Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen leads an interrupted Rally Poland after World Rally Championship organisers were forced to cancel two Friday stages due to spectator controlling issues.
Mikkelsen won two of the three morning stages to open up a 7.4s lead before briefly losing the advantage to Toyota’s reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera. After recording his first stage wins since 2019, Mikkelsen managed to reclaim the advantage to end the afternoon 1.6s ahead.
Organisers were forced to step in to cancel stage three [Wieliczki] this morning and stage seven [Olecko] in the afternoon, after sections of spectators were standing in dangerous positions.
Amid the truncated proceedings, Toyota’s Evans managed to successfully limit the damage of his elevated road position to emerge as Mikkelsen’s nearest rival. Rovanpera completed the afternoon in third [+2.1s] despite a rushed preparation for the event as a last-minute stand-in for injured team-mate Sebastien Ogier.
Rally1 debutant Martins Sesks produced arguably the drive of the day to sit fourth driving a non-hybrid powered Ford Puma Rally1. M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux [+7.0s], team-mate Gregoire Munster [+20.8s], championship leader Thierry Neuville [+29.6s], who opened the gravel roads, and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta [+32.6s] rounded out the top eight.
Hyundai’s Ott Tanak retired from the lead after a collision with a deer on stage two.
Friday afternoon began with the Mikolajki service park receiving a storm warning, but conditions remained hot and dry heading into stage five [Stanczyki 29.40km].
Tyre choice proved to be crucial as the second pass through the stage created a much more abrasive surface than expected.
Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Tomasz Kalinski
Toyota appeared best set up for the stage after its drivers elected to take two hard tyres in their tyre packages. Rally leader Mikkelsen also opted for that strategy but it wasn’t enough for the Norwegian to protect his advantage at the front.
Mikkelsen struggled with soft tyres on the rear of his i20 N and dropped 14.4s which coincided with Rovanpera delivering his best drive of the rally to date to win the stage to leap from fourth to the rally lead by 0.2s.
The Finn, who had a rushed recce and not the most refined pacenotes, benefitted from having already made one pass through the stage.
“It’s definitely much more fun in the afternoon when I know where…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – RALLY – Stories…