The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team leads after the first full day of Rally Finland. Ott Tänak delivered a strong performance throughout, winning five stages and leading by 5.8 seconds heading into Saturday. His team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala also occupies a podium position in third place.
Already leading after the opening stage in Jyväskylä on Thursday evening, Tänak then won the first stage of Friday with an impressive drive. Despite his unfavourable road position, he had a close battle with Mads Ostberg over the rest of the day, with the pair trading places and even setting identical fastest times on the 20-kilometre-long Moksi 2, before Tänak took control in the evening. Latvala enjoyed a positive day on home ground, adding another stage win for Toyota on the second stage of the morning loop. He ended the day 23.1s off the lead and 13.3s ahead of fourth. Esapekka Lappi lost time on the day’s first stage when he stalled in a junction, but he showed strong speed in the afternoon, including being part of a top-three lock-out of the fastest times on SS9 for the Toyota Yaris WRC. He ended the day eighth, just 2.5s behind sixth.
Quotes :
Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 7)
“I think today has been pretty good. On the first stage it was difficult to get into the rhythm, but then I found it on the second stage. I also made the car a bit stiffer to have some more stability, and since that I’ve been happy. I was a bit too careful on the first stage this afternoon but I was able to fight back and claim third position. I am enjoying the driving and hopefully I can improve a bit more tomorrow.”
End of day two (Friday):
1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 1h04m14.9s
2 Mads Ostberg/Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 WRC) +5.8s
3 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +23.1s
4 Hayden Paddon/Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +36.4s
5 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +46.1s
6 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +58.9s
7 Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m01.1s
8 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1m01.4s
9 Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +1m34.1s
10 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m57.7s
(Results as of 22:00 on Friday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
What’s next?
Saturday is the longest day of the rally, with 142.86 competitive kilometres spread over eight stages around the town of Jämsa to the south of Jyväskylä. These include Pihlajakoski – the only stage unchanged from 2017 – and Kakaristo, a new stage that includes sections from the famous Ouninpohja test.
Press release TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC
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