Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen finally won Rally Finland, laying to rest the ghost of last year when they crashed out on the penultimate stage.

It was a scintillating final Wolf Power Stage which Rovanperä won by two seconds from Takamoto Katsuta and Sebastien Ogier.

The Finnish wunderkind took the Super Sunday bonus points and moves into second place in the championship standings, just three points off Elfyn Evans who reclaimed the title lead after a disastrous weekend for Ott Tanak.

Tanak suffered a delaminated tyre which caused a high-speed spin on the final stage while Adrien Fourmaux suffered yet another puncture and retired four km from the end of the stage to avoid further damage to his car.

Elfyn Evans brought his GR Yaris home in fourth overall having won the morning’s first stage by 0.4 seconds from Ogier.

Sami Pajari came home in fifth overall, giving Toyota a top five lockout, only the second time in history, a feat last achieved by Lancia 35 years ago on Rally Portugal in 1990.

Thierry Neuville brought his Hyundai home in sixth overall, having run in second place until his fateful puncture on stage 16 on Saturday afternoon.

Josh McErlean was the top M-Sport Ford crew in seventh, followed by Martins Sesks and Gregoire Munster. Ott Tanak salvaged a single point for tenth.

Roope Korhonen fended off TGR Team boss Jari-Matti Latvala to claim his maiden WRC2 victory with Robert Virves rounding out the podium.

Read Motorsport Monday for the full story on the fastest rally in history where Rovanperä averaged 129.9km/h!

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Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen ended the first full day of WRC Secto Rally Finland with a 4.9 second lead over Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe. Those are the bare facts but do not tell the spectacular story.

In a rally where stages are won by tenths of a second, or even tied in a dead heat, 4.9 seconds is considered a decent lead, as the double world champion fights for his first ever victory on his home event.

After winning the opening superspecial stage on Thursday evening around the streets of Jyväskylä. Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja slithered down the order on Friday as they opened the road in the Hyundai i20 N.

Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen won the opening stage from Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston by 0.1 seconds with Rovanperä a further 0.3 behind.

The Japanese and Finn drivers shared the early overall leaderboard before Rovanperä went on the rampage, setting spectacular stage times as he won stages three and four and took the rally lead which he stretched out over the course of the day as he added stage seven to his tally, but it was still super close with the top four separated by eight seconds.

The fight for second was breathtaking; 3.2 seconds covered Neuville in second, Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria in third and Katsuta.

The defending world champion won stage nine and finished three stages with a top three time as he came on song in the afternoon loop, which saw rain turn the stages into damp and muddy roads.

Fourmaux won stage eight, which he tied with Rovanperä, and stage ten to cement his provisional podium place which he took off Katsuta after stage nine.

Katsuta had his strongest morning since the Safari Rally with two second fastest times and held second position overall but after the midday service, his driving became more flawed on the wet stages and slid down to fourth, despite winning stage six.

Pajari took stage five but in the first wet stage after lunch, he was overcautious and with the eighth fastest time on the board, he dropped to fifth overall.

Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais, winners in Finland last year, were strangely off the pace in their Toyota GR Yaris and found themselves in sixth overnight with a mountain to climb over the remaining stages. Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were also off the leading pace, running second on the road all day.

Martins Sesks and Renārs Francis were the leading M-Sport Ford runners as expected in eighth with Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy holding ninth ahead of the 2019 champions Tanak and Jarveoja.

The Estonian, who took the championship lead after Rally Estonia two weeks ago, suffered from running first on the road and his situation worsened when he did a bit of logging in the forest after understeering into a tree in stage seven. The damage appeared to be cosmetic, and he completed stage eight with a flapping bonnet and a second-hand sounding engine, but the Hyundai made it back to service.

Gregoire Munster and Louis Louka were disappointing in their Puma. Munster had a huge slide in a fast right hander and dropped 22 seconds in stage two and had a full spin in stage four after out braking himself and ended up at the bottom of the Rally1 runners.

Roope Korhonen leads WRC2 from Robert Virves with Georg Linnamäe holding third from Toyota team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

Oliver Solberg went from hero to zero after rolling out of the rally in stage seven; the car understeered at speed into a ditch which pitched car over. And out.

