Credit: Redbull
Kalle Rovanpera took the Rally Estonia lead late on in the day after his teammate, Elfyn Evans dropped 22 seconds on the last stage. Deteriorating weather allowed the Finnish driver to take the final stage by 15s due to running first and having better conditions compared to his rivals.
Craig Breen had started the day in the lead after winning the opening test on Thursday however would be running fourth by the time he slid off the road. Breen collided with a post on the grass which caused his Ford Puma’s front left suspension to break, forcing him to retire.
Evans had a better start to the day however, the Welshman won five of the dry stages in the morning before Rovanpera would half the gap in the following two. Evans would slide off the final test of Vastsemoisa due to the gravel turning into mud with the heavy rain coming down.
Evans would comment: “The conditions were pretty horrific and lots of aquaplaning at the start of the stage and we had a fair ‘moment’. Let’s say I was a bit more careful after that, it was a bit of a surprise the conditions were so bad at the start.”
Home favourite Ott Tanak would finish the day in third only 44.3s off the lead. The Hyundai driver had to contend with handling problems and a heater pipe blowing onto his windscreen and misting his view.
Esapekka Lappi would make it a third Toyota in the top 4 despite going off-road on the final stage. Lappi had been suffering from brake problems all morning but would be able to drive around the issue to bring the car back.
The Hyundai of Thierry Neuville would finish the day in fifth as he would be another driver that would suffer from handling issues. The Belgian is only 7s behind Lappi making it game on still for Saturday’s runs.
Adrien Fourmaux was the best of the Ford contingent in sixth place. Fourmaux’s windscreen wiper blades failed which led to the Frenchman overshooting a corner on the second to last stage of the day.
Fourmaux’s teammate, Pierre-Louis Loubet wouldn’t have much luck as he rolled his car on the final stage, dropping a chunk of time.
Takamoto Katsuta would end the day seventh as the Japanese driver spent the day building his confidence after a big roll in Thursday’s shakedown.
Keyword: Rovanpera snatches late lead from teammate Evans