WRC Rally New Zealand – Day 2: Tanak top 0.2s ahead of Evans
30th September 2022Hyundai’s Ott Tanak remains on top of the timing board for WRC’s latest round, Rally New Zealand, 0.2 seconds ahead of his closest contender, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.
How the morning unfolded…
M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith set the benchmark in the morning, with an outstanding performance during SS2: Whaanga Coast 1. However, Greensmith’s teammate, Craig Breen, put in the third best time to be promoted into the rally lead.
Evans became the third driver to secure a stage win, in SS3: Te Akau South 1. The Welshman went fastest in the final run of the loops first phase, 1.3 seconds ahead of Tanak, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera and Breen who went second, third and fourth respectively.
However, after the morning loop, Toyota’s championship leader, Rovanpera, had a fairly poor start to the first full day of action and found himself down in sixth-place on the leaderboard – in a round where the young Finn could secure his first world title.
However, it wasn’t long before Hyundai’s championship contender, Ott Tanak put in a fight to make Rovanpera’s championship hopes in an uncomfortable position. At the end of the Morning loop, Tanak went 2.6 seconds above Breen in the overall standings after the Estonian recorded his first stage-win of the day.
How the afternoon unfolded…
Despite a great start in the morning, Breen’s Friday in New Zealand ended prematurely as he went in too hot, around a fast right-hander – 26km in, and found himself amongst the trees. The Irishman attempted to get himself back onto the stage but he got stuck on the edge of the stage’s gravel road.
As a result Breen dropped out of the points and down to 24th in the overall times.
The returning, and defending, world champion – Toyota’s Sebastian Ogiersecured his first stage win of the weekend with a win on SS5: Whaanga Coast 2. This stage win catapulted the defending world champion to the top of the leaderboard by the end of stage five.
However Ogier had his rear wing ripped off his Toyota, from a low hanging branch, in stage six. By the end of the day, Ogier bled time and fell down to third place in the timing sheets behind his 2021 championship rival – and teammate, Evans.
In a bid to make up lost time, Rovanpera finally secured his first stage-win of the weekend, on SS6: Te Akau South 2. The championship leader went 5.6 seconds faster than his title-rival, Tanak, in the stage.
Not helped by Tanak’s stage win, on the final stage of the day: SS7 – Te Akau North 2, the Finnish driver managed to work his back up to fourth place in the overall times.
That’s all for the article: WRC Rally New Zealand – Day 2: Tanak top 0.2s ahead of Evans! Where do you think Kalle Rovanpera will finish this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
Read more WRC here:
- WRC2 Rally New Zealand: Paddon sets the pace in opening stage
- WRC Rally New Zealand: Tanak on top for opening stage
- EKO Acropolis Rally Greece: Preview
- Tanak secures Rally Belgium win over Evans
- Rally Belgium: Tanak leads after Neuville crashes
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
