Метка: wrc

Tanak has «bigger things to worry about» than WRC points deficit

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Hyundai driver was tipped among the title contenders this year, but his championship push is yet to ignite, with the Estonian without a podium after three rounds.

Tanak finished fourth overall in January’s Monte Carlo opener after a costly mistake on Friday and then crashed out of the following round in Sweden, where he salvaged only six points under super rally regulations.

Tanak was unfortunate to crash out of second position at Safari Rally Kenya last weekend when he was unable to avoid a rock lying in the middle of the road in stage six that sent his i20 N into a bank.

The 2019 world champion did however benefit from the WRC’s new points system to claim 12 points after topping Sunday’s classification and finishing second on the Power Stage.

Already 34 points adrift of championship leader, team-mate Thiery Neuville, Tanak says the most important objective is to find his form. 

 “Obviously, I have some bigger things to worry about than the points at the moment,” said Tanak.

“It seems like we really need to get our consistency back. Whatever happened on the Friday, there was really no other option to save it so there was no chance this time. In Sweden and Monte Carlo, they were clearly my mistakes which normally I shouldn’t do and haven’t done [previously].

“The target here [in Kenya] was just have a clean run with no trouble and we managed to get through without any punctures or things, but unfortunately this one rock cost us a lot.

“We want to get back on track; the championship is very young, but we need to get back into our normal rhythm.

“It was surprisingly a good points haul considering we retired [in Kenya]. That’s the new system [for you].”

Tanak will be eager to find form when the WRC heads to Croatia’s asphalt stages from 18-21 April. Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul made it clear at the start of the season that the team doesn’t have a defined number one driver this year unlike last season.

However, the former Renault Formula 1 boss confirmed that at that some point in the season the team will likely have to make the decision to support one of its title hopefuls over the other.

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Watch: Safari Rally Kenya Sunday afternoon highlights



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Hydration tablets helped fuel Greensmith’s Safari WRC2 heroics

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Toksport Skoda driver came down with a stomach bug on the eve of the Safari Rally that marked the start of his WRC2 campaign.

The illness left Greensmith severely sapped of energy ahead of the toughest rally on the WRC calendar. However, the 27-year-old refused to quit and relied heavily on hydration tablets to get him through the rally which resulted in a faultless run to class victory, finishing sixth overall.

Greensmith set the pace from the onset to move into a comfortable lead of more than three minutes at the end of Friday.

Once out in front, he managed his pace after main rival Oliver Solberg dropped almost four minutes following punctures on stages two and three. Greensmith eventually took the victory from Solberg, who also felt the effects of a fever, by 1m23.1s.

«I don’t know what I’m more proud of not shitting myself on Friday or actually winning the rally, it has been a long weekend but I’m very happy,» Greensmith joked at the finish.

«It’s a brilliant way to start the season, the car has been impeccable.

«There was no point that I thought I was going to [give up on the rally due to illness] because I knew I couldn’t from my own personal thing.

Gus Greensmith, Jonas Andersson, Toksport WRT Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

Gus Greensmith, Jonas Andersson, Toksport WRT Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

«Thankfully, I started to get better. We did such a good job on Friday even being ill and it gave us the foundations for it to be easy to control for the rest of the weekend.

«Having a three-and-a-half minute lead is much easier than having to fight but for sure going slowly you can sometimes make mistakes. Whenever we needed the speed, we had it.

«The guys in the team have been saying that is it my best rally there was not a single mistake all rally, so I’m very happy.»

When asked if he’d been able to eat much food during the weekend, he added: «I have just been taking a lot of hydration tablets but apart from that not much really.»

Greensmith is expected to contest the next WRC round in Croatia (18-21 April) but won’t be registered to score WRC2 points.

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Rovanpera hails «clever» plan to seal faultless WRC Safari win

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen delivered a faultless performance to conquer the WRC’s most gruelling event in style.

The two-time world champions, competing in a partial season this year, won seven of the 19 demanding gravel stages but crucially were the only Rally1 pairing to avoid any punctures, accidents or mechanical issues. 

