The Rally Finland opened with a thrilling three-way battle. At the end of day one of “Formula One in the Forest”, Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) find themselves second overall, just 5.2 seconds off the lead. The front-runners in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) are lurking well within striking distance of leader Thierry Neuville (Ford) – and 3.7 seconds ahead of Mads Østberg (Ford). Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/FIN), also at the wheel of a Polo R WRC, ended leg one in Finland in eighth place overall – just over 20 seconds behind the leader. Up to this point, there has been little to choose between the front-runners at the full-throttle bonanza through the Finnish forests: the first six special stages featured just 45.51 kilometres against the clock – a real sprint rally. On Friday the drivers will tackle 148.50 kilometres of special stage, followed by a further 130.20 kilometres against the clock on Saturday before the winner is crowned at the end of the 23 special stages on Saturday evening.
The opening day of the Rally Finland ended earlier than hoped for Jari-Matti Latvala/Mikka Anttila (FIN/FIN). Four podiums – including a win in Greece – had seen Jari-Matti Latvala establish himself as the most consistent driver in the World Rally Championship of late, and climb to second place in the Drivers’ Championship. In Finland, however, the pair was unfortunate to hit a rock the size of a handball at the side of the road, damaging the rear-left suspension in the process. Latvala/Anttila proceeded to struggle on through a further two stages despite the damage sustained before they eventually had to call it a day. The Volkswagen team will work through the night to repair the number 7 Polo R WRC, in order to allow the Finnish pair to rejoin the action under Rally 2 regulations on Friday.
After three of the six special stages, the gap between the first and second-placed cars was exactly zero point zero seconds. The protagonists: three different drivers from three different manufacturers. Thierry Neuville (Ford), Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) and Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen) were embroiled in a battle in which every tenth of a second counted. Hirvonen, Ogier and Hirvonen again led after special stages two, three and four – tied on each occasion with Neuville. For the purpose of comparison: a blink of the human eye lasts one tenth of a second.
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