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The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Italia Sardegna, was brutal in every respect.

Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais topped the timesheets after Thursday’s shakedown, and he emerged from Friday’s battle with a slender lead of 2.1 seconds over Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria.

Ogier won Friday’s opening stage but starting with an unfavourable third on the road starting position, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe and Ott Tänak and Martin Jarveoja led the way in a Hyundai one-two after stage two.

Fourmaux went on the attack on the final stage of the morning loop, winning the stage and bouncing from fourth into the overall lead in the process, having maximized his better road position. In the overall standings, Neuville was second from Ogier, Tänak and Sami Pajari.

“Everything is going well,” Fourmaux said. “I really tried to use the lines in front of me and stayed clean and tidy to avoid getting caught in the loose. It paid off, so I’m pleased with that. I expected a lot of sweeping.”

Of the Fords, there was no sign – in a barely believable scenario, all three M-Sport Pumas retired in the stage two. Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean both suffered suspension damage while Martins Sesks rolled at high speed.

When battle resumed after the service break, it was Neuville’s turn to lead after stage four, albeit by 0.2 seconds over Fourmaux with Tänak making it a yet-to-be-seen in 2025  Hyundai one-two-three.

In the next stage, a re-run of Ford’s ‘stagus horribilis’, Neuville retired after whacking a bank which damaged the left rear corner of his car. The carnage continued  when Takamoto Katsuta and Jourdain Serderidis both rolled at the same corner. Both were able to continue, with somewhat battered machinery and no windscreens, and wearing goggles.

At the end of the fifth stage, Fourmaux and Tänak led the way with Ogier 4.6 seconds off the lead.

The final stage of the loop saw Ogier win comfortably from Kalle Rovanperä and Fourmaux, snatching the overnight lead by 2.1 seconds with Tänak keeping a watching brief 5.2 seconds further back.

Pajari did a sterling job to hold fourth, with Rovanperä and the championship leader Elfyn Evans languishing down the order in fifth and sixth respectively, courtesy of running first and second on the road.

Katsuta brought his less than pristine GR Yaris home in seventh, with the WRC2 leaders Nikolay Gryazin, Emil Lindholm and Yohan Rossel rounding out the top ten.

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Marathon Stage Part 2: 246km, liaison 272km

After three consecutive stage wins for the South African competitors Gareth Woolridge, Henk Lategan and Guy Botterill, it was time for the Empire to strike back…

All three World Championship stars – Nasser Al-Attiyah, Carlos Sainz and WRC royalty Sebastien Loeb – started Thursday’s stage further down the order, a scenario that could play into their hands. Loeb got under way in tenth, Sainz twelfth and Al Attiyah seventeenth. Another contender, Henk Lategan, found himself in a similar position, but with a slight edge. The South African, who had led the overall standings two days ago, was currently fifth, just 2′09″ away from retaking the top spot, started thirteenth.

The scenario played out perfectly, with Al-Attiyah taking the fastest time over the second part of the Marathon stage, followed by Sainz in his M-Sport Ford Raptor and Mathieu Serradori who started the stage in 51^st position following his retirement from stage two yesterday.

It was the Qatari’s 44^th W2RC stage win.

Running first and second on the road, Guy Botterill and Saood Variawa were always going to be at a disadvantage and they plummeted down the timing screens, ending their day in 18^th and 21^st respectively.

Al Attiyah went through km 26 with the third-fastest time; the four men expected to contend for the stage win were living up to expectations. Lategan was quickest, one second ahead of Sainz and three clear of Al Attiyah. Loeb trailed by 13 seconds and Moraes by 30. The local trio of Daniel Schröder, Brian Baragwanath and Gareth Woolridge remained within striking distance at 35 and 36 seconds behind.

Al Attiyah took command of the stage having blasted his Dacia through the 56 km mark with a seven-second lead over Henk Lategan’s Hilux, who in turn was 12 seconds clear of Sainz in the Raptor and 13 up on Sébastien Loeb in the second Sandrider.

