WRC part-timer wins as rock ruins Rally Finland for Rovanpera

Rovanpera led Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier by 45.8 seconds with two stages to go before his weekend came undone on the penultimate stage.

That gifted Ogier a bittersweet victory over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux of Ford.

“Hard to really smile right now,” said the Frenchman, who won by 40 seconds.

“Of course, a win in Finland is always nice but just not the way we would have liked it.

“Very sorry for Kalle and Jonne (co-driver). They were having amazing pace all weekend.”

Rovanpera said he couldn’t have done much differently to avoid the rock.

“We had a really good morning with everything under control and still fighting for Sunday points without taking any risks,” said Rovanpera.

“On pretty much the last corner of the penultimate stage we were driving normally with a steady pace but in the middle of the corner, there was a huge loose stone which I could not avoid and it threw us off the road.

“It’s quite an unreal feeling, considering there was nothing we could have done to change the situation. It’s quite tough to take but on the other hand, Jonne (co-driver) and I executed a perfect weekend until that point and couldn’t really have done anything differently.”

That’s how disaster struck for the rally leaders on SS19 😱 (Crew OK) @KalleRovanpera / @JonneHalttunen @TGR_WRC #WRC | #SectoRallyFinland 🇫🇮 pic.twitter.com/4UoX35s0cP

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) August 4, 2024

Rally Finland was punctuated by attrition across the four days.

Hyundai driver Ott Tanak was an early exit after he rolled his car into a tree on stage three. His co-driver was airlifted to hospital for precautionary checks.

On stage six, Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi hit a tree and dropped out of contention. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta was another victim on stage six, hitting a tree. Both drivers tore the right rear wheel from their cars.

Toyota lost its other full-time entry Elfyn Evans on the same stage that Rovanpera crashed out.

While Rovanpera’s crash was completely out of his control, the same couldn’t be said for Evans who took blame for the incident.

No room for error in this sport 😔#WRC | #SectoRallyFinland 🇫🇮 pic.twitter.com/fGWJk2KIUd

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) August 4, 2024

The Brit was already well out of contention to the point after suffering a transmission issue earlier in the rally.

“Unfortunately we had an accident right at the beginning of the penultimate stage,” said Evans.

“I’d managed the corner OK on the first pass, but I had a bit of understeer in the ruts the second time around and ran out of road.

“We knew it was a tricky corner, but it was more down to the way the car reacted in the rut than the speed.

“It was a costly mistake on my part and a weekend that went from bad to worse – but this is motorsport and these things happen.

“There are four rounds to go in the championship and everything is still open, so we’ll continue to give our all until the very end.”

Despite only competing in select rallies this year, Ogier is still in contention for the title.

He sits second behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who has 168 points. Ogier’s record reads 2-1-1-2-WD-2-1 and has him on 141 points.

Results: WRC Rally Finland (top 10)