The Finn of the Toyota Yaris does another sport compared to his colleagues, winning the Power Stage for 22 ”5 over Elfyn Evans (2nd to 1 ‘in the Rally) and flying at +83 in the World Championship. The idol of the house Tanak does not go beyond the third place, struggling with a Hyundai i20 N not always reliable
It is an unleashed Kalle Rovanpera that is staged in Estonia, the seventh stage of the WRC World Rally. The Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver not only wins the fifth of seven rallies of the 2022 season, once again leaving the crumbs to the others, but impresses with tenacity, determination, perseverance, coolness and ability to drive the Yaris. The overwhelming victory of the Power Stage, with an advantage of 22 ”5 in less than 16 km of special stage that speaks for itself, is yet another show of strength that highlights the 20-year-old Finn, projecting him towards a second part of the season only to manage, given the enormous advantage in the drivers’ standings. On the podium of the Rally Estonia also Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and Ott Tanak (Hyundai), fast yes, but they can do nothing against a champion.
World Rally WRC Estonia: the last day of competition
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Kalle Rovanpera arrives on the last day of competition with a lead of 29 ”1 over his teammate Elfyn Evans and of 1’11” 5 over the local idol Ott Tanak. A carefully constructed margin, special stage after special stage, starting from the last stage on Friday afternoon. On Sunday morning he immediately smiles at the Finn, winner of the SS number 19 Tartu Vald 1 (6.56 km) and of the SS 21 (Kambja 1 of 15.95 km). Ott Tanak, pushed by the warmth of his compatriots fans, but never really fighting for the victory, takes away a small satisfaction: that of winning a PS in his home Rally, the 16.48 km Kanepi 1 (SS 20), signing a time identical to that of the race leader. Before the Power Stage he takes the Esapekka Lappi (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) chair by winning two timed sections. Retirements for Loubet and Greensmith, both in Ford M-Sport Puma Rally1, with the former taking a rock, breaking the left front suspension and the latter being stopped by a suspected transmission problem.
World Rally WRC Estonia: the Power Stage
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The last special stage is a muddy hell, with sunny sections alternating with others of heavy rain. “The hardest PS on dirt road of my career”, defined it by Esapekka Lappi, someone who has a lot of experience to sell. “It was all out of control, mentally it was unnerving”, concluded the Finn at the interview at the end of the test, after having signed the 4th absolute time (+35 “5) of the last stage of the Rally Estonia in front of his teammate in Toyota Takamoto Katsuta (+39 ”). The surprise of the day is the performance of Andreas Mikkelsen (+24 “7), who leads the Skoda Fabia Rally2 to conquer 3 points of the Power Stage, thanks to the starting position that allowed him to enjoy much better climatic conditions than those found by colleagues with Rally1. Kalle Rovanpera’s driving was astonishing, in perfect harmony with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1: the Finn, despite not needing it given his position in the championship standings and in Rally Estonia itself, pushed his teammate Elfyn Evans with 22 ”5 , 2nd and without weapons to be able to counter the overwhelming power of the rising star of the World Rally. A huge gap, for a special test of just over 9 ‘, which is the photograph of the 2022 season of the son of art.
World Rally WRC Estonia: the fantastic four
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Kalle Rovanpera, with a victory built brick by brick for 23 PS before giving the final blow in the Power Stage, thus takes him to 83 points ahead in the championship. An enormous margin that the WRC World Rally has known only in the heyday of Sebastien Loeb. The son of art is in total harmony with the car and in total control of the situation, by posting the best interpreter of the new Rally1 category. Elfyn Evans has to bow to his teammate: the Briton leads the race until the last test on Friday, when he loses the leadership of the race due to the rain that hit the last stage of the day. On Saturday and Sunday the times are always slightly higher than those of Rovanpera and in the final Power Stage he is the best of humans. Ott Tanak, acclaimed by the home crowd, takes a 10 ”penalty for not respecting the transit in electric mode in an area where it was mandatory to do so. Apart from this, which does not compromise or even affect his race, he is continually a victim of the low reliability of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. After the problem with the electric motor, the gear lever that remains in his hand and a thousand other misadventures over the course of the season, in the home Rally even the glass that is not too big plays against him, limiting his visibility. Gray performance for Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), never at ease and never with pace. He suffers from an annoying oversteer and – a speech that can be extended to all Hyundai – from a set-up not at the level of direct competition.
World Rally WRC Estonia: ups and downs
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Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) closes the top five: the Japanese, fresh from the podium in Kenya, has never been familiar with Estonian dirt roads. A puncture slows Esapekka Lappi, while Adrien Fourmaux (Ford M-Sport) loses the sixth final position on the Power Stage, snatching a half-smile from the part-time Finn. Oliver Solberg always drives spectacularly, but not very effectively, breaks the power steering against a stone and wastes another opportunity to show off. The comparison between children of art with Kalle Rovanpera is extremely biased towards the Finnish. WRC2 chapter: with the retirement of Marco Bulacia (third up to that moment with the Skoda Fabia Rally2) at the penultimate special stage due to an accident, Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) took home the category victory. Arrived at the Power Stage with only 3 ”2 ahead of Teemu Suninen (Hyundai), in muddy conditions he beats the opponent. The driver of the i20 N Rally2, trailing by only 6 tenths of a second after the first split time, has to deal with the reliability of the car, effectively losing the efficiency of two of the four cylinders in the middle of the special stage and thus experiencing a gap over 22 “.
World Rally WRC Estonia: the rankings
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WRC World Championship: Estonian Rally final standings
- Kalle Rovanpera (Fin-Toyota) in 2h 54’29 ”0
- Elfyn Evans (Gb-Toyota) at 1’00 “9
- Ott Tanak (East-Hyundai) at 1’55 “7
- Thierry Neuville (Bel-Hyundai) 3’53 ”3
- Takamoto Katsuta (Giap-Toyota) at 4’13 “4
- Esapekka Lappi (Fin-Toyota) at 4’49 ”1
- Adrien Fourmaux (Fra-Ford M-Sport) 5’09 ”2
- Andreas Mikkelsen (Nor-Skoda-Rally2) at 11’01 ”8
- Teemu Suninen (Fin-Hyundai-Rally2) at 11’27 “1
- Emil Lindholm (Fin-Skoda-Rally2) at 13’04 “8.
World Rally WRC: the championship standings
- K. Rovanpera (Fin-Toyota) 175 points
- T.Neuville (Bel-Hyundai) 92
- E.Evans (Gb-Toyota) 79
- O.Tanak (East-Hyundai) 77
- T. Katsuta (Giap-Toyota) 73
- C.Breen (Irl-Ford M-Sport) 60
- S.Loeb (Fra-Ford M-Sport) 35
- S.Ogier (Fra-Toyota) 34
- D. Sordo (Spa-Hyundai) 34
- G.Greensmith (Gb-Ford M-Sport) 28.
July 17, 2022 – 15:27
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