Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera pulled clear of his rivals on the penultimate day of RallyNZ, putting himself in a position to secure his maiden WRC title.
The Toyota driver, celebrating his 22nd birthday, claimed three of the day’s five completed stages, held in treacherous wet conditions, to spring into a commanding 29.0s lead over teammate Sebastien Ogier.
Rovanpera would also win that stage to jump ahead of chief title rival Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, who ended the day 46.4s shy in third at the end of Saturday. Solberg was able to recover the lost ground when Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta crashed out on Stage 12, ending his run of finishing every WRC event this year in the points. Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Tanak was unable to respond to Rovanpera’s pacing subsequently dropped 17.9s leaving the Hyundai driver more than half a minute adrift. Ogier was again his nearest challenger albeit 6.6s adrift but the Frenchman was handed a 10s penalty for checking into the stage a minute late. "Of course, everything is not okay but the target is to come through,” said Tanak. “Luckily this stage was more consistent with less muddy places. It's such a shame.”
The stage would however provide joy for M-Sport as Breen made the most of the better weather conditions to set the fastest time, his second stage win of the event.
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