Kalle Rovanpera has opened up a commanding lead after dominating Saturday’s Rally Finland stages to close in on a maiden World Rally Championship victory on home soil.

Toyota’s two-time world champion delivered a stunning drive in changeable conditions to win five of the day’s six stages, including two victorious passes of the returning Ouninpohja test.

The performance increased his overnight 8.0s lead to a 44.2s advantage and secures the Finn 18 provisional championship points. Team-mate and fellow part-time driver Sebastien Ogier trailed Rovanpera, as the Frenchman picked up 15 points.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville will score 13 points after rounding out the top three [+ 1m23.8s] ahead of M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux [+1m49.7s] who takes 10 points, while Toyota’s Rally1 debutant Sami Pajari [+2m19.2s] will earn 8 points.

The top eight was completed by leading WRC2 runners Oliver Solberg [+7m32.4s] and Jari-Matti Latvala [+8m20.s] in a one-off outing for the Toyota team boss.

The possibility of Toyota using team orders to help its title contender Elfyn Evans was rendered moot by a 16-minute delay leaving service as the Welshman’s mechanics worked to repair his failed driveshaft. 

This had already demoted Evans to from second to eighth, but a 2m40s penalty for the delay leaving service dropped him outside the points to 16th overall after reaching the end of Stage 14 [Vastila, 18.94km].

The rain returned for the afternoon stages, creating incredibly slippery conditions for some of the fastest and most demanding roads of the season.

But despite a rain shower interrupting his run, there was no stopping Rovanpera as the Finn claimed the test by 6.7s from Ogier.

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“I don’t know what the others are doing there, because the rain once again came for us,” said a stunned Rovanpera, who extended his lead to 28.6s. “It was a good stage.”

Ogier admitted his effort was “very safe”, stating that it would be silly to push given the gaps between the drivers on the leaderboard.

Neuville was 0.8s slower than Ogier, but he felt there had been no improvement in his car’s handling after trying different springs to find a solution to his morning struggles.

Fourmaux felt the midday service had improved his Ford Puma, although it wasn’t reflected on the timing screen.

Standing water increased the level of difficulty as the crews faced challenging conditions heading into Stage 15 [Paijala, 20.19km].

Rovanpera’s stage-winning run came to an end, as Esapekka Lappi splashed his way to a fastest time following a committed run on the slippery road. Having restarted the rally following his Friday retirement, the Hyundai driver took the test by 0.5s from Rovanpera, who still extended his rally lead to 39.4s over Ogier.

The 2013 Finland winner once again opted for a cautious approach, stating that he couldn’t drive any “slower” and still had a moment in the test.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta was among a group of drivers to suffer wild moments but the Japanese, who was first into the stage after his Friday retirement, managed to reach the end unscathed.

Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Evans was able to post the fourth fastest time, as he continued his recovery by climbing to 14th overall.

But Lappi was unable to continue his stage-winning form on the Ouninpohja test, where lightning struck twice as the Finn suffered a second front-right puncture just a matter of hours after the first. This time, his front-right appeared to suffer a sudden delamination.

The second pass of Ouninpohja was run in much drier conditions, which produced much quicker times compared to the morning run.

Top of the timesheets was Rovanpera, who ended the day in style with a push to win the stage by 4.8s from Ogier at an average speed of 136km/h.

Sunday’s final leg of the rally will comprise four stages, covering 41.66 kilometres.

Kalle Rovanpera extended his Rally Finland lead after dominating Saturday morning’s stages, while World Rally Championship title contender Elfyn Evans witnessed his victory bid evaporate.

Two-time world rally champion Rovanpera completed a clean sweep of the loop including the return of the famous Ouninpohja test to open up 21.9s lead.

His fellow Toyota part-time driver Sebastien Ogier holds second after Evans suffered a transmission issue that dropped the Toyota full-time driver to eighth [+6m19.2].

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville moved into third [+58.3s] following the issue for this title rival, with M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux in fourth [+1m26.4s] and Toyota Rally1 debutant Sami Pajari fifth [+1m57.7s].

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi restarted the rally following their Friday retirements.

Dry and overcast conditions greeted crews on Saturday morning, but roads were still damp in places and grip levels remained low, as Gregoire Munster discovered to his cost.

