Rovanpera splashes through Czech rain towards rally title

Kalle Rovanpera closed in on World Rally title as he dominated a rain-soaked second day of the Rally Central Europe on Friday to build a 36-second lead.

The 23-year-old Finn will retain his WRC crown if he matches or betters his Toyota teammate and friend Evans's score in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic in the penultimate rally of the season.

"It has been super tricky today," said Rovanpera, who, as championship leader, went first in each stage, said at the end of the day.

"Luckily, the weather was on our side for once with the starting position - it was good to be the first car on the road. We can be happy with our day."

Rovanpera was fourth after Thursday's two stages, but as heavy rain created a challenge on the asphalt roads on Friday, but the Finn surfed to victory in the first three stages and also took the fifth stage of the day

.@KalleRovanpera appeared to be oblivious to Friday's treacherous conditions at @cerwrc 😮#WRC | #WRCLive | #CER | #CentralEuropeanRally 🇪🇺

— World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) October 27, 2023

"It gets muddier and muddier," said compatriot Esapekka Lappi after finishing second in stage three in his Hyundai.

"Very, very dirty," said Thierry Neuville, of Hyundai, who started the day in the lead.

Rovanpera then won the fourth stage, by more than 10 seconds from compatriot Lappi, as others struggled.

"I have no motivation," said Munich-based Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, an eight-time champion who broke a wheel on his Toyota during the day's opening stage.

Tanak, who started the day in second, complained: "We are out of options. I have no tools to put the wet weather set up on this car."

Evans interrupted Rovanpera's winning run on stage six but the Finn won stage seven and then finished just behind a surprised Neuville in the last stage.

"It was getting more and more rainy, so I thought I was losing time," said the Belgian.

Rovanpera ended the day 36.4sec ahead of Neuville and 47.2sec clear of his only title rival Evans. Tanak was 1min 30.4sec back in fourth.

Saturday opens with two stages in Austria before slipping over the border into Germany for stage three, before a second loop over the same three stages.