The overnight leader started the morning with a 1m23s margin but a front-left puncture on the loop’s penultimate test reduced his advantage to 16.8s over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak heading into the afternoon’s four stages.
Rovanpera’s issue has brought Tanak into the fight for victory after the 2019 world champion was elevated into second once teammate Thierry Neuville was demoted to fourth overall, after incurring a one-minute penalty for speeding during a road section on Friday.
M-Sport’s Craig Breen headed into service in third spot 57.8s adrift of the lead, but the Irishman’s margin over Neuville is 26.2s after the latter won the final stage of the morning.
Organisers were forced to cancel the day’s opening stage following a high-speed crash for Hyundai’s Oliver Solberg on stage 9, which was held in foggy and damp conditions.
The Swede lost the rear of his i20 N before clouting a grass bank with the rear of the car. A hot exhaust caused the vehicle to catch fire but luckily Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson escaped unharmed before the blaze began.
The incident elevated Toyota’s Elfyn Evans to fifth overall ahead of Toyota teammate Takamoto Katsuta.
Following Solberg’s crash, crews headed to Stage 10 which started 40 minutes late as a result of the earlier incident.
Inconsistent conditions made tyre selection a tough choice with the roads featuring a mixture of dry and wet sections.
Esapekka Lappi, who rejoined the fray after retiring on Friday’s opening stage, took the stage win using a mix of wet and slick tyres
The Toyota driver emerged 0.6s faster than teammate Evans, while Gus Greensmith was only 2.2s back as he attempted to recover ground after Friday’s punctures.
Rally leader Rovanpera dropped 10.6s to nearest rival Tanak in the stage as both drivers elected to run with four wet tyres.
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport
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