Sebastien Ogier and stand-in co-driver Julien Ingrassia delivered a faultless drive to lead Rally Finland after an incident packed Friday morning loop.
The Ogier-Ingrassia partnership that last competed together five years ago quickly gelled, winning three of the four fast gravel stages to head to midday service with a 5.3s lead over Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux.
“I think there was a lot of risk for me in there,” Ogier said after the final stage of the loop. “I pushed hard and there were some little moments. Honestly, we pushed on every stage.”
Rally Estonia winner Sami Pajari completed the loop in third, 8s from the lead, while Oliver Solberg climbed to fourth following costly incidents for Thierry Neuville, Esapekka Lappi and Jon Armstrong.
Ogier immediately took control on the opening 18.16km Laukaa test. Despite admitting that he had endured a less-than-perfect start to the stage, the Frenchman was 2.9s faster than Fourmaux and Lappi, who shared the second-fastest time.
This was enough to launch Ogier into the rally lead by 1.7s, a position he maintained for the loop.
Sami Pajari, Marko Salminen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Pajari emerged as the only other driver to claim a fastest time after taking out stage three. The Finn climbed to second overall on stage four, but dropped behind the impressive Fourmaux to the tune of 2.7s after the final test of the loop.
“It’s been a great morning, but I would like more,” said Fourmaux. “Sometimes I’m in the line, sometimes the line is very challenging. It’s definitely not easy this morning, but I’m happy.”
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville had been firmly in the fight sitting fourth overall before a moment on stage five (Hoho) saw him strike a hidden rock in the undergrowth.
The impact badly damaged the front-left suspension of his i20 N Rally1 and cost more than 1m30s. There were fears that the 2024 world champion wouldn’t be able to reach service, but somehow he managed to bring the car back.
The same couldn’t be said for team-mate Lappi. The Finn had come out of the blocks quickly to hold fifth overall before a costly mistake in stage four.
Lappi lost the rear of the car and ran into a ditch that pitched his i20 N Rally1 into a roll. It is unlikely the damage to the car will be fixed for the remainder of the rally.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Federico Manoni / NurPhoto via Getty Images
As a result, Toyota’s Solberg climbed to fourth, 11.8s from the lead. The Monte Carlo winner had been struggling to find the feeling on his first outing in a Rally1 car on Finnish roads.
World Rally Championship points leader Elfyn Evans completed the morning in fifth overall, 14.1s from Ogier, after briefly running into the bushes on the final stage.
Takamoto Katsuta endured a difficult loop with persistent understeer and oversteer and reached service sixth, 27.4s from the lead.
M-Sport-Ford’s Mārtins Sesks and Josh McErlean completed the surviving Rally1 order in seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of Friday afternoon’s repeat loop.
Team-mate Jon Armstrong was not so fortunate as his day ended after clipping the rear-right of his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 and bouncing off into a ditch on stage three.
Spectators attempted to recover the stranded car, but the Northern Irishman was unable to continue the loop.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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