Al Attiyah remained quickest at the 90 km mark, but Lategan was just one second behind. The global star and the South African Rally-Raid champion were pulling away from the rest of the pack. Sainz trailed by 49 seconds, with Loeb at 1′54″ behind. Lucas Moraes, third overall this morning, was holding on, posting the fifth-fastest time in the special at 2′11″ back.

Lategan held a 1′01″ advantage over Al-Attiyah at km 121; the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver had clawed back a minute over the Qatari in just 30 km.

At the 155 km mark, Lategan had extended his lead over Al Attiyah to 1′18″, with Sainz sitting 2′11″ back. Lucas Moraes (+3′35″) had moved ahead of Sébastien Loeb (+4′34″).

The lead changed with Al Attiyah, over minute off the pace at the previous time check, setting the fastest time at the 178 km mark, 24 seconds ahead of Lategan. Serradori made a strong comeback, slotting ahead of Moraes and Loeb!

Loeb landed up in fourth position on the day, 53 seconds behind the Century CR-7 while Lategan ended fifth followed by Nani Roma in the second M-Sport Raptor, Moraes, Gareth Woolridge (NWM Evo Plus), Martin Prokop and Guillaume de Mevius.

In the provisional overall standings, Loeb leads Sainz by 23 seconds, with Lategan in third, seven seconds shy of the lead.

In the GP bike race, Daniel Sanders made it four from four (including the prologue) although he had to sweat a little as his Red Bull teammate Luciano Benevides fancied his chance of winning and led the stage initially. GP Champion Ross Branch, racing in virtually his backyard, claimed the final step of the day’s podium.

The post The Empire strikes back – Nasser Al-Attiyah wins stage 3 appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Ott Tänak claimed his 400^th career stage win on the final stage of Rally Portugal on Friday afternoon on his way to a seven second lead over Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais with Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston completing the provisional podium.

The Estonian led the rally from stage two onwards after winning the opening two stages in the morning. There was a frenetic fight for the lead between Tänak and his Hyundai teammates Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria after the French duo took the next two stage wins to narrow the gap to 0.2 seconds after stage five.

The gap between first and second stayed under one second over the next pair of stages until disaster struck in stage eight when Fourmaux clipped a hidden rock on the inside of a hairpin which broke his i20 N’s suspension.

“If there were as many championship titles as stage wins, it would be even better,” Tänak joked of his 400 stage win landmark. “But still, a nice number. It’s been demanding, especially the second loop. We couldn’t really find the sweet spot and were struggling a bit. But the last two stages were clean, so that’s good.”

Six-time Rally Portugal winner Ogier won four stages and moved into second position with Katsuta, who briefly took second overall, ending the day in third after dropping back over the final stage of the long day; It was close between the Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers, with Katsuta just 0.7 seconds behind Ogier after stage five.

Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were a steady fourth and within shouting distance of the trio ahead, just under half a minute off the lead.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe ended the day in fifth, 4.4 seconds behind Rovanpera after an early spin cost a few seconds; the defending champion clawed his way back from seventh as he fettled his Hyundai’s handling more to his liking as the day wore on.

Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen took sixth position off Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin in the final stage, compounding Evans’ misery of opening the road, leaving the championship leader 69 seconds off the pace.   

Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean ended in eighth and ninth respectively for M-Sport Ford with Oliver Solberg rounding out the top ten and leading WRC2.

There was disappointment for shakedown pacesetter Mārtiņš Sesks, whose day unravelled early with a wheel change on SS2. His troubles worsened when he picked up a three-minute time penalty later in the leg.

Saturday’s route features seven more gruelling stages, covering 122.92 competitive kilometres — including two passes through the iconic Amarante test.

Standings after Friday (SS11 /24):
1. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Hyundai i20 N 1h 41m 26.2s
2. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +7.0s
3. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +27.1s
4. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +28.3s
5. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +32.7s
6. S Pajari / M Salminen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +1m 1.4s

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Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen completed their domination of the fourth round of the World Rally Championship, winning 15 of the 18 stages en route to building a 53.5 second cushion over the eight-time WRC champion Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were ranked third in all the metrics; overall, Super Sunday and Wolf Power Stage extending their advantage at the top of the championship leaderboard to 43 points.