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Rovanpera was able to judge his pace in the tricky conditions that allowed the Finn to build a lead of more than two minutes before opting to back off on Sunday, eventually taking the win by 1m37.8s from Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.

“It is always special, this event is so tough and also it is a legendary event for Toyota, and we have always been good here and we are still continuing to do that,” said Rovanpera, who chalked up his 12th career WRC win. “Like they say here in Africa: ‘The car in front is always a Toyota’.

“I have to say a big thanks to the team, everyone made a big effort to make the car work so well. I think me and Jonne did a good job, I think you cannot do a better Safari Rally than what we did, we had no issues for the whole weekend, and it was clever driving. I think it was a good effort.

Winner Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Winners Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“At this rally, if you finish like this, it is a big relief because you are not fighting with all the drivers all the weekend, you are fighting the conditions.

“We had zero issues on the car and the tyres so I don’t think you can drive more clever at this rally. We were fast, we had the speed, but it was not about that, we had the speed and we used it well.”

The victory was Rovanpera’s and Toyota’s first triumph of the 2024 campaign, maintaining the Japanese brand’s dominance in Kenya, which now stands at four consecutive wins since the event’s return to the WRC in 2021.

“This is our first win of the season, a couple of rounds before have been a bit tough and now we have got victory here in style,” said Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala.

“I must say that Kalle dominated the rally from the beginning, and he had a very clever approach. He didn’t have any issue over the weekend, thanks to the team producing such a good car, but also because of the way he was able to drive.”  



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Sublime Rovanpera tames a wild Safari to head Toyota 1-2

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Two-time world champions Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen clinched a first victory of the season in the second event of a partial campaign by a dominant 1m37.8s from Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta. M-Sport’s Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux claimed a second career WRC podium in third, 2m25.1s adrift.

Rovanpera was fast and faultless through Kenya’s 19 stages, which are renowned as the toughest on the WRC calendar. The 2022 Kenya winner judged the rough gravel conditions to perfection, ending the rally as the only Rally1 driver to complete the event without suffering any major delays.

The Finn’s victory was set up by a perfect Friday where Rovanpera won all six tests to open up a 56.9s lead. His advantage ballooned to more than two minutes after a chaotic Saturday as each of his rivals battled through accidents, punctures or mechanical issues.

After banking 18 points for his efforts on Saturday, this afforded Rovanpera the ability to cruise through Sunday’s six stages to seal a 12th career WRC victory in one of the driest Safari Rally’s in recent memory. The success was Toyota’s first of the season. 

Like Rovanpera, Katsuta adopted a cautious approach knowing the attritional nature of Kenya’s roads. The Japanese driver ended Friday in third overall before his progress was halted by front and rear-right punctures picked up in the extreme Sleeping Warrior stage on Saturday morning.

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

However, issues for rivals Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans meant he climbed to second where he would remain at the finish despite suffering a puncture in Sunday’s stage 14. The result equalled his best career WRC finish achieved in Kenya in 2021.

M-Sport’s Fourmaux also matched his best WRC result, recorded in Sweden last time out, courtesy of a smart and trouble-free drive. The Frenchman benefitted from rivals hitting trouble but delivered an impressive performance, the only issue being a front-left puncture on stage 14. Back-to-back podiums and fourth on Sunday maintained third in the championship.

Title contender Evans brought his Toyota GR Yaris home in fourth [+4m20.2s] after an eventful four days. The Welshman was firmly in the podium fight before suffering four punctures through Saturday that pushed him down to fourth earning him 10 points. Evans pushed hard on Sunday but could only finish third in the Super Sunday classification, securing five bonus points on top of another one clinched in the Power Stage.

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Hyundai’s Neuville finished fifth [+10m17.5s] after enduring a challenging rally impacted by punctures and reliability issues. A puncture on stage three put him on the back foot before he climbed back to second when Evans and Katsuta suffered tyre failures. The Belgian soon plummeted back down to fifth at the end of Saturday after losing more than 10 minutes to a fuel system issue in his i20 N. 

Neuville fought back on Sunday, despite damaging his right-rear suspension on a rock in stage 16, to finish second in the Super Sunday standings and take six points on top of the eight earned at the end of Saturday. A Power Stage win meant he extended his championship lead over Evans to six points.

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

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

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Ott Tanak claimed the maximum seven points by topping the Sunday standings, which was the highlight of a troublesome rally, where he finished eighth overall [+21m02.0s]. The Estonian crashed out of second position when he hit a rock that slammed his i20 N into a bank on Friday’s stage six. Tanak battled a myriad of issues with his i20 N on Saturday before emerging as Sunday’s pacesetter as he left Kenya fourth in the championship. 

The third Hyundai driven by Sweden winner Esapekka Lappi finished 12th overall as reliability gremlins bit the Korean marque hard.

The Finn was sitting second before suffering a terminal transmission failure in stage five. Lappi also lost time to punctures when he rejoined on Saturday before being reduced to a crawl after two birds struck his car, smashing his windscreen. A second transmission failure struck his car on Sunday.

A left-rear suspension failure caused by a run in with a rock on Saturday ended Gregoire Munster’s chances of a solid points haul in the second M-Sport Ford Puma. Munster had been sitting sixth before the incident. 

In WRC2, Gus Greensmith produced an impressive drive despite suffering from a stomach bug to win the class in what was his first round of the season. The Toksport Skoda driver finished sixth overall with a 1m23.1s margin over WRC2 rival Oliver Solberg.

Solberg also battled illness through the week, but his victory hopes were dashed by two punctures on Friday. The Swede leads the WRC2 standings heading into Croatia later this month.



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Rovanpera preserves lead as Hyundai hits more trouble

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


After building up a sizeable lead through Friday and Saturday, Toyota’s Rovanpera could afford to take a measured approach, completing the trio of stages with a 1m53.5s rally lead over team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, with M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux third [+2m57.4s].

Evans maintained fourth position [+4m51.1s] sitting 0.3s behind Tanak in the Sunday classification, where a maximum of seven points are on offer to the fastest driver.

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Neuville held on to fifth overall, but a collision with a rock damaged his rear suspension, dropping him from the Sunday classification lead to third 12.3s behind Tanak.

Hyundai made its Super Sunday strategy quite clear as Neuville, Tanak and Lappi went on the attack in the day’s first stage in search of clawing back much-needed championship points.

Fired up after a fuel system problem cost him a podium place on Saturday, Neuville threw caution to the wind in perhaps the roughest test of the rally to date.

The Belgian’s maximum-attack strategy was rewarded with a fastest time in the extremely rocky Malewa stage, 8.33km.

«At one point I lost the rear, and I thought I had a puncture, but I didn’t so I pushed on. It was very tough in there. It’s important to take some points here, important to get through clean,” said Neuville.

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Tanak trailed Neuville by 4.7s although he said “it didn’t feel natural to push” in such rough conditions. Lappi was third fastest but his Safari bad luck took another twist, finishing the stage with his right-rear tyre off the rim. Lappi and Tanak took only one spare wheel.

Sitting fourth overall, Evans felt he’d judged the conditions perfectly but was surprised by the Hyundai pace after reaching the finish 10.7s adrift.

«I was thinking it was better, but clearly the guys don’t care about the cars or the tyres,” said Evans.

Evans’ concerns were highlighted by the fact his team-mate Katsuta ended the stage with a front-left puncture.  

«It was a lottery stage, quite stupid to be honest. The rocks are moving all the time and [it is] impossible to know where they are,” said Katsuta, whose gap over third-placed-overall Fourmaux reduced to 56.3s.

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Fourmaux and rally leader Rovanpera opted for a cautious approach through the stage, setting the sixth and seventh fastest times behind returning M-Sport driver Gregoire Munster after his suspension failure on Saturday.

Stage 15 [Oserian, 18.33km] offered up a much smoother and more forgiving road surface to the crews.  

Despite a wild moment running wide at a left-hander, Evans came through to win the stage and move up to third in the Super Sunday points classification.

The Toyota driver was 3.2s faster than Tanak with Neuville maintaining his Sunday attack in third, 5.5s adrift.

Katsuta headed Fourmaux, Rovanpera, Lappi and Munster to complete the top eight in the stage.

The final stage of loop provided yet more drama for Hyundai as all three drivers hit trouble. First, Lappi suffered the second transmission issue of the week that reduced the Finn to a crawl.

Tanak then lost time to a spin in the stage as he attempted to avoid boulders that had been dragged out onto the road by earlier runners. The Estonian only dropped 2.6s to stage winner Evans, who survived the test unscathed.

Neuville wasn’t so fortunate as he clouted a huge rock with his right-rear, which broke his suspension. Luckily, he was able to nurse the car to the finish before heading back to service.

Katsuta, Fourmaux, Rovanpera and Munster managed to avoid the hazards to complete the stage.  

In WRC2, Gus Greensmith delivered a measured drive to maintain his class lead in sixth overall. The British driver, who has been battling a stomach bug, led Oliver Solberg, sitting seventh, by 1m54.4s.

The crews will repeat the trio of stages this afternoon.    



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Why Rovanpera is able to tame WRC Safari Rally stages

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Rovanpera has proved to be the class of the field in Kenya, which is regarded as the most gruelling event on the WRC calendar.

The reigning two-time world champion is the only Rally1 driver to avoid punctures or any major delays across the 13 stages to date, which has resulted in a huge 2m08.9s lead over Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.

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Rovanpera, a previous Safari winner in 2022, has won seven of the 13 stages, including a clean sweep of Friday’s tests.

When asked about his impressive trouble-free run, the 23-year-old said he was simply following a pre-event plan.

“The plan for the weekend was to be fast when we know, let’s say, there is clear road ahead to do it, and be safe when it is needed. It has been paying off so far,” said Rovanpera.

Pressed on how much of his success in Kenya was down to genius or luck, he added: “That is difficult to know, really, but for sure I’m quite confident that I’m doing well also.

“We have good notes and I am taking quite good care, I don’t have any big hits and the tyres have been in quite good condition, so it has to be something at least.”

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Toyota boss Latvala believes Rovanpera is particularly skilled in being able to assess the sections of stages and the risk level he should engage.

“You have to build up your own luck, and I think the difference is, Kalle is able to understand the sectors where he can push and where he should take it a bit easier,” said Latvala.

“He is able to understand which area is the worst for rocks and he is taking it a bit easier in those sectors, when I think maybe others push too much.”

Rovanpera will need to continue his plan for six more stages on Sunday to secure a second win in Kenya and his first of his 2024 partial campaign.

With a maximum of 12 points available for the fastest drivers on Sunday’s leg under the new Super Sunday rules, Latvala expects his driver to back off, offering his full-time team-mates an opportunity to maximise their points hauls tomorrow.

“Generally speaking for Kalle, he doesn’t need to take risks tomorrow. I assume his approach will be that he will take it a bit easier as he wants to win the rally and then probably he will want to push on the Power Stage,” he added.

“But he is not going to try and go for all the stages as he knows those points don’t matter so much for him, the victory is more important.”

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Neuville frustrated as WRC Safari Rally hoodoo continues

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The WRC points leader climbed to second position across Saturday morning, benefitting from punctures delaying his Toyota rivals Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.

However, Thierry Neuville’s bid for a podium was dashed when his i20 N struggled for power, and he was forced to stop on several occasions before ending the stage in EV mode.

Neuville was unable to fix the problem that Hyundai stated was related to the fuel system and ultimately lost more than 10 minutes navigating through the afternoon loop.

As a result, the Belgian dropped from second to fifth [+11m48.6s behind leader Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera], conceding a provisional seven championship points to title rival Evans, who ended the day in fourth overall, from the Saturday classification.

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Neuville cut a frustrated figure in service park given this is the fourth year in succession he has encountered problems on the Safari Rally.

“I don’t have a lot to say to be honest. Obviously, it was visible that the car wasn’t running and somehow we couldn’t solve the problems, so we continued the whole loop like this,” said Neuville.

“I’m really disappointed with the outcome when you put some much effort into that work and your preparations, and you don’t get the reward, and it is the fourth consecutive year we have been hit by trouble, it doesn’t feel very good.

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“We kept fighting and we will keep fighting but obviously we gave seven points to Elfyn and five points to Ott [Tanak], so that is a lot of points we miss out.

“It is not related to Safari, it is not a Safari-related issue, which is even more frustrating.”

Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul added: “Thierry’s issue in the afternoon is something we haven’t really seen before, so we need to have a look at the data and the fuel tank to understand what is going on.”

Neuville will stand to pick up eat least eight championship points if he can finish Sunday’s stages, where a further 12 points are offer under the new-for-2024 points system.

Lappi explains bizarre double bird strike

Neuville’s team-mate Esapekka Lappi also encountered a myriad of issues ranging from punctures to run ins with the local wildlife.

In the final stage of the day Lappi’s i20N was struck by two birds in separate incidents which left his windscreen smashed. The impacts forced the Finn to crawl through the Sleeping Warrior stage due to poor visibility, while Lappi also struggled with debris entering his eyes.

«The last one [stage] was going well but we had a couple of birds and they were at different locations. One was just flying and I don’t know how big it was but [co-driver] Janne [Ferm] was sure it was going to come inside,» said Lappi.

«The windscreen cracked immediately and I could live with that it was not too bad but a couple of kilometres later there was another strike and now the windscreen was really inside [the car]. I couldn’t see anything anymore and we needed to slow down a lot as it was not safe to drive.   

«I still feel something [in my eyes] so I will need to go to see medical staff to try and wash them out.»



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Drama strikes Neuville, Rovanpera firmly in control

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Reigning world champion Rovanpera was one of the few to avoid punctures or mechanical issues to complete the day’s six stages with a 2m08.9s lead over Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, with M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux third [+3m13.3s].

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The trio will bank 18-15-13 championship points respectively under the new-for-2024 scoring system if they finish the rally tomorrow.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans started the day in second but dropped to fifth after picking up two punctures across the morning. The Welshman climbed to fourth when a fuel system issue stuck title rival Neuville, which dropped the Hyundai from second to fifth.

Evans ended the day in fourth [+5m35.6s] to bag a provisional 10 points, despite suffering another two punctures. Neuville nursed his car through in fifth [+11m48.6s] to scoop a provisional eight points, while top WRC2 runner Gus Greensmith held sixth overall [15m02.0s].

Forecast rain for the afternoon prompted Hyundai to fit its snorkel for the first time this weekend, joining Toyota and M-Sport-Ford, who have run their Safari-spec intakes throughout the rally.

It didn’t have to work too hard in the first stage of the loop [Soysambu, 29.32km], which was bone dry but full of the hazardous fesh-fesh sand.

Dust was however an issue for Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, who rejoined the rally on Saturday after crashing out on Friday’s stage six. A broken side window made conditions in the cabin particularly challenging as dust found its way inside. Tanak also revealed that he was carrying another yet to be defined issue.   

Team-mate Esapekka Lappi navigated through the stage fifth fastest, but Hyundai’s Safari Rally misfortune continued when Neuville slowed. The Belgian appeared to be battling a fuel system problem that required two stoppages in the stage. Neuville eventually engaged EV mode to reach the stage end, having slumped from second to fifth overall and dropping 2m38.7s in the process.

“I have absolutely nothing to say,” said a frustrated Neuville.

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

After working on the car, he was able to fire up the engine and head to the next stage.

Katsuta pipped team-mate Evans by 2.6s to win the stage, inheriting second overall following Neuville’s drama. Rovanpera was third fastest, but the Finn actually extended his rally lead to 2m20.2s.

Likewise, M-Sport’s Fourmaux climbed into the podium places in third as the Frenchman continued his sensible approach to the rally.

