Rovanpera: Estonia weather was "on our side" in WRC turnaround

The Toyota driver managed to overturn a 10.9s deficit to Toyota team-mate and long-time rally leader Elfyn Evans on the day's final stage as wet weather wreaked late drama.

Rovanpera emerged from Stage 9 with the stage win and an 11.7s rally lead over Evans heading into Saturday, as the the Welshman struggled in the worsening wet conditions.

Having been forced to open the roads, virtue of his championship-leading position, Rovanpera turned this into an advantage as the steady rain he faced became progressively heavier for his rivals running later.

Confident the conditions would become worse, the 21-year-old Finn actively pushed harder on the slippery gravel.

“This morning the conditions were quite dry, so there was a lot of cleaning for us, but I think we managed quite well and we didn’t lose too much time,” said Rovanpera.

“I think I did a good job during the day opening the road, and also in the afternoon we had good times.

“Of course, the weather on the last stage was on our side. In the last one it was heavy rain and I knew it was not going to get any better for the guys behind, so I pushed a lot so we could get the lead.

“Elfyn has been really fast the whole day, and now that we will be close together in the road order we will try to do our best to fight, but we also need to think about the points for the championship.”

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Evans felt he was unlucky to suffer the conditions he faced on Stage 9 having briefly held a 19.9s lead over Rovanpera after winning five of the day’s eight stages.

Unseen by the television cameras, the 2020 and 2021 WRC runner-up suffered a wild moment at the start of the test when the heavy rain struck, which contributed in losing 22.6s