Rovanperä's perfect morning in Greece

Le sans-faute continue pour Kalle Rovanperä. Le Finlandais a écrasé cette matinée en Grèce en signant les 4 scratchs en jeu. Jamais inquiété, le pilote Toyota est paru souriant et détendu à la fin de l’ES9. Une spéciale où il s’est fait une belle frayeur en sortant trop large d’un virage : « I pushed a little too much so I tried to be calmer after that. We were lucky to get out without any problems. » 

During the 10th special, Kalle Rovanperä faced the return of his teammate Sébastien Ogier. But even when the reigning world champion set a great time, the Finn always found a way to be – well – in front. A little more than 6 seconds apart at the finish between the two men.

Starting with 3”2 ahead of his runner-up, Ott Tänak (Hyundai), ce matin, Kalle Rovanperä a maintenant une marge plus confortable. Although he remains 2nd in the standings, the Estonian, who has often complained about the lack of grip on Greek roads, is 39”7 off the lead. The latter must also manage the strong comeback of Sébastien Ogier who is only 3”6 behind him. The Frenchman remained very careful this morning before letting go of the horses in SS10. “ I only focus on myself. Our plan is to score good points for the championship, he admitted. 

Tricolor side always, Adrien fourmaux is 5th just behind Dani Sordo (Hyundai) at 2'44”1 from the leader. The Frenchman hit a barrier in a slow corner and damaged the front right of his car. He is still in the running to secure a Top 5 overall. Pierre-Louis Loubet, for his part, is more cautious after his mishap from the day before. The 2C Competition driver does not take too many risks on roads where changes in grip are very frequent. He is 17'11”9 from the race lead. 

Saturday morning was sunnier for Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Betrayed by their mechanics on Friday, the two drivers tried to make up part of their deficit by attacking in certain special stages. The Belgian clearly explained his strategy: “ We have only one objective left: to seek out the WRC 2 to get into the points ».

In WRC 2, Oliver Solberg and Mads Østberg were able to restart but sail far behind overall. This did not prevent them from achieving, respectively, the best times of SS7 and 8. Overall, the scratch in SS6 allowed Andreas Mikkelsen to regain control of the standings. He is 10”1 ahead of Marco Bulacia, who was more discreet this morning. The two leaders have a comfortable lead over Nikolay Gryazin, relegated to 2'42”7.

The drivers were only allowed 3 special stages because the end of SS10 was canceled after the passage of Kalle Rovanperä, following the dangerous behavior of certain spectators. The special is postponed until this evening after SS12.

Same sentence for WRC 3 where Yohan Rossel is the category leader. First during SS8, he beat all his competitors by 10 seconds. Then, the Citroën driver took advantage of a drop in pace from Chris Ingram, 14″3 behind the Frenchman during SS9, to take the lead in the category. Overall, he is ahead of Chris Ingram by 6”8 and Kajetan Kajetanowicz by 7 seconds. Emil Lindholm, 4th, lost more time, he is 26 seconds behind. 

There are two stages left this afternoon which will start at 15:26 p.m. then at 17:08 p.m. For WRC 2 and 3, the postponement of SS10 will take place from 18:08 p.m.