Rovanperä won the Super Sunday standings and topped the Wolf Power Stage timesheets giving the Finnish Toyota Gazoo Racing crew the maximum haul of 35 points which elevates them to second overall in the title race, up from sixth in one fell swoop.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston made it a Toyota 1-2-3-4 exorcising the Japanese driver’s ghost from Safari Rally Kenya where he crashed out on the final stage.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria were the leading Hyundai team in fifth place, followed by Ott Tanak and Martin Järveoja in sixth and the luckless Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe coming home in seventh after a puncture in the penultimate stage cost them a minute.

Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy crashed their M-Sport Ford Puma out of the rally in the morning’s opening stage.

Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand took their second victory of the year in WRC2 and lead the championship after fending off the very close attention of Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada in a thrilling battle.

Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov brought their Skoda home in third place.

Read Motorsport Monday for the full report. On Monday, obviously!

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With just the super special stage remaining on Saturday, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen won every stage of the day, giving the rally leader not only a full house of 12 stage wins out of 12, his lead extended to an impressive 45.7 seconds ahead of Sebastian Ogier, who eased away from Elfyn Evans who was 23 seconds adrift in third.

The morning loop of the longest day of the rally saw ‘business as usual’ at the head of the leaderboard. Rovanperä won all three of the morning stages to extend his lead over Sebastian Ogier to 36.9 seconds.

Ogier ran Rovanperä close in the two opening tests, finishing one second adrift in SS7 and 0.7 seconds in the following stage. Rovanperä re-asserted his mastery in the final stage before service, hustling his GR Yaris through the 23.3km test 8.4 seconds quicker than anyone else.

Elfyn Evans maintained his third position in something of a no-mans-land; too far behind Ogier to challenge for second and well ahead of Toyota’s rising star, Sami Pajari. Stage eight saw the top four Toyotas covered by 1.2 seconds, with Pajari snapping at Evans’ heels on occasion, finishing stage eight and nine 0.4 seconds behind the championship leader on both occasions.

Takamoto Katsuta got in on the action as well, setting the third best time in SS9 but remained behind Pajari in the overall standings.

Adrien Fourmaux was once again the quickest Hyundai and pushed his teammates down the order as he re-claimed sixth overall. Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak were still experiencing handling issues and languished in seventh and eighth. They set near-identical times in stage eight but were still only seventh and eighth quickest.

M-Sport Ford’s duo of Grégoire Munster and Joshua McErlean were mired at the foot of the Rally1 standings, battling their ill-handling Pumas.

After the service break the order remained unchanged with one difference. Evans only set the sixth fastest time, beaten by Pajari, Katsuta and Fourmaux in stage 10.

Munster was a little optimistic in stage 11, hustling his recalcitrant Puma too fast into a corner 3.5km into the stage. He missed a tree by millimeters but beached himself in a clump of thick bamboo and lost three minutes as spectators battled to manhandle the car back onto the road.

Stage 12 brought disaster for Sami Pajari; with a split time well up on Katsuta, he understeered into a barrier around 20km into the stage and damaged the right front corner of his Yaris. Game over.

The fight in WRC2 was intense: Yohan Rossel still led but he was under attack from Alejandro Cachón and Nikolay Gryazin. Rossel’s lead was down to 14.8 seconds after the morning loop but by close of business ahead of the super special stage, the French ace’s lead was back to 20.5 seconds.

The final 1.8km stage brought an end to Rovanperä’s rout. Evans took the stage win from Ogier with Neuville tied on time with Rovanperä.

Five stages and 58km remain with ten bonus points up for grabs.

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Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen dominated the opening day of Rally Islas Canarias, winning all six stages to enjoy a commanding 26.8 second lead over Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais, heading a stunning Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2-3-4-5.

Rovanperä laid down his marker as early as the shakedown stage on Thursday, setting the quickest time by just over four seconds. The double world champion made his GR Yaris Rally1 obey his every command around the twisty, sometimes narrow 118.8km of tarmac stages.

