Rovanpera beats Evans to take third consecutive win

The Toyota driver clinched the first gravel rally of the new Rally1 hybrid era by 15.2 seconds after seeing off a brief challenge from teammate Elfyn Evans.

Rovanpera sealed the victory in style by winning the final powerstage on the weekend where the WRC celebrated its 50th season. 

Hyundai’s Dani Sordo claimed the final podium position, following an intense fight with Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta that raged until the final powerstage, where the Spaniard overhauled his rival.

The pair had driven smartly throughout and were among a quartet of Rally1 drivers to avoid any issues over the four days.

The rally belonged to 21-year-old Rovanpera, who produced yet another flawless drive, with this latest victory perhaps the most significant to date given the disadvantage of having to act as road sweeper on the dusty stages on Friday.

While several of his rivals were hit by punctures and misfortune across a run of extreme rough gravel stages, Rovanpera emerged unscathed, notching up two stage wins to trail Evans by 13.6s in second. 

The Toyota pair duelled for the top spot through Saturday with Evans extending his lead to 18.4s, before Rovanpera rattled off a pair of stage victories to take the lead on stage 15 when heavy rain fell.

Rovanpera managed to transform a 9.9s deficit into a 4s lead, adding further gloss in the day-ending Super Special.

Equipped with a 5.7s advantage heading into Sunday, Rovanpera swept to a fifth career WRC victory, claiming the five bonus powerstage points to extend his championship lead to 46 points over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. 

A first podium of the season for Evans arrived after twice leading the rally in what was his best drive of the season to date.

Evans moved into the rally lead on Friday morning after leap-frogging Neuville, who won Thursday’s super special opener.

The Welshman then lost the lead on stage 4 to M-Sport’s…