Kalle Rovanperä is looking for his sixth victory in eight rallies to take another step towards a WRC title that it seems that nobody can take away from him. In Finland he has the support of his people, he races at home and even the rain can play in his favor during Friday’s stage. Awaiting his arrival, Rovanperä has reaffirmed his position as favorite to win with the fastest shakedown time. And he didn’t do it just any old way, but by leading Toyota’s Finnish one-two in this practice stretch, as Esapekka Lappi finished second.
Despite the double won in shakedown by the two Finnish Toyota drivers in front of their audience, their performance has some nuances to highlight. Because the dominance of Kalle Rovanperä, incontestable so far this season, in the shakedown has been more diffuse. In fact, it took Kalle four attempts to set the decisive 1:56.1 that enabled him to dominate a shakedown stage with an average speed of 138 km/h. Esapekka Lappi made just three runs to stay within half a second of his teammate.
All in all, Toyota’s power is on the table since only Ott Tänak has managed to avoid what would have been a 1-2-3-4 for the Japanese firm. The Estonian has sneaked third with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 after completing three passes of the stage and signing a time nine tenths slower than that of the World Championship leader. Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans, winner of the 2021 edition of Rally Finland, have completed the ‘top 5’ in this first contact with the fast stages of the Scandinavian country. Oliver Solberg has been sixth.
You have to go back to seventh place to find the first of five Ford Puma Rally1 cars that will be in action in Finland. It was the drive of Craig Breen after signing the Irish driver a time of 1:58.1. Two seconds from the head in a short section, perhaps a true reflection of the performance deficit of the M-Sport hybrid vehicle. Thierry Neuville was eighth, while Pierre-Louis Loubet and Adrien Fourmaux completed the top ten positions by overtaking Jari Huttunen and Gus Greensmith.
Eleventh in his first participation with a ‘Rally1’, Jari Huttunen has completed a total of five passes of the stage to get used to the Ford Puma, one less in any case than those made by Pierre-Louis Loubet. Solid work for both of them in a shakedown that did not offer optimal grip either due to the light rain early in the morning. He has also been seen in WRC2, with the best time for Teemu Suninen and Nikolay Gryazin’s accident that will leave him out of the rally.
71st Rally Finland shakedown qualifying
Rally Finland starts this Thursday (7:08 p.m.) with the dispute of the ‘Harju’ super special. Pilots and co-pilots will dispute 3.48 kilometers against the clock in this small competitive start.
Photos: Toyota Gazoo Racing / M-Sport