BERLIN — Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was handed the lead in Rally Finland after team mate Kalle Rovanpera rolled his car out of contention.
Championship leader Rovanpera had been out front but the 22-year-old lost control on a right-hand corner 11.1 km into stage eight, with the car coming to rest on its roof on the side of the track.
Toyota said Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were out of the car and unhurt, with the car missing a rear wheel and too damaged to continue after spectators pushed it back upright.
Evans ended the day 6.9 seconds clear of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, with Toyota’s Japanese Takamoto Katsuta third and a further 9.5 behind.
Rovenpera has a 55 point lead over Evans after eight of 13 rounds but that now looks likely to narrow, providing the Welshman stays out of trouble through the weekend on the fast gravel roads.
M-Sport Ford’s overnight leader Ott Tanak retired in the morning after damaging his car beyond immediate repair on the third stage.
The Estonian, world champion with Toyota in 2019, was fourth in the driver standings going into the ninth of 13 rounds this season.
“Due to impact damage on SS3 (stage three), sadly we have been left with no choice but to retire Ott’s car from Rally Finland,” M-Sport said.
Tanak won the opening stage in Jyvaskyla but had dropped to third before he damaged the car’s engine on the Lankamaa stage and switched to electric mode before stopping.
“It´s a shame we can´t continue but the car is too damaged for us to carry on,” said Tanak, who suffered a five minute penalty for a change of engine in his home Estonia round last month.
