Finn Kalle Rovanperä has survived a rather bumpy Saturday afternoon loop to take the new lead in New Zealand. The Finn now has in Sébastien Ogier his best ally to be able to resolve the title.
Kalle Rovanperä has been placed as the new leader of the New Zealand Rally after successfully overcoming a morning loop on Saturday in which surviving was already quite a feat. The Finn has not only achieved it, but has also seen how the rain and the problems of his direct rivals have placed him in a privileged position that brings him closer to the title. for now, Ott Tänak is second, 4.6 seconds behind the World Championship leader.
Bearing in mind that the second stage of the New Zealand Rally started with distribution of penalties for Kalle Rovanperä, Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville for an incorrect use of energy in SS1 -on Thursday-, it seemed clear that anything could happen. With five more seconds in the backpack, the three started, while the rain was in charge of turning the three sections to be disputed into hell. Tänak, the driver furthest behind in the starting order, was the most affected.
The rain has pushed the riders and machines to the limit due to the lack of grip in the sections
In fact, Craig Breen got the scratch in the SS8 when opening the track, every time the Irishman from M-Sport found the grip that then disappeared between the rain and the passing cars. Sébastien Ogier suffered, also Ott Tänak with a little twist in which he slightly damaged the front of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and lost much of the confidence he exhibited. The sanctions did the rest. to put Elfyn Evans at the front of the rally.
In very difficult conditions, SS9 was disputed, a section that ended with a high speed touch by Elfyn Evans in which he stayed close to the capsize and seriously damaged his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. With half a minute lost, the best news for Evans is that he managed to stay in the race after repairing his car. In the meantime, Kalle Rovanperä was placed as the new leader after signing the scratch in the first pass through ‘Puhoi’.
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Greensmith crash neutralizes SS10
The last special of the morning came to nothing, as the tenth stage of the rally had to be neutralized by Gus Greensmith’s strong accident with the Ford Puma Rally1. The British driver, in a bid for fifth position with Thierry Neuville after the Belgian’s mechanical problems, it did not measure the speed of entering a left curve well and the soaked ground took him to the outside of it, violently hitting the slope of the interior land.
With SS10 cancelled, Kalle Rovanperä maintains a 4.6 second lead over Ott Tänakwhile Sébastien Ogier is third, 1.9 seconds behind the Estonian. Elfyn Evans has survived a difficult morning in fourth position, giving thanks for the cancellation of the last section of the loop, as this will surely allow him to be ahead of a Thierry Neuville who has already lost more than a minute. Oliver Solberg and Takamoto Katsuta are sixth and seventh respectively.
Hayden Paddon, to his
While the general classification of Rally New Zealand has been noticeably shaken on Saturday morning, the WRC2 category is running much smoother. Hayden Paddon dominates the silver category with an iron fist and after the first ten stages of the rally he has an advantage of 1 minute and 38 seconds over Kajetan Kajetanowicz. The Pole offers no resistance.
Kajetanowicz knows that this second place is worth its weight in gold in the fight for the WRC2 title, so he hasn’t taken any unnecessary risks since SS3, where the multiple European champion settled into second place. Shane Van Gisbergen remains thirdalthough the versatile New Zealand driver is no longer a threat to Kajetan.
Qualifying after SS7 of the 45th Rally New Zealand
Rally New Zealand continues this Saturday (03:08 a.m.) with the dispute of the second half of the second stage of the event. Pilots and co-pilots will dispute 44.14 kilometers against the clock.
Photos: Toyota Gazoo Racing / Hyundai Motorsport