Ogier had the measure of Evans – who opened the road – but the gap between the two Yaris drivers was just 9.6 seconds.

The championship leaders Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were doing what they needed to do, setting a risk-free pace knowing their title rivals Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe were enduring a miserable day along with the entire Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team squad.

Adrien Fourmaux was the leading Hyundai across the morning loop of stages while Ott Tanak/Martin Järveoja and Neuville languished in seventh and eighth respectively, mystified by their i20 N’s poor handling. To put that in perspective, Neuville lost 13 seconds in the opening stage alone…“Honestly, it’s not very enjoyable and it’s just not working,” Neuville said. “I can’t take any line. Nothing is working.”

Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen ended the opening three-stage loop 0.2 seconds behind Fourmaux; after the first stage after the midday service, Pajari had moved ahead of the Frenchman with the fifth Toyota of Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston lining up the Hyundai who duly took fifth in stage five.

From being the fastest Hyundai before lunch, Fourmaux became the slowest and lost positions to Neuville and Tanak although the advantage between the two champions was a whisker at 0.8 seconds with Fourmaux another 0.7 seconds further back. There were no happy faces in the Korean camp…

The M-Sport Ford Pumas were – there’s no other description – pedestrian, propping up the bottom of the Rally1 timing sheets. In the opening stage, Munster was more than one second per kilometer off the pace and ended the day a whopping 2’11” off the lead. Both he and Josh McErlean reported handling issues.

In WRC2, Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand were doing a “Rovanperä”, winning all six stages in their Citroen C3, if not at a canter, sufficiently quick to hold off the Spanish Rally Champion Alejandro Cachón/Borja Rozada in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Leo Rossel Guillaume Mercoiret in the second PH Sport Citroen rounded out the class podium.

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Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin claimed their maiden Safari Rally Kenya victory giving Toyota Gazoo Racing  their fifth straight win in the modern Safari era. Hyundai secured their best Kenyan result with a two-three podium for Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja and Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe.

Evans, with his second consecutive victory has extended his lead in the Driver’s Championship to 36 points while Toyota Gazoo Racing still leads the Manufacturers standings.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria won the Wolf Power stage and topped the Super Sunday standings, taking the maximum 10 point bonus.

Sami Pajari completed his maiden Safari adventure in fourth overall with Takamoto Katsuta provisionally in fifth assuming he makes it to the final control in what was a very sick sounding car after rolling his GR Yaris one kilometer into the final stage, losing fourth place overall while chasing the Super Sunday win, where he was a mere 0.3 seconds behind Fourmaux going into the Wolf Power Stage.

Gregoire Munster and Louis Louka brought their Puma home in sixth while the final Rally 1 runner, Greek gentleman driver Jourdan Serderidis and Frederic Miclotte took home a couple of points for ninth overall.

Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen retired after Sunday’s first stage with electrical problems

Gus Greensmith and Jonas Andersson made it back-to-back WRC2 African victories in their Skoda Fabia RS, their task made easier after  their major challenger Jan Solans and Rodrigo Sanjuan rolled their Toyota GR Yaris on Sunday’s opening stage.

Read Motorsport Monday for a full rally report on Monday (obviously!)

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Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin survived the six-stage mud bath that was Safari Rally Kenya on Saturday. Overnight rain turned the stages into a quagmire while ongoing rain – torrential at times – shuffled the leaderboard almost by the stage.

Heading out on Saturday morning, Evans had a slender 7.7 second lead over his double world champion teammates Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen but after the day was done, Evans had 1’57.4” in hand over Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja and 4’33.4” over third placed Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, provisionally giving Hyundai their best Safari result since it returned to the WRC calendar in 2021.

The first casualty of the day was Adrien Fourmaux who did not start Saturday, the team elected to save the car for Super Sunday.

Evans took his first stage win of the rally and driving with a fine balance of speed and caution more than doubled his lead on stage 12 after Rovanpera had a left-front puncture.

In stage 11, Neuville lost 1’25” changing a flat tyre and Josh McErlean hit a rock which caused a puncture which they stopped to change. A few km further down the road, the Puma pulled up with a broken steering rack, which cost the Irish duo 20 minutes to repair.

