Esapekka Lappi plays Turkish tracks

On tracks where the numerous large rocks represent (bad) chances of puncturing and quickly losing ground, Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) showed himself most at ease this Friday morning in Turkey.

The Finn notably set the best time in the longest special of the rally, offering more than 38 km against the clock, allowing him to take the lead of the race after SS3.

The former resident of Toyota Gazoo Racing is ahead after this first loop of Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) by 9″ while Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), disappointed with his lagging performance in SS3, increased the pace in the fourth sector of the event to return to the provisional podium at 13″.

Victim of a puncture in SS2, Sébastien Ogier (Citroen) however, limited the damage, despite an upset strategy, and completed the morning loop in 4th place, 2″1 behind Latvala and 1″5 ahead of Teemu Suninen (M-Sport Ford).

Ogier is the best placed of the contenders for the world title, since Ott Tänak (Toyota), who opened the road this morning, is only in 6th place at 21″6 from Lappi (6″5 from Ogier), Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), not satisfied with his i20 Coupe WRC, being relegated to 8″6 behind Tänak.

Followed by Kris Meeke (Toyota), Dani Sordo (Hyundai), victim of a puncture in SS2, as well as Pontus Tidemand, whose return to the WRC category is rather difficult, with a delay of 1'50"8 on Lappi.

In WRC 2 Pro, the punctures and the rollover of Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo), as well as the puncture of Gus Greensmith (Ford Fiesta R5) offer an avenue to Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo), wide leader with 2 '25” margin.

But the Czech is not the most prominent driver in the R5 category, since Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda Fabia R5) is the best in the general classification, with a provisional 11th place, 28″3 ahead of Kopecky, who however lost some time. time after seeing Greensmith leave in front of him after his puncture.

Ranking after ES4:

The Rally of Turkey will resume at 13:17 p.m., with the second loop to be followed live and in full with our live text.