Imperial, the Finn won the three stages of this second loop on Saturday, to lead with a 9.4″ lead over Andreas Mikkelsen. The Toyota driver admitted, he needed a little time to get into the rhythm of a rally in which he was not supposed to participate (he replaced the injured Sébastien Ogier at short notice). A second loop on the same special stages as this morning therefore presented a great opportunity to increase his lead, thus having a little knowledge of special stages traversed.
While Rovanperä chose mostly soft tires on his Yaris WRC, it proved to be a smart choice, albeit one that worried the young Finn. Convinced that Mikkelsen, who had three hard tires on his Hyundai, was going to beat him on the last special of the day, Rovanperä appeared quite disappointed at the end of the 14th special. It ultimately didn’t happen, Mikkelsen estimating that the heavy tire wear on the first of the three afternoon stages was more significant than on the last two stages.
However, one name is not mentioned in the fight for victory, although he finished the mid-day Super Special four tenths behind Rovanperä, it is Elfyn Evans! The Welshman suffered a left-rear puncture in the first of three afternoon stages, losing eight seconds. In total, he is now 16″1 behind, and he is in third place in this Rally of Poland, ahead of a solid Adrien Fourmaux, who is 21 seconds off the podium, and 21 seconds ahead of fifth place.
Neuville remains behind Sesks
A fifth place destined for Thierry Neuville, wound up like a cuckoo in the afternoon specials. However, the Belgian driver found a choice opponent in Martins Sesks, who is competing in his first WRC rally in Rally1, in a Ford Puma without a hybrid system! On the wire, the Latvian managed to save his fifth place this Saturday, by a tiny tenth of a second! A position that is not so anecdotal, because if Sesks does not score any points in the championship and therefore does not make Neuville lose any, the Belgian from Hyundai will have to start before the Latvian on the road tomorrow, and will thus sweep a little more. The damage limitation operation will therefore be engaged.
In a way, Neuville can thank his teammate Ott Tänak, who will be the first to take part in the specials this Sunday, following his encounter with an animal in the first special, Friday. The Estonian did not take part in the afternoon specials, in order to preserve his mount as much as possible before a “Super Sunday” that he will want to lead at full speed.
Finally, in the WRC2 category, while the fight for victory seemed to be over following the exit of Kajetan Kajetanowicz this morning, Oliver Solberg completed three great special stages to come back to 26″3 behind leader Sami Pajari! The two men should have a good fight for victory this Sunday, unless Robert Virves, third and very fast since the start of the weekend, comes to beat them on the post…
Rally Poland – General classification after SS15
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