Takamoto Katsuta, still feeling weak and co-driver Aaron Johnston ended the stage with a tyre hanging off the rim, deflating their podium aspirations.

As stage 12 got underway, Munster stopped again for yet another puncture, leaving the M-Sport crew with no more spares. Neuville dropped 42.8 seconds but refused to speak at the end of the stage. He too was ill with a tummy bug so did well in the circumstances. Evans took his second consecutive stage win, extending his lead to 37 seconds.

Stage 13 was largely dry but extremely muddy towards the end; Rovanpera had a puncture and dropped 1’20” to Katsuta who lit up the timing screens, 14.5 seconds quicker through the 28.9km stage – the longest of the day – than Tanak.

It got worse for Rovanpera in stage 13 when he suffered another left-front puncture after going off the road to avoid a large herd of zebra in the road – only in Africa! Evans’ lead mushroomed to 1’32.5” while Tanak closed to within 17 seconds to the #69 Yaris.

Torrential rain began to fall as the stage got underway, with Munster, running second on the road, going completely sideways to his direction of travel but he saved his Puma and continued.

Both Hyundais had issues with the windscreen misting up with Wydaeghe using a selfie-stick and a cloth to wipe the windscreen for Neuville!

Evans had a spin in a straight line as the conditions worsened but Rovanperä’s rally went south in stage 14 when a wishbone broke and although he came home with the second fastest stage time, there was still a long way to go. After the stage finish, he strapped the broken piece with ratchet straps. Would it hold for another 46.6km of stages to run?

Stage 15: it started to rain at the start of the stage but the early runners, Jourdan Serderidis, Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean had the best of the conditions. The later runners all faced significant rain and slippery roads, while Katsuta and Neuville each had a right-front puncture.

It started raining heavily towards the end of the stage, which Munster won followed by McErlean, giving M-Sport Ford a one-two stage result.

Rovanpera limped through the stage, his wheel moving about and unable to put any forces through the left-rear and lost 2’56”, handing Tanak second position.

Evans was in the pound seats with a 2’50” lead with one stage remaining.  The stage start and end were awash and there was no grip, with everyone running wide at some point, especially over the final four km of the stage. Katsuta had another puncture, McErlean was missing his front bumper and Neuville had a misfire, but it was Tänak who took the fastest time, followed by Neuville.

Evans tip-toed through the stage – the rally was his to lose and ended the day with 1’57.4” in hand over Tanak, who had a cushion of 2’36″ over Neuville. Katsuta, Rovanpera – who lost another 3’18.5” in the final stage, and Pajari, who had a steady drive on his maiden visit to Kenya completed the top six

The rally leader played down his chances, saying: “It’s been remarkably difficult out there today. This has definitely been a proper Safari. Even this morning the conditions were really quite tricky after a lot of rain overnight. Then the rain came again immediately as we started the afternoon loop. The conditions were horribly inconsistent, and I was trying to treat everything with care but it’s easy to drop a lot of time. I couldn’t see much at all at the end with so much mud, but I’m happy we managed to get through it. Even with this gap, nothing is guaranteed on this rally. Tomorrow will be demanding and rough and anything can still happen, so we need to stay focused.”

Second placed Tanak said: “There has been a lot of action today, especially this afternoon – it was proper wet and tricky conditions. Unfortunately, we had some trouble with the windscreen again and water in the car, which made it a very demanding loop. The conditions change from stage to stage so you never really know what you are going to find. There is always a new challenge you need to fight and overcome. Tomorrow should be smoother but the roads are still very rough in places.”

Gus Greensmith emerged from the carnage to lead the WRC2 category after fending off Jan Solans, who took the lead on Saturday’s third stage, opening a gap of 19 seconds over his Skoda rival before the brit struck back in the tricky final stage.

Oliver Solberg won three of the day’s six stages but remains over half an hour off the lead.

Sunday’s final day features five stages in total, beginning with a return to Thursday evening’s Mzabibu stage. Oserengoni and Hell’s Gate will then be run twice either side of final service, with the second pass of Hell’s Gate once more serving as the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage.

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