WRC Estonia: Untouchable Rovanpera wins nine stages in a row

The reigning world champion delivered his best display of the season to date to transform a 3.0s overnight advantage into a 34.9s over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.

Neuville lost 6.5s to a slow puncture during the morning loop but was unable to match the pace of the Toyota driver.

Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi will head into Sunday with a 7.3s margin over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans after an intense battle over third that ebbed and flowed over the day.

Teemu Suninen ended the day in a lonely fifth (+1m41.5s) on his Rally1 debut ahead of M-Sport’s Pierre-Louis Loubet (+2m25.5s), Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta (+2m32.5s), and home hero Ott Tanak, who recovered to eighth (+5m55.2s) after starting the day in 11th position.

After a clean sweep of the morning’s four stages, Rovanpera’s relentless pace showed no signs of abating when the action resumed on Saturday afternoon.

The Toyota driver notched up his fifth consecutive fastest time in Stage 13 (Elva 11.73km) with a time 3.6s faster than his nearest rival Neuville. It was a result that came as a surprise to the rally leader.

"I was sure that for the first time today it was not a good time. I was not pushing much, for sure the driving was clean, but I felt like I left some time in there,” said Rovanpera.

Lappi was only 0.2s slower than team-mate Neuville but crucially the Finn was 0.6s quicker than Evans to edge further clear in the fight for third overall.

Outside of the battle for the podium places, Tanak’s pass through the stage was hampered by a steering rack issue that he claimed stemmed from mistake made during the midday service. He was able to rectify the geometry of his Puma before stage 14 (Kanepi, 16.48km).

Rovanpera extended his stage winning streak in Kanepi with yet another mesmerising performance. Neuville had posted a benchmark that seemed a contender to challenge for a stage win before Rovanpera blew that out of the water by 3.8s to extend his rally lead to 27.7s.

Lappi once again had the edge over Evans to put 3.7s between himself and the Welshman as the fight for third overall continued.

Pierre-Louis Loubet, Nicolas Gilsoul, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1 (Photo by: M-Sport)

There was however drama for Loubet and Katsuta, who were involved in a battle for fifth overall.

Loubet was forced to complete the stage without hybrid power which helped Katsuta the gap between the pair to 6.7s. Loubet was able to see assistance to restore his hybrid power at the following regroup.

Although as Katsuta reached the stage end there was panic etched over his face when his GR Yaris appeared to be stuck in stage mode, before the car lost power completely at the time control.

Luckily he was able to fire the car up again after he and co-driver Aaron Johnston pushed the car out of the control zone.

Katsuta was back up to speed for stage 15 after revealing that he had suffered myriad of issues including an intercom problem that prompted the Japanese to switch crash helmets with Johnston. But it was his rally leading team-mate Rovanpera that continued to claim the headlines in the second pass through Elva.

Completely at ease behind the wheel, Rovanpera went on to score his ninth stage win of the event to open up a 30.9s lead over Neuville, who was 10s clear of third-placed Lappi.

The yo-yo battle between Evans and Lappi for third swung back in the former’s direction as the gap came down to 2.7s. Evans was able to take a second out of Lappi, who was visibly distraught with his effort having “pushed like hell” in the test.

However, Lappi dug deep to fight back on the following test, Stage 16, to post a time 2.9s faster than Evans to push the margin back out to 5.6s.

It was Rovanpera at the top of the timesheets as he continued his masterclass display by racking up an eighth stage win in a row by 2.7s from Neuville, who had a brief glance with an embankment during his run.

Rovanpera completed a clean sweep of Saturday’s stages by taking the final super special of the day by 0.9s. Lappi was Rovanpera’s nearest rival on the 3.35km short blast as the former put another 1.7s between him and Evans in the fight for the final podium.

Four more stages await the crews on Sunday.

WRC Estonia Saturday results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

     

