Friday Crash-fest 💥 Carnage at Rally Finland
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Defending champion rolls out of contention whilst leading his home rally.
Elfyn Evans was catapulted into the lead of Secto Rally Finland when team-mate Kalle Rovanperä’s golden streak came to an abrupt halt during Friday’s opening leg.
Home hero Rovanperä, who carried a commanding 55-point lead into this ninth FIA World Rally Championship round, reeled off five consecutive benchmark times in a Toyota GR Yaris and headed chasing colleague Evans by 5.7sec approaching the day’s seventh stage in Myhinpää.
But a rare mistake 11.1km after the start brought a disastrous end to the defending world champion’s day when he lost control of his GR Yaris and rolled end-over-end. Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen emerged from the wreckage unscathed despite the force of the impact being strong enough to tear a rear wheel from the car.
Evans, currently second in the points, inherited the top spot from his stranded team-mate and negotiated the remaining two stages error-free to head Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by a mere 6.9sec overnight.
Leading positions after Friday:
1. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris 51m 34.4s
2. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +6.9s
3. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +16.4s
4. T Suninen / M Markkula FIN Hyundai i20 N +28.8s
5. J-M Latvala / J Hänninen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +1m 23.7s
6. J Huttunen / A Haapala FIN Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +3m 14.1s
#WRC #RallyFinland
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