Rovanperä escapes at the head of Rally Finland, Ogier second after Evans' setbacks

• Kalle Rovanperä is on a mission: the Finn has never won at home, but he intends to resolve this anomaly this weekend! After thirteen special stages, the reigning double world champion is still in the lead, with a nice lead of 21″9 over Sébastien Ogier and 58″3 on Thierry Neuville.
• The pilot Toyota especially took advantage of the misadventures of Elfyn Evans this Saturday morning to escape at the head of the Rally from Finland. The Welshman, Kalle Rovanperä's closest pursuer at the dawn of this second day of racing, lost everything in SS12, victim of a problem with his driveshaft. Slowing down in the last passage of the morning, the long and legendary Ouninpohja special, the vice-world champion fell to 8th place in the general classification.
• This naturally benefited Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville, who gained one position. The Belgian, the only survivor of the clan Hyundai Friday, secures his position without really being dangerous against the two Toyota drivers. A third place would already be an excellent result after a catastrophic start to the weekend for the Korean clan.
• Adrien fourmaux also, gained a position following Elfyn Evans' problems. The Frenchman, who must fight with a difficult-to-drive Ford Puma, is in 4th place but a good distance from the podium, 28 seconds behind Thierry Neuville.
• An abandonment to note this Saturday morning: that of Grégoire Munster. The Ford driver M-Sport saw his day quickly end after the first kilometers of SS11, the first special stage of the morning. The Belgian, who races under a Luxembourg license, destroyed his mount in a fatal exit from the track, losing the rear of his Puma in a rapid left turn.

Disaster for Grégoire & Louis! 🤯

Caught out by the grip and managing to roll.. Crew okay but that is Saturday over for the crew 🥹. pic.twitter.com/6YKXZ4K1Hg

- M-Sport (@MSportLtd) August 3, 2024

• In WRC2, Oliver Solberg still leads the Rally Finland ahead of the inexhaustible Jari-Matti Latvala! The Swede is 18 seconds ahead of the record holder for starts in WRC.

Rally Finland
General ranking after ES13

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