Tänak resists Lappi and Rovanperä, the top 4 in less than 18 seconds!

Nothing is decided yet in Finland, after 14 specials. The gaps in the leading quartet are very tight: between Ott Tänak, premier, et Elfyn Evans, 4e, il n’y a que 17″9 ! Le pilote estonien de chez Hyundai n’a pas eu la tâche facile ce samedi matin. Sous la pression des finlandais de chez Toyota (et aussi de la pluie), le champion du monde 2019 a réussi à conserver la tête du Rally of Finland with a gap of 9″5 on Lappi and 12″9 on Rovanperä. Tänak even set the best time on SS14, the last special stage of the first loop.

The world championship leader was the man of the morning in the Jyväskylä region. No longer having the road to open as was the case on Friday, the young Finn delighted in front of his home crowd, winning SS12 and SS13. Overall, Rovanperä passed his teammate Elfyn Evans, who scored the fastest time on SS11, and now threatens Lappi's 2nd place. Only 3″4 separate the two Finnish teammates.

Breen on the mat, Neuville goes back up

The top four are in their own league in Finland since Thierry Neuville, 5th overall, is almost a minute and a half behind. The Belgian, still behind since the start of the rally, took advantage of the setbacks of Craig Breen pour remonter. Le pilote irlandais, bien placé à l’entame de cette 3e journée, a fortement percuté un talus au sommet d’une crête. Roue arrière droite arrachée, le pilote M-Sport a été contraint à l’abandon, le deuxième de l’épreuve après celui de Solberg vendredi.

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Neuville was even able to overtake Takamoto Katsuta, who was in more difficulty compared to Friday. The Japanese, now 6th overall, made several errors, notably a spin at the end of SS12 which cost him around ten seconds.

Behind, the four remaining M-Sports collect the crumbs. Very far from the pace set by the leaders, the drivers of the British team are relegated to more than two minutes behind Tänak. Currently, it is Pierre-Louis Loubet who is performing best, with 7th place in the Rally Finland standings. Jari Huttunen, the rookie in this event in the Rally1 field, encountered problems with his power steering and lost more time, in the hope of returning to the top 10.

The general classification after SS14: