Ogier takes the lead in Rally Finland

Toyota’s reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier and stand-in co-driver Julien Ingrassia balanced pace and risk to lead Rally Finland on Friday after Hyundai’s hopefuls hit trouble.

Ogier ended the day 16.3 seconds ahead of championship-leading teammate Elfyn Evans, with Finland’s Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg completing a Toyota top four on a day of torrential rain and hazardous standing water.

“It’s been a very good day. Very tricky this afternoon [Friday], not so enjoyable, I guess, for anybody, but it’s good that we managed to come out of that,” said Ogier.

Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, the fastest in Thursday’s opening super-special, slid into a concrete block and dropped to sixth, while teammate Thierry Neuville went from second to ninth after damaging his car’s suspension on a rock.

Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi also rolled out, with the crew unhurt.

“Rallying, unfortunately, sometimes it hits you hard,” said Neuville. “But we were able to carry on; we were able to get that experience this afternoon in tremendous conditions.”

Ogier, whose regular co-driver Vincent Landais was absent for personal reasons, won three of the morning’s four fast gravel stages around Jyvasjkyla and overcame a slide into a ditch in the afternoon.

Home hero Pajari, 26.7 seconds behind and losing time with a misted-up windscreen, won stages three and six while Evans, Oliver Solberg and Takamoto Katsuta (eighth overall) contributed to Toyota’s tally and Fourmaux also won a stage.

“The afternoon was a bit of a lottery in the end. I’m glad we managed to survive that,” said Evans, who started the rally with a 25-point lead over Katsuta.

Saturday features a further eight stages.

Reuters