WRC – Finland: Neuville and Ogier in the lead, Latvala falls

The first step of Rally of Finland offers few kilometers with only 45km timed, but the start of the event has already seen some twists and turns. Jari-Matti Latvala hit a stone on the second Torittu stage, damaging his left rear suspension. The Finn was able to repair on the connecting course, but he can no longer keep up with the pace of the leaders and loses many minutes which are added to his penalty of 4'40 inflicted for starting late on the third course (Koukunmaa ).

Thierry Neuville On the other hand, he made an impressive start to the event. If the Qatar WRT resident assures that he is not on the attack and that his notes must be reworked, the Belgian is nevertheless in the lead after having signed the scratch in the second special. Sébastien Ogier is also at the forefront since his two scratches allow him to rise to the same level as the driver M-Sport and share the first provisional position. Mikko Hirvonen is moving at a good pace, only being one second behind. Mads Ostberg follows the Finn at 1”8, while Evgeny Novikov completes the top five at five seconds.

Andreas Mikkelsen is in sixth place, ten seconds from the lead of the race. The Norwegian is 1”5 ahead of Kris Meeke’s Citroën. Juho Hänninen follows a second behind in his Ford. Dani Sordo is only in ninth place, almost 14 seconds behind the car in front of him. The Spaniard is in difficulty at the wheel of his Citroën and is impatiently awaiting the end-of-stage service. Jari Ketomaa completes the top ten with his Fiesta R5 with which he leads the WRC2. Hayden Paddon already follows at more than 13 seconds while Elfyn Evans completes the category trifecta at one second. Robert Kubica follows less than five seconds behind. Alastair Fisher leads WRC3 with a 10”8 lead over Cronin.

The second pass of the Torittu and Himos stages will be carried out from 16:34 p.m. French time. The stage will end at 19:30 p.m. with the 2km Killeri super special.