2023-07-21 23:56:34
©TOYOTA
Round 8 of the 2023 WRC, Rally Estonia (Gravel), ran the 7SS of the second day on Friday, July 21, and Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera took the lead. Thierry Neuville was 2nd, 3.0 seconds behind, and Esapekka Lappi and Hyun Dae were 3rd, 12.2 seconds behind. Takamoto Katsuta, driving the third Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1, is in 7th place with a difference of 1’3.6.
Following Thursday’s SS1 in Tartu, where the service park is located, the full-fledged forest road stage started on Friday. 7SS, 132.65km, looping through 3 stages in the north and south of Tartu with an intermediate service in between, and ending with SS8 in the south area. This will be the longest day of the rally, including the longest 24.35km “Peipsiaare (SS2/SS5)”.
In the opening SS2, M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tänak set the best time, 5.0 seconds behind Neuville and 9.1 seconds ahead of Rovanpera. However, Tänak was handed a five-minute penalty due to an engine change following the shakedown on the previous day, so he will not be able to get involved in the race for victory.
At the end of this stage, Neuville was in the lead, and Rovanpera was 3.2 seconds behind Rovanpera in 2nd overall. Day 1 leader Lappi is now 4.5 seconds behind in 3rd overall. Below, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, 5.4 seconds behind in 6th overall, recalled, “There were a few small mistakes,” and Hyundai’s first entry in Rally 1 this time, in 7.4 seconds behind Tame Suninen. Takamoto Katsuta, driving the third Toyota, was 10.7 seconds behind in 7th overall, down two places from the previous day.
M-SPORT
In SS3, Tänak was also the best in a row with 1.8 seconds ahead of Neuville. “It’s not easy to stay motivated in this situation, but you can keep learning,” Tänak shrugs. Evans moved up to 3rd following passing Lappi, who lost his hybrid during the stage. Katsuta lost a few seconds following overshooting at the junction.
In SS4, Tänak was the best, 1.6 seconds behind Neuville, despite suffering an engine stall in the middle of the stage. Tänak has risen from 48th overall at the start, where he won all the SSs held in the morning, to 30th overall. Neuville was in second place behind Tänak in second place, Rovanpera was 6.8 seconds behind Rovanpera, and Evans was 13.0 seconds behind in 3rd place.
Afternoon section with service at Tartu. Ruts were carved into the road surface during the morning run, and it started to rain. Rovanpera, who was in 2nd place overall, marked the best time in the ever-changing conditions. He narrowed the total time difference to 2.1 seconds from the leader Neuville, who was 4.7 seconds ahead of him on the SS. M-Sport Ford’s Pierre-Louis Roubaix overtook Katsuta, who said, “I’m not feeling confident,” and moved up to 6th place.
HYUNDAI
In the following SS6, Rovanpera was the best in a row. The rut-ridden Neuville remained in SS5, 4.4 seconds behind, and Rovanpera moved into the lead by 2.3 seconds. In the following SS7, Tänak marked his fourth best time of the day. Lappi, who was running second fastest by 2.0 seconds, caught Evans and moved back to 3rd place overall.
SS8 “Neeruti (7.60km)” will be the one and only run to end the long day. Tänak set the best time, 1.1 seconds behind Evans, and finished 11th overall, just one step away from scoring points. Rovanpera, the leader, was 1.8 seconds behind the SS 3rd fastest time, and finished the 2nd day with a 3.0 seconds difference from the overall 2nd place Neuville. “In the morning, when I was first in the starting order, the track surface was more slippery than I expected.
TOYOTA
The gap between Lappi and Evans, who fought for 3rd place overall throughout the day, was 1.9 seconds. Lappi, who was 3rd overall, was 12.2 seconds behind the leader, so we still don’t know. Suninen was 5th overall with a difference of 33.8 seconds, and Roubaix was 6th overall with a difference of 48.8 seconds. Katsuta, who was plagued by the changing conditions, was in 7th overall with a difference of 1’3.6.
The third day of the competition was 9 SS from SS9 to SS17, and the SS distance was 102.61km. The opening SS9 will start at 14:09 on July 11th Japan time.
WRC Estonia provisional results following SS8
1. K. Rovanpera (Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1) 1:12:22.2
2. T. Neuville (Hyundai i20 N Rally 1) +3.0
3. E. Rappi (Hyundai i20 N Rally 1) +12.2
4. E. Evans (Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1) +14.1
5. T. Suninen (Hyundai i20 N Rally 1) +33.8
6. PL. Roubaix (Ford Puma Hybrid Rally 1) +48.8
7. Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1) +1:03.6
8. A. Mikkelsen (Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2) +4:07.4
9. G. Greensmith (Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2) +4:14.1
10. S. Payali (Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2) +4:25.0
11. O. Tänak (Ford Puma Hybrid Rally 1) +4:47.0
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