Evans in front of an attacking Tänak, lucky Ogier 5th

Elfyn Evans, third in the provisional standings at the start of the day, quickly took the reins of Rally Finland, thanks to her four best consecutive times. “It was a good morning for us and I had a good feeling behind the wheel. We just tried to keep a good pace”, explained the pilot at midday. “I am positive, but there is a big afternoon ahead of us” , he warned before resuming his seat in his Toyota .

But the Estonian Ott Tänak did not make the rest easy: the author of the first three scratch times of the afternoon was determined to scavenge as much as possible seconds, first on his teammate, the Irishman Craig Breen, ousted from his second place in the afternoon (SS12). “I tried to put as much pressure as possible on Elfyn and if he wins in the end then at least he will deserve the victory” , declared the Hyundai driver, delighted with this battle against the Toyotas.

After 15 special stages, Ott Tänak is 9 sec 1/10 behind Evans. Craig Breen is third, almost 20 seconds behind the leader. With the Finnish Esapekka Lappi, back in the WRC for a freelance and currently fourth with a private Yaris, Elfyn Evans saves the day at Toyota after the retirement of the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta, victim of a crash, and especially the Finnish prodigy Kalle Rovanperä.

Ogier for the Power stage

Le rallye de Finland was to be his rally: Rovanperä, the local of the event, 4th in the provisional standings before the start of SS10 on Saturday morning, saw his podium chances vanish after having made a mistake on the last special of the morning. The crew, who came to get embedded in a pile of gravel by the side of the road, were not injured but the front of the damaged car forced them to retire for the rest of the day. No decision has yet been announced regarding a possible return of Rovanperä on the roads tomorrow.

The Finn’s error will have at least benefited his teammate Sébastien Ogier, 6th in the standings provisional Saturday noon, then 5th after the retirement of Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), victim of a radiator problem on SS14. If he had a difficult first part of the race, the Frenchman seemed against all expectations to have regained confidence on Saturday afternoon, even if the lead of the race, more than a minute away, is out of reach. “ I didn’t really like the start of the rally. Now that the car suits me better, I feel much better to be fast”, he explained.

He was however assessed a penalty of one minute at the end of the day on Saturday for having improperly fastened his helmet in the 12th special, however retaining his 5th square. The Frenchman is now aiming for the final Power Stage which will distribute bonus points to the first five (from 5 to 1).

Ogier, leader of the world championship, mathematically has a first opportunity to afford an eighth world coronation on Sunday, even if the chances are extremely slim. Before Finland, the Toyota driver was 44 points ahead of Elfyn Evans and 50 over Thierry Neuville, who moved away from the title after his retirement. For the rally considered to be the fastest on the calendar and for the first time contested in autumn, four specials (ES16-ES19) remain to be covered on Sunday, including the Power Stage.