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver/Codriver	#		Car	Class	Penalty	Total Time	Interval
1	W. Creighton William Creighton L. Regan Liam Regan Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	52		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		1:51'24.6
2	K. Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä J. Halttunen Jonne Halttunen Toyota Racing	69		Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	RC1		+11'04.7	11'04.7
3	T. Neuville Thierry Neuville M. Wydaeghe Martijn Wydaeghe Hyundai Motorsport	11		Hyundai i20 N Rally1	RC1		+11'38.3	33.6
4	E. Lappi Esapekka Lappi J. Ferm Janne Ferm Hyundai Motorsport	4		Hyundai i20 N Rally1	RC1		+11'49.2	10.9
5	O. Tanak Ott Tanak M. Jarveoja Martin Jarveoja M-Sport	8		Ford Puma Rally1	RC1		+11'53.5	4.3
6	E. Evans Elfyn Evans S. Martin Scott Martin Toyota Racing	33		Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	RC1		+11'54.8	1.3
7	T. Suninen Teemu Suninen M. Markkula Mikko Markkula Hyundai Motorsport	3		Hyundai i20 N Rally1	RC1		+12'42.3	47.5
8	P. Loubet Pierre-Louis Loubet N. Gilsoul Nicolas Gilsoul M-Sport	7		Ford Puma Rally1	RC1		+13'18.0	35.7
9	T. Katsuta Takamoto Katsuta A. Johnston Aaron Johnston Toyota Racing	18		Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	RC1		+13'31.0	13.0
10	B. Korhola Benjamin Korhola P. Kelander Pekka Kelander Rautio Motorsport	50		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+14'55.9	1'24.9
11	O. Solberg Oliver Solberg E. Edmondson Elliott Edmondson	20		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+17'30.7	2'34.8
12	A. Mikkelsen Andreas Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Torstein Eriksen Toksport WRT 3	23		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+18'36.0	1'05.3
13	S. Pajari Sami Pajari E. Mälkönen Enni Mälkönen Toksport WRT	24		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+18'51.1	15.1
14	G. Greensmith Gus Greensmith J. Andersson Jonas Andersson Toksport WRT 3	21		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+19'04.7	13.6
15	E. Lindholm Emil Lindholm R. Hämäläinen Reeta Hämäläinen Hyundai Motorsport N	22		Hyundai i20 N Rally2	RC2		+19'42.5	37.8
16	M. Bulacia Marco Bulacia D. Vallejo Diego Vallejo Toksport WRT	27		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+20'24.9	42.4
17	R. Virves Robert Virves C. Drew Craig Drew	26		Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2		+20'35.0	10.1
18	M. Marczyk Mikołaj Marczyk S. Gospodarczyk Szymon Gospodarczyk	29		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+20'41.5	6.5
19	E. Kaur Egon Kaur J. Viilo Jakko Viilo	25		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+20'55.0	13.5
20	J. McErlean Josh McErlean J. Fulton James Fulton Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	31		Hyundai i20 N Rally2	RC2		+21'57.3	1'02.3
21	E. Fernández Emilio Fernández B. Rozada Borja Rozada	36		Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	RC2		+22'40.2	42.9
22	B. Bulacia Bruno Bulacia A. Coronado Axel Coronado	35		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+22'58.3	18.1
23	R. Korhonen Roope Korhonen A. Viinikka Anssi Viinikka Rautio Motorsport	47		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+27'15.3	4'17.0
24	G. Munster Grégoire Munster L. Louka Louis Louka	58		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+28'06.6	51.3
25	K. Kasari Kaspar Kasari R. Raidma Rainis Raidma	38		Škoda Fabia R5	RC2		+28'10.1	3.5
26	L. Pellier Laurent Pellier K. Bronner Kévin Bronner	54		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+28'12.2	2.1
27	T. Herranen Toni Herranen M. Lukka Mikko Lukka	48		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+29'12.5	1'00.3
28	D. Jr. Diego Jr. R. Penate Rogelio Penate	53		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+30'15.4	1'02.9
29	A. Villanueva Alexander Villanueva J. Murado José Murado	39		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+31'02.6	47.2
30	G. Linnamäe Georg Linnamäe J. Morgan James Morgan	28		Hyundai i20 N Rally2	RC2		+31'17.3	14.7
31	A. Türkkan Ali Türkkan B. Erdener Burak Erdener Castrol Ford Team Türkiye	49		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+31'24.1	6.8
32	F. Kohn Filip Kohn T. Woodburn Tom Woodburn	62		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+33'01.2	1'37.1
33	A. Zavaleta Alejandro Zavaleta D. Sanjuan Diego Sanjuan	60		Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	RC2		+34'23.6	1'22.4
34	A. Kremer Armin Kremer E. Kremer Ella Kremer	40		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+35'32.9	1'09.3
35	P. Koik Priit Koik K. Tamm Kristo Tamm	37		Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	RC2		+36'10.6	37.7
36	M. Miele Mauro Miele L. Beltrame Luca Beltrame	41		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2	RC2		+37'30.0	1'19.4
37	R. Jürgenson Romet Jürgenson S. Oja Siim Oja Team Estonia Autosport	65		Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4		+37'43.2	13.2
38	R. Jr. Roberto Jr. M. Barreiro Mauro Barreiro	55		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+37'53.7	10.5
39	H. Anwar Hamza Anwar A. Kihurani Alexander Kihurani	59		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+40'12.1	2'18.4
40	B. Cumiskey Brendan Cumiskey A. Kierans Arthur Kierans	51		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+40'54.1	42.0
41	F. Zaldivar Fabrizio Zaldivar M. Der Ohannesian Marcelo Der Ohannesian Hyundai Motorsport N	30		Hyundai i20 N Rally2	RC2		+43'05.6	2'11.5
42	T. Rensonnet Tom Rensonnet L. Dumont Loïc Dumont RACB National Team	56		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+43'19.1	13.5
43	J. Martínez Jorge Martínez A. Alvarez Alberto Alvarez	34		Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	RC2		+46'08.8	2'49.7
44	L. Cobbe Luciano Cobbe R. Mometti Roberto Mometti	45		Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	RC2		+46'39.3	30.5
45	E. Kelly Eamonn Kelly C. Mohan Conor Mohan Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	57		Ford Fiesta Rally3	RC3		+1:03'49.0	17'09.7
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