Ogier comes out on top amid major weather chaos at Rally Finland

Elfyn Evans, who leads the World Championship standings, is in second place, 16.3 seconds behind. With Sami Pajari (+26.7 seconds) and Oliver Solberg (+41.3 seconds) in third and fourth places respectively, a quartet of Toyotas are leading the way at the legendary high-speed gravel rally.

Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, who stepped in as co-driver for the occasion, won three of the four forest special stages this morning. The French duo coped best with a very challenging afternoon around Jyväskylä, characterised by torrential rain, standing water and rapidly deteriorating visibility.

Wasser, Marsch: Oliver Solberg

Foto: XPB

Evans was able to capitalise on his rivals’ difficulties and climbed from fifth to second place after ten of the 20 special stages.

On Thursday evening, after SS1, Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) had still been in the lead.

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However, nine-time world champion Ogier immediately took the lead today with a commanding run through Laukaa, setting the fastest time. He added further stage wins at Sydänmaa and Hoho and reached the midday service with a 5.3-second lead over Fourmaux, whilst Pajari was just 2.7 seconds further back.

At first, it looked as though a close three-way battle would develop in the afternoon. Pajari won the second run through Laukaa and cut Ogier’s lead to 5.4 seconds. Then, however, the situation in the rally changed dramatically when heavy rain set in on Saarikka.

Evans, who as the World Championship leader was first to take to the stage, was in luck. When he set off, the rain wasn’t yet particularly heavy, so he was able to capitalise on this to set the fastest time. For those driving behind him, however, conditions deteriorated rapidly and dramatically: Fourmaux lost almost 90 seconds. Solberg fell 55.6 seconds behind and complained of water seeping into his Toyota.

Meanwhile, Ogier managed to limit his deficit to Evans to just 6.5 seconds and – crucially – lost only 2.1 seconds to his nearest rival, Pajari.

“That’s just how the weather is,” commented Ogier on the misfortune of his closest rivals.

The following Sydänmaa special stage provided further excitement. Ogier survived a violent crash into a ditch but was able to carry on, and was still 30.2 seconds faster than Pajari.

The young Finn was hampered by a misted-up windscreen after the fan had failed.

Ogier thus took a comfortable lead into the final forest special stage and the super special stage on Friday evening. He rounded off a day in which he had perfectly combined sheer speed with calculated risk.

“It was a very good day,” Ogier summed up. “This afternoon was very tricky and probably not particularly pleasant for anyone. It’s good that we’ve got through this difficult day.”

Hyundai-Pilot Adrien Fourmaux verlor die Führung vom Donnerstag

Foto: XPB

Evans’ second place marked another strong comeback given his difficult starting position. The Welshman had been the first to tackle the special stages all day and had briefly ended up in the bushes on the first run through Hoho. However, he was able to use the difficult conditions to his advantage to overtake Pajari.

“The morning didn’t go too badly for us, but the afternoon was a bit of a gamble. I’m glad we got through it,” explained Evans.

Pajari remains in contention for the podium, though he admitted that his hopes of victory had suffered a setback.

“We lost the battle for victory on the Sydänmaa special stage when the fan stopped working and the windscreen was completely fogged up,” grumbled the Toyota youngster.

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Foto: XPB

Oliver Solberg finished fourth, 41.3 seconds behind the leader, after regaining his confidence in the afternoon. The Swede is 14.6 seconds behind Pajari and 23.6 seconds ahead of Martiņ Sesks, who emerged from today’s chaos in fifth place as the highest-placed M-Sport Ford driver.

Fourmaux (Hyundai) dropped from second to sixth place after being caught out by the heaviest rain. Josh McErlean managed to finish the stage in seventh place in the M-Sport Ford, despite a heavily fogged-up windscreen.

Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) experienced what he himself described as a “disastrous day” and lies in eighth place, just ahead of Thierry Neuville. The Belgian Hyundai driver lost almost three minutes after hitting a hidden rock on the morning’s Hoho stage, damaging the front left suspension of his Hyundai.

Wasserspiele: Martins Sesks, bester M-Sport Ford-Pilot

Foto: XPB

Esapekka Lappi and Jon Armstrong were the day’s unluckiest drivers. Lappi will not be able to compete for the rest of the rally after his Hyundai sustained significant damage to the roll cage in a crash on the Sydänmaa stage. The Irishman Jon Armstrong got stuck in a ditch with his Ford Puma on the Saarikas stage.

The leading WRC2 driver is Robert Virves (Škoda), ahead of the two Toyota drivers Roope Karhonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.

Robert Virves (Skoda) führt die WRC2-Wertung an

Foto: XPB

On Saturday, the programme features two runs each on the Parkola, Päijälä, Västilä and Leustu stages, with a further 123.3 special stage kilometres to be covered.