Lappi leads Tanak as organisers cancel stages

The Finn headed to service park with 0.7s margin over Hyundai driver Tanak after completing two of the scheduled four afternoon stages, before an incident involving a WRC2 competitor forced officials to curtail the running early.

Piloting the third GR Yaris, Lappi began the rally strongly moving into lead after Stage 3, but ended the morning 3.7s behind Hyundai driver Tanak.

However, a second stage win of the event on Stage 6, coupled with a transmission issue for Tanak, helped Lappi back into the lead heading into Saturday.

M-Sport’s Pierre-Louis Loubet enjoyed his strongest WRC showing yet to end the day in third, 15.1s shy. Team-mate Craig Breen was 0.4s behind in fourth, with Hyundai’s Dani Sordo, fifth, 0.6s in arrears.

Championship leader Kalle Rovanpera struggled for outright pace acting as the road sweeper, ending Friday in eighth, 1m13.1s behind Lappi.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was 54.1s behind Rovanpera after losing almost two minutes to a transmission issue on Stage 5.

Cooler overcast conditions with hint of rain greeted the drivers heading into the afternoon loop, taking the edge off temperatures to some extent, which was welcomed by the crews.

Rally leader Tanak continued his strong start to the event by claiming his first stage win on Stage 6 as he extended his margin over Lappi to 6.4s.

Breen managed to leapfrog his M-Sport team-mate Loubet to third overall despite a close call during the 14.63km test. The Irishman’s Puma stalled on the entry to a tight left and almost clouted a brick wall.

The issue failed to stop him from posting the third fastest time behind Tanak and Lappi, while Rovanpera continued to struggle being the first car on the road.

Lappi responded to Tanak’s charge on Stage 7 as the Toyota driver clinched his second stage win of the event to date. The time was enough to reclaim the lead by 0.7s as Tanak…