Ott Tänak dominates shakedown in Finland

Winner on these famous bumps of the 1000 Lakes in 2018, Ott Tänak will logically be counted among the favorites this weekend in Finland despite its position as opener on the road.

Before managing this factor, the Estonian placed his Toyota Yaris at the forefront of the shakedown Rally of Finland this Thursday morning, achieving the time benchmark on its third pass in 1’53″8.

The championship leader is three tenths ahead of the Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and eight tenths the returning Craig Breen, resident of Hyundai Motorsport this weekend.

Andreas Mikkelsen places third i20 Coupe WRC in fourth position nine tenths ahead of the first Ford Fiesta – M-Sport Ford by Teemu Suninen. Followed by the two Toyota Yaris of Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala and the two Citroën C3s of Sébastien Ogier and Esapekka Lappi.

Gus Greensmith, who replaces Elfyn Evans at M-Sport Ford this weekend, completes the top 10 and the WRC standings ahead of the first WRC-2 of Kalla Rovenperä (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo). Third provisional time in R5 for Pierre-Louis Loubet (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) while Eric Camilli places his Volkswagen Polo R5 in eighth provisional position.

The Rally Finland begins this evening with a short 2,31 km special stage.

Shakedown ranking Rally Finland 2019:

1. Ott Tänak (Toyota Yaris) – 1’53″8
2. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) at 0″3
3. Craig Breen (Hyundai i20) at 0″8
4. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai i20) at 0″9
5. Teemu Suninen (Ford Fiesta) at 1″0
6. Sébastien Ogier (Citroën C3) at 1″2
6.ex Kris Meeke (Toyota Yaris) at 1″2
6.ex Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris) at 1″2
9. Esapekka Lappi (Citroën C3) at 1″5
10. Gus Greensmith (Ford Fiesta) at 3″5