Toyota driver Kalle Rovanperä is leading the WRC Rally Greece before the final special stages on Sunday, although he started Saturday 25.5 seconds behind. But technical problems with Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier paved his way to the top. And now he has a lead of 2:04.4 minutes over Hyundai driver Dani Sordo.
Neuville had retired in the Hyundai on the first stage of the afternoon with suspension damage and handed over the lead to Ogier. But Ogier lost four minutes on the final stage of the afternoon due to a suspension problem, dropping him to fourth place.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans finished the day third (+2:09.4 minutes) behind Rovanperä and Sordo, despite losing more than a minute on Saturday morning due to an overheating problem on his GR Yaris.
Ott Tänak from M-Sport inherited fifth place (+4:49.7). His arrears include a 3:40 minute penalty he received on Friday due to a water pump problem that caused him to leave the tire fitting zone too late.
The WRC Saturday in Greece in the rearview mirror
Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi brought his damaged i20 N through the final stage of the day in sixth place ahead of Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta, who suffered two punctures in the afternoon.
The afternoon loop had started in dramatic fashion as leader Neuville’s hopes of repeating his Acropolis victory from last year faded on the 24.25km Stage 10 “Pavliani”.
After eleven kilometers, Neuville hit a hole in the road, which bent his right front wheel and damaged the suspension so much that repairs on the side of the road were no longer possible. Due to Neuville’s failure, the lead of the rally passed to Ogier, who finished the stage with the second fastest time behind Rovanperä.
On the roads, which were significantly drier but even rougher compared to the first round, Rovanperä moved ahead of Ogier by 0.2 seconds and reduced the gap to the new rally leader to 12.6 seconds.
Lappi and Katsuta with problems on the 11th stage
Sordo took third place (+1:48.2 minutes), 1.6 seconds ahead of Evans, who lost a minute on the final stage of the morning loop due to a suspected overheating problem on his GR Yaris. Toyota was able to fix the problem during the lunch service, allowing Evans to set the third fastest time on Stage 10.
On the eleventh stage “Karoutes” the rough gravel roads of Greece continued to make their presence felt as both Lappi and Katsuta were delayed by problems.
Katsuta lost 4:35.7 minutes after stopping twice to change the left and right front tires. The delay was enough to allow Lappi to overtake the Japanese driver in the test, although the Finn’s car was not in the best shape due to alternator failure and a gearbox problem. These problems brought Tänak back into the fight and he finished fifth ahead of Katsuta and Lappi.
The fight for victory continued at the front: Rovanperä won the stage again with a lead of 0.2 seconds over Ogier and came within 12.4 seconds of the Frenchman.
There was further positive news for Toyota as Evans overtook Sordo by 4.1 seconds, giving Toyota a one-two lead. This change in position was successful, although Evans suffered a puncture towards the end of the test, which damaged the rim.
Rear suspension costs Ogier valuable time
The final stage of the day, “Eleftherochori” over 18.02 kilometers, offered another twist when Ogier, the final rider, suffered a technical problem: the Frenchman suffered a defect in the left rear suspension and a puncture, which cost the eight-time world champion the lead and four minutes and dropped him to fourth place in the overall standings.
Ogier was able to hold out until the end of the stage and was seen working on his car to cover the 27 kilometers to the service park in Lamia. His teammate and new rally leader Rovanperä took the stage win with a lead of 12.9 seconds over Sordo.
Rovanperä says: “It was a nice fight, of course not the easiest with Seb [Ogier], because we are fighting for the title. I think we had a good day, we were quick but we also kept the car in one piece.”
In WRC2, Andreas Mikkelsen finished the special stages with a lead of 0.4 seconds over Gus Greensmith.
The Rally Greece will end after the three stages on Sunday.