The M-Sport Ford driver slipped off the road 4.6km into Stage 11 [Vastila, 18.94km], running wide at a left-hander which pitched his Ford Puma into a violent roll.

Munster and co-driver Louis Louka, who were sitting in seventh, emerged from the crash unscathed but their rally was over.

Grégoire Munster, Louis Louka, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The accident briefly red-flagged the stage, which disrupted Pajari’s run and meant he was later given a notional time.

Rovanpera lit up the timing screens once the action resumed to claim his fifth stage win of the rally to date, despite suffering a strange moment at the startline. The Finn was 2.2s faster than Evans, who flirted with a ditch in what he called a scrappy run.

“It was surprisingly slippery, a bit more slippier than I expected but it was the same for everybody,” said Rovanpera, who extended his lead over Evans to 10.2s.

“We had a problem on the startline, the car would start and then shut itself off after three seconds so that was a bit weird.” 

Ogier struggled to find grip as he dropped 5.1s, but the 2013 Finland winner was faster than championship leader Neuville, who was fighting a i20 N that he “couldn’t get working”.

The battle for the lead took a dramatic shift when the crews tackled the demanding undulating Paijala [20.19km] test, featuring a much wetter road surface than the previous stage.

Evans’ GR Yaris suffered a suspected transmission problem which appeared to pitch him into a half spin.

The Welshman continued but at a reduced pace, which effectively ended his victory hopes as the cruel misfortune resulted in a 1m28.1s time loss, dropping Evans from second to fifth.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Despite rain intervening for his pass, Rovanpera delivered another impressive time on a road that was seemingly getting slower with very pass. Rovanpera’s stunning effort was outlined by an 8.1s margin over Ogier, who had now inherited second position, 21.8s behind the defending world champion.

Neuville was short on confidence to attack, but clocked the fourth fastest time as he moved into third overall following Evans’ drama. Fourmaux was also fighting his car, but managed to complete the test now in fourth overall.

The highly anticipated return of the full length 32.98km Ouninpohja, after a seventh-year hiatus, tested crews to their limits and provided plenty of entertainment for the thousands of watching fans.

It proved to be a head-to-head battle between Rovanpera and Ogier, with the former edging the battle by a mere 0.1s on his first ever run on this route.

“It is an amazing stage,” remarked Rovanpera. “I did it the first time in a rally car, it is quite hard to enjoy because it can be quite tricky at times, but when you get to the end you can enjoy it.”

Katsuta was third fastest, ahead of Pajari and Neuville, the latter admitting that he was “afraid all run long” and was happy to be at the finish having struggled with handling. Evans, limping through the stage, dropped almost five minutes to fall to eighth.

The stage known for punishing errors did strike again as Lappi suffered a front right puncture following an awkward offline landing from one of the many jumps at the 11.2km mark.

Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

The Hyundai driver, who completed a 45-metre jump at the famous yellow house crest, dropped more than two minutes following the wheel change.

After surviving two wild moments in Ouninpohja, Oliver Solberg headed to service leading WRC2 in sixth overall with Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala trailing the Swede by 18.0s.

A repeat of the morning loop of stages will complete Saturday’s action this afternoon.

Kalle Rovanpera tamed challenging wet conditions to lead a Toyota 1-2-3 at Rally Finland as the Finn made a strong start to his bid for a maiden World Rally Championship home win.

The reigning world champion, running a part-time programme, head title contender and team-mate Elfyn Evans by 8.0s after 10 stages.

Eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier was third [+8.6s] as championship leader Thierry Neuville was the sole remaining Hyundai in fourth [+25.5s].

M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux [+48.5s], Toyota debutant Sami Pajari [+1m31.0s] and M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster rounded out the top seven [+1m52.7s.].

Seven Rally1 cars completed the day after Hyundai duo Ott Tanak and Esapekka Lappi retired along with Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who damaged his right rear suspension after hitting a tree in stage five in the morning. 

Hyundai’s difficult start to the rally worsened as Friday afternoon began just moments after the team confirmed that Tanak had retired from the event completely following a high-speed crash in stage three. Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja were declared “well” by the team, but the latter will spend the night in hospital as a precaution.

