Kalle Rovanpera stands to make big gains in his push for back-to-back world titles following a rough and tough day on the Acropolis Rally.
Having started Saturday’s penultimate leg 25.5s off top spot in his factory Toyota, Rovanpera reached the overnight halt in Lamia with an advantage of more than two minutes over Dani Sordo, who progressed from seventh to second as several rivals dropped back or dropped out in central Greece.
Elfyn Evans, who is battling his team-mate Rovanpera for the world championship crown, is third, 5.0s behind Sordo, having demoted Sebastien Ogier on the final stage of the day.
Ogier was 12.4s ahead of Rovanpera starting the 18.2 kilometres of Eleftherochori but began losing time with approximately six kilometres of the run remaining after his Toyota’s left-rear suspension failed.
With a right-rear puncture adding to his woes, Ogier was forced to limp through the stage, stopping the clocks 3m44.8s behind Rovanpera in fourth.
“A lot was happening in the front today,” Rovanpera said.
“It was a nice battle [with Ogier], of course not the easiest to push against Seb because we have the championship to think for.
“We did a really good day, we were fast, we kept the car in one piece also with a bit of luck but that’s what you need sometimes. A clean day, that’s good.”
Thierry Neuville’s overnight lead of 2.8s lasted until the finish of the morning’s mud-hit opening test.
Rovanpera set the fastest time but Ogier was 10.6s quicker than Neuville to take the lead by 7.8s. But Neuville, who reckoned he couldn’t have gone quicker, was back ahead at the completion of stage eight, Karoutes, after Ogier overshot a left-hand junction and stalled, losing approximately 10s.
With Ogier trading speed for caution on SS9, Neuville was able to make further gains with his advantage standing at 10.6s at the midday service halt.
But Neuville’s hopes of back-to-back Acropolis wins were wrecked when he made heavy contact with a hole in the road 11 kilometres from the start of the second Pavliani stage.
The impact broke his Hyundai’s front-right suspension and gifted Ogier the lead over Rovanpera by 12.6s with two stages of the day remaining.
Although Rovanpera clocked his fourth fastest stage time of the day on SS11, Ogier was just 0.2s behind to ensure his lead still stood at more than 12s ahead of Saturday’s finale.
But while Ogier hit trouble, Rovanpera was able to charge to the fastest stage time and a very comfortable overnight gap, as Ogier tried but failed to reach end-of-day service in Lamia due to damage.
The eight-time world champion is expected to restart on Sunday, however.
Behind second-placed Sordo, Evans recovered from a tough SS9, when he was forced to switch to electric-only mode after his Yaris overheated, to hold third with Ott Tanak moving up to fourth following Ogier’s exit.
Saddled with 3:40s of penalties after his water pump woes of Friday morning, the M-Sport Ford driver reported a lack of power from his Puma this morning.
But, given the rate of attrition, the Estonian is one place off the podium ahead of Sunday’s three-stage leg.
Esapekka Lappi is fifth for Hyundai after a demanding day.
Following a handbrake issue on SS7, the Finn was forced to change a damaged wheel after he hit a rock on SS8. Alternator and transmission issues then caused more misery in the afternoon.
After spinning on SS7, Takamoto Katsuta is sixth, one place ahead of WRC2 leader Andreas Mikkelsen.
Having seemingly dropped out of contention with a spate of punctures on Friday, the former category champion has battled back to lead his Toksport Skoda team-mate Gus Greensmith by 0.4s after the pair swapped places on Saturday’s final stage.
Sunday’s action begins with the rough and ready 23.37-kilometre Tarzan stage at 08:19 local time.
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