The reigning world champion started this Saturday in the best possible way, with the first two scratch times of the day. Enough to take back the lead against a more difficult Andreas Mikkelsen during SS10. However, we must not forget Elfyn Evans, who took second place overall after the first two timed sections!
The Welshman could have gone even further after the 11th special, the third and final special of this morning loop. He actually got ahead of his teammate Rovanperä, to come back to just a tenth in the general classification. Mikkelsen, who won the scratch, is now 2″2 behind, in third position in an ultra-fast Rally Poland, with a sustained pace and very small gaps. At the end of the third special of the day, Rovanperä did not mince his words: “It’s crap, I should have been much faster! It’s so scary here with so little preparation, we’re in fifth gear all the time. I don’t like it at all but we have to keep going obviously!”
Neuville’s comeback, disappointment for Kajetanowicz
Fourth in two of the three special stages of the morning, Adrien Fourmaux, co-driven by Alexandre Coria, continues his rally at the foot of the podium, 13.5″ ahead of the surprise Martins Sesks. The Latvian, however, risks feeling Thierry Neuville’s breath on his neck by the end of the day, the Belgian driver beginning a comeback after a first day spent sweeping for his competitors. The championship leader overtook Grégoire Munster to gain sixth place. His teammate Ott Tänak returned to the road today, after his accident yesterday which forced him to throw in the towel. The Estonian attacks but gives his all, the important thing for him is to do everything to score as many points as possible this Sunday.
It was ultimately on the WRC2 side that the biggest bombshell occurred. In the last special of the morning, local driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz made a mistake, damaging his Skoda Fabia Rally2! The Pole nearly rolled over before going wide, into stones that damaged his front-left suspension. Stopped a few meters further, Kajetanowicz was able to set off again at very low speed, while he was in second position in his national rally… Enough to allow Sami Pajari to lead the category with a lead of more than 30 seconds.
A third run through the Mikolajki Super Special is scheduled for 1:25 p.m., before a second loop through the same three special stages as this morning, starting at 4 p.m.
Rally Poland – General after SS11
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