Lappi, who led Hyundai’s charge in Tanak’s absence in fourth position, was caught out by a section of deep ruts in stage six [Laukaa 17.96km], which bounced his i20 N into a tree ripping the right rear wheel from the car.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

“The ruts were really deep, but I was not expecting I would bounce off from these ruts as they were so deep, I didn’t think it would be possible. I arrived at this place much slower than the first pass. I jumped out of the ruts and then I couldn’t do anything as it was so close to the trees,” said Lappi who was confident he would rejoin the rally on Saturday.

Despite the tricky wet and rutted roads, it was Rovanpera who was able to tame the conditions to win the stage in the drizzle to extend his rally lead, to 4.7s.

However, the Finn’s nearest rival on the stage was rookie Pajari, now able to show his pace in a fully repaired GR Yaris after his stage two excursion.

“After the morning loop, it’s [like] another day completely. The conditions are now much more stable, but I had a really clean run. It was really nice to drive,” said Pajari, who climbed to sixth overall behind Neuville and the improving Fourmaux after Lappi’s demise.

Rovanpera, now much happier with the balance of his GR Yaris, impressed on the slippery wet gravel to claim stage seven [Saarikas 15.93km]. A stunning final split resulted in the Finn pipping Evans by 3.1s to increase his lead over the Welshman to 7.8s, with Ogier, 12 seconds adrift in third.

“It’s really difficult, without the rain it is getting a bit easier in places, but it is big mess [on the road] for us also. I am not taking any risks in this condition,” said Rovanpera.

Neuville arguably had the best of the road conditions, and while the Belgian inherited fourth his mind was not on the podium chase, stating; “we are not thinking about the podium we are thinking about surviving and keeping an eye on Elfyn.”

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

However, Neuville did offer a glimpse at his potential by setting the fastest time in stage eight [Myhinpaa, 15.51km] which featured plenty of standing water. Neuville faced the best of the road surface that became progressively worse, to stop the clocks 1.3s faster than Ogier.

“You have no option you just go for your line and pray for the best. The commitment needs to be 100%. Two years missing [the event] here makes it more challenging,” said Ogier.

Evans managed to claw 1.3s back from Rovanpera to reduce the gap to the rally leader to 6.5s with only 9.7s covering the top three.

Rovnapera responded in stage nine [Ruuhimaki, 7.76km] which was the first dry stage of the day. The Finn was 1.8s faster than Evans to push the lead out to 8.3s with one stage remaining.

But it was debutant Pajari who grabbed the headlines by recording a maiden WRC stage win in only his ninth test in the top flight. The Toyota driver, who started the day with a wild moment that damaged his GR Yaris, took the stage win by 0.5s from Ogier.   

Ogier did however end the day with a stage win after claiming the Harju super special that concluded the day. The Frenchman took the spoils by 0.2s from Neuville.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg led the class by 31.3s from Citroen’s Nikolay Gryazin.      

Six stages await the crews on Saturday including the return of the famous Ouninpohja test.

Ott Tanak has crashed out of Rally Finland in an incident that briefly red flagged stage three of the World Rally Championship gravel rally on Friday morning.

The Hyundai driver went off the road just over two kilometres into the brand new Sarrikas test [15.93km] which was held in wet conditions. Tanak and co-driver Mattin Jarveoja were sitting in sixth overall after the morning’s first test.

Television pictures did show the i20 N had come to rest on its side. The car lost control mid corner which resulted in a roll with the car then colliding with a tree. 

Officials immediately red flagged the stage to allow medical crews to attend to the scene. It has been reported that Tanak and Jarveoja were being checked over by medical staff before heading to hospital for precautionary checks.

An update from WRC stated: “The crew of competitor car #8, Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja went off the road at high speed around 2km into SS3. The crew exited the Hyundai i20 N and have been taken to the nearest hospital for precautionary checks.”

A further statement from Hyundai read: “Ott is ok, however Martin will be taken to hospital for further checks. We will provide more updates when possible.”

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Vincent Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was the only car to pass through the stage before it was halted. The Belgian’s run was not without issue after he misjudged a junction which resulted in his i20 N running straight onto the grass.

“The grip was a little bit more constant but I went straight on a junction, there was a blind corner over a crest, my pace note clearly didn’t read a junction and we went straight onto the grass,” said Neuville.

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier headed into the stage with the rally lead by a second from team-mate Kalle Rovanpera after setting the second fastest time on stage two.

Elfyn Evans climbed to third after winning stage two as Takamoto Katsuta completed a Toyota 1-2-3-4.

Stage three was restarted after a 19-minute delay.