saison où il a enchaîné les malheurs, le pilote Toyota semble cette fois-ci bien taillé pour disputer la victoire aux principales têtes d’affiche du WRC like his teammate Kalle Rovanperä or the local of the event Ott Tänak (Hyundai).

Taking advantage of a better position on the road than his two rivals, the Welshman made a perfect start to this Rally of Estonia. Starting off on the right foot, the 2020 and 2021 world vice-champion left nothing to chance during this first loop. Elfyn Evans has indeed established himself as the strong man by winning the 4 special stages at stake.

In the general classification, this excellent morning performance translates into a lead of 12”5 for Ott Tänak who suffered the blow during the last two special stages of the loop by losing more than 7 seconds. Forced to sweep the road throughout the day, Kalle Rovanperä did rather well despite his position. After 5 SS, the championship leader is lying in wait in 3rd position, 18″7 behind Elfyn Evans.

« It was a good morning overall, savored the leader while remaining measured. The car runs very well and it gives me confidence behind the wheel. We must continue like this this afternoon because nothing is certain for the moment »

Neuville already in retreat, abandonment for Breen

Despite a Hyundai i20 supposed to offer it a good top speed, ideal for the Estonian Rally, Thierry Neuville was discreet this Friday morning. While he confirmed that he was not comfortable with the rear of his car, the Belgian was never able to compete against the leading trio. Lacking pace, the representative of the South Korean firm has already lost a lot of time and is in 4th position, 41 seconds behind Elfyn Evans! The native of Saint-Vith will have to find the right settings during his return to the Service Park if he does not want to be excluded from the fight for victory on Friday.

Although no serious accident took place, a first retirement in this Estonian Rally is to be deplored. This is that of Craig Breen. En sous-virage dans un virage rapide à gauche, le pilote M-Sport n’a rien pu faire pour maintenir sa Ford Puma sur la route terminant sa course sur le bas-côté. Dans l’impossibilité de repartir, l’Irlandais a été contrait de reprendre le chemin en direction du Parc d’Assistance pour mettre un terme à sa journée…

Craig Breen crashes – Rally Estonia

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On the side of the Tricolores, Adrien fourmaux and Pierre-Louis Loubet showed caution this Friday morning. Not wanting to take any risks, the two men from M-Sport chose the insurance card to gain confidence for the 4 afternoon specials. A strategy which logically does not pay off in terms of ranking since they are respectively 6th and 9th, more than a minute behind Elfyn Evans.

General classification after SS5

The complete general classification

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