Kalle Rovanpera says his Safari Rally lead is “not even close to being enough” to put an opportunity for a first World Rally Championship win of the season beyond doubt.
The reigning world champion delivered a dominant display to reel off the fastest times in all six of Friday's stages to open up a commanding 56.9s lead over Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. Rovanpera's most impressive drive arrived in stage four where he was 11.1s faster than nearest rival Hyundai's Ott Tanak, who retired from the day two stages later. Tanak had managed to stay within 18.6s of the Toyota driver before crashing out on stage six.
For sure, it is good, but we need to work the same way tomorrow and then after tomorrow we can see where we are. Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Photo by: Toyota Racing 'When it rains here it rains a lot so you can have a lot of standing water and basically all the clay and stuff on the ground turns to really slippy mud and it is like going on ice. The grip is zero and you need to fight even on the straights to keep the car on the road.
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