Almost two endless months have passed since the ‘Rally1’ engines died at Rally Sweden. Nearly eight weeks in which the WRC has lived submerged in a break that is not usual and that has fueled the desire for action. However, Rally Croatia has started the same way the Swedish event ended, with the leader as its proper name. In fact, Kalle Rovanperä has been the fastest driver in the shakedown of the Rally of Croatia and sends a warning to navigators on the asphalt of the Central European country.
The first contact of the WRC drivers with the slippery Croatian asphalt has been of great benefit, since the section chosen for the shakedown is a true reflection of what will be seen in the rally’s twenty specials. With this in mind, the work has been intense and the leader has laid the law on him. With a time of 1:52.5 in the third and last of his passes through the stage, Kalle Rovanperä has closed the shakedown at the top of the time table after beating Thierry Neuville by one tenth.
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It is true that the Belgian has completed four attempts with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, but for the moment Toyota seems to have the upper hand. With everything, equality in shakedown has been manifest, since Ott Tänak was third with the second of the Hyundais, eight tenths behind Rovanperä. For its part, Craig Breen was fourth in the Ford Puma Rally1 after finishing 1.3 seconds behind the leader. The ‘top 5’ has been completed by Esapekka Lappi after tracing Breen’s time, both on their third run.
In a scenario with low-grip roads, numerous ridges, and fairly low temperatures, the small details have been key and Kalle Rovanperä’s leadership can be understood from the Finn’s tests with Pirelli. Among other things because the Esapekka Lappi or Elfyn Evans have had more problems to lower that last tenth per kilometer which in the case of the Welshman has taken him to seventh position after setting the same time as Oliver Solberg -sixth- and Gus Greensmith -eighth-.
The ‘top 10’ have been completed by Pierre-Louis Loubet and Takamoto Katsuta. In the case of the Frenchman, the shakedown has served to reaffirm the good feelings he has had since he made his debut in the Ford Puma Rally1 away from the World Championship. Loubet’s work in the shakedown is promising to say the least and has even helped him outperform both Katsuta and his compatriot Adrien Fourmaux. Among the ‘Rally2’, the fastest pilot has been the also French Stéphane Lefevbreall after beating Eric Camilli and Nikolay Gryazin.
2nd Rally Sweden shakedown qualifying
Rally Croatia kicks off this Friday (08:33 a.m.) with the dispute of the first stage of the event. Pilots and co-pilots will dispute 120.38 kilometers against the clock on this first day.
Photos: Toyota Gazoo Racing