Rovanpera ends 'amazing week' with victory at Rally Poland / Photo: Wojtek Radwanski - AFP
Rovanpera ends 'amazing week' with victory at Rally Poland
Two-time defending world champion Kalle Rovanpera completed a remarkable week by sealing victory at Rally Poland on Sunday, the seventh of 13 rounds of the World Rally Championship.
The 23-year-old Finn was only drafted in on Tuesday to take part in the rally when Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier had an accident during a reconnaissance run.
The eight-time world champion and his co-driver Vincent Landais, who was involved in a head-on collision, were uninjured, as were the two occupants of the other vehicle involved.
The 'super sub' Rovanpera responded, however, with a superb drive, winning eight of the 19 stages around Mikolajiki in the north-east of the country, and charging to his 13th career victory.
"It’s been quite an amazing week," smiled Rovanpera.
“Definitely I have to say we have been working quite hard and we are really tired now. I think the best thing is we came here, and it was not a bad idea to come.
"We helped the team a lot and took a lot of points for the manufacturers’ championship, so we didn’t waste our time."
Toyota made it a 1-2 with Welshman Elfyn Evans finishing second, 28.3 seconds behind, with M-Sport Ford's Adrien Fourmaux completing the podium.
Second on Sunday morning, just a handful of seconds behind Rovanpera, Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) lost any chance of victory when he suffered a puncture on the 16th stage.
"It was sad what happened today," said the Norwegian who nursed his car through to the finish.
“We were really unlucky. The right thing to do (after the puncture) was to bring the car back for the team.”
The Korean team continues to lead the drivers' championship through Thierry Neuville, fourth in Poland, on 136 points, 15 ahead of Evans who has leapfrogged the other Hyundai driver Ott Tänak who is a further six points back.
Thanks to the victory of its five-star replacement, Toyota are still in a position to retain its two world titles - driver and manufacturer - as the halfway point of the season approaches.
The next round of the WRC will be held in Latvia from July 18-21.
Final standings at Rally Poland
1. Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) 2hrs 33min 07.06sec, 2. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) at 28.3sec, 3. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (FRA/M-Sport Ford) 42.7, 4. Thierry Neuville/Martin Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) 1:10.8, 5. Martins Sesks/Renars Francis (LVA/Ford) 1:47.0
Drivers championship standings
1. Thierry Neuville (BEL) 136 pts, 2. Elfyn Evans (GBR) 121, 3. Ott Tanak (EST) 115, 4. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) 92, 5. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) 91
Constructors championship standings
1. Hyundai 311 pts, 2. Toyota 301, 3. Ford (M-Sport) 156
A.Wallace--EWJ
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