Neuville’s engine issue continued into stage 12 [Elmenteita, 15.08km] despite starting the stage seemingly with full power engaged. However, he ground to a halt in the stage before finding a way to refire the car to reach the stage end, albeit down on power. Despite dropping more than seven minutes, he held onto fifth overall.

The stage was claimed by Evans who pipped Tanak by a second, the latter having solved the dust issue that hampered him on the previous test.

Evans’ first stage win of the event to date was chalked up with a front-left puncture on his GR Yaris. Fourmaux extended his strong showing by recording a third fastest time, 2.9s slower than Evans.

“I’m feeling good. You know the movie with Ricky Bobby, Talladega Nights? Shake and bake baby,” said a happy Fourmaux.  

Rally leader Rovanpera was again untroubled. The Finn was able to adopt a measured approach given his sizeable lead over Katsuta. 

The expected heavy rain showers failed to arrive for the day’s final test [Sleeping Warrior, 36.08km] but it didn’t dampen the drama on show.

Lappi’s run of bad luck continued after striking two birds in separate incidents that smashed his i20 N’s windscreen, reducing him to a crawl.  

«[I have] just some glass in my eyes. On one straight we hit a big bird then later on we hit a second bird. Two different places,” said Lappi, who pulled over to let Tanak through.

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

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

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Team-mate Neuville fared slightly better nursing his wounded i20 N to the finish, dropping 59.9s, but he crucially held on to fifth overall.

However, his nearest championship rival Evans also lost time to a fourth puncture of the day when his left rear let go towards the end of the test, causing a 2m19.3s deficit.

It wasn’t the only tyre problem on the stage as third-placed Fourmaux encountered his first issue of the rally. The Frenchman’s front-left tyre exploded, but luckily it only resulted in a 39.7s time loss.

«It’s our first issue since the beginning, so statistically it’s okay. The lines were pushing me out and there was a rock. At one point the tyre just exploded,” said Fourmaux.

Tanak won the stage by 10.0s from Katsuta with Rovanpera, without hybrid power, third fastest. 

The crews will tackle six more stages on Sunday to conclude this year’s Safari Rally.



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Costly WRC Safari Rally punctures a “mystery”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Evans started Saturday sitting in second trailing leader Kalle Rovanpera by 56.9s but ended the morning loop in fifth [+3m34.2s] after picking up punctures in stage eight [Soysambu] and 10 [Sleeping Warrior].

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Evans picked up a left-rear failure in the day’s opening test before losing the right rear in the famous Sleeping Warrior test. The Welshman admitted he was perplexed by the tyre issues and was unable to pinpoint how they had occurred.

“I was driving as well as possible. It is such a long way to go you can’t think about too much and you just have to do the best rhythm and drive to the notes you made on the recce. The two punctures are a mystery, not ideal,” said Evans.

“The first one is a complete mystery, I at least know the area of the second one but I don’t know how and why.

“We have to keep going as you never know what can happen, so we have to continue to drive well.”

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Evans wasn’t the only driver to suffer punctures as team-mate Takamoto Katsuta picked up front- and rear-right failures in stage 10. The Japanese driver ceded 1m24.6s, which dropped him to third behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, having briefly inherited second after Evans’ first puncture.

“It was not clear where the rocks are in the cuts and they are very hidden, so you don’t know where they are,” said Katsuta.

“I hit something and got a puncture but there was nothing on the recce so I was very surprised, but this can happen. It was very unfortunate, but you need luck here.”

At the front, Rovanpera driving the third Toyota, managed to skip through the stages with all his tyres intact, benefitting from what he declared was a “steady” pace in the stages.

“It was a good morning from us and quite a steady pace in the first two ones, and I would say clever driving, and then on Sleeping Warrior we tried to have a good pace, but it was a bit muddy and tough,” said Rovanpera, who opened up a 1m27.9s rally lead over Neuville.

“There was lot of cutting and I was not taking a lot of risk in the cuts, I would say it was quite a steady pace from us and everything worked quite well.

“I felt I was driving quite fast when the conditions were good and then when it wasn’t I still took quite good care of the tyres and the car, and it worked out well.”



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