In the penultimate special Ott Tanak (Hyundai) clears the gap with Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota) and sets the arrow, but the Finn, with a phenomenal Power Stage, overturns the situation again and wins the Rally Croatia, third round of the WRC 2022 World Championship
It all happened in the Rally of Croatia, the third round of the WRC 2022 season. The first day of competition, Friday, saw the total domination of Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota). A domination in the rain and among the difficulties for all the drivers – bumps that become jumps, punctures, slippery asphalt with almost completely absent grip in some sections, the dirt of the cuts brought to the center of the road by the passage of the previous cars and the rain itself – which suggested a relatively easy victory for the Finn. But on Saturday morning a puncture in the front left slowed Rovanpera significantly on special stage 11, losing almost all the advantage accumulated over Ott Tanak (Hyundai) up to that moment. In dry conditions the gap between the son of art and the Estonian seemed smaller, with the Finn in front of 19 ”9 before the last four stages on Sunday morning.
WRC World Championship, Rally Croatia: Day3
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Everything is decided on the last day: in the first two stages, in dry conditions, Rovanpera increases the advantage up to 31 ”1, but the penultimate test reverses the situation. The rain is a friend of Tanak, who with two wet and four soft tires – against Kalle’s choice of two wet and four hard – clears the gap with the race leader and even overtakes him by 1 ”4. The last stage, the Power Stage, is the discriminating factor after 2 hours and 22 ‘of timed practice. While Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) goes off the road, he turns and almost throws the third place to the wind, Rovanpera and Tanak push to the limit. The Finn attacks in every single corner, giving everything and more, even taking some risks: “I would have been hurt if I hadn’t managed to win this race after the pace shown throughout the weekend”, said the 21-year-old son of art. . The final result rewards him, with Tanak 4 ”3 behind. Not even Jari-Matti Latvala understands how the young compatriot managed to win a Rally that seemed to have been lost.
World WRC: final classification of the Rally of Croatia
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1. Kalle Rovanpera (Fin-Toyota)
2. Ott Tanak (East-Hyundai)
3. Thierry Neuville (Bel-Hyundai)
4. Craig Breen (Irl-Ford M-Sport)
5. Elfyn Evans (Gb-Toyota)
6. Takamoto Katsuta (Giap-Toyota)
7. Yohan Rossel (Fra-Citroen-WRC2)
8. Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Pol-Skoda-WRC2)
9. Emil Lindholm (Fin-Skoda-WRC2)
10. Nikolay Gryazin (Rus-Skoda-WRC2)
World WRC: championship standings
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1. Kalle Rovanpera (Fin-Toyota) 76 points
2. Thierry Neuville (Bel-Hyundai) 47
3. Craig Breen (Irl-Ford M-Sport) 30
4. Sebastien Loeb (Fra-Ford M-Sport) 27
5. Ott Tanak (East-Hyundai) 27
6. Takamoto Katsuta (Giap-Toyota) 26
7. Gus Greensmith (Gb-Ford M-Sport) 20
8. Sebastien Ogier (Fra-Toyota) 19
9. Elfyn Evans (Gb-Toyota) 17
10. Esapekka Lappi (Fin-Toyota) 15.
April 24, 2022 – 2:50 pm
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