Kalle Rovanpera extends WRC Rally Finland lead despite puncture
2nd August 2025Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera extended his lead in the World Rally Championship’s Rally Finland, despite picking up a puncture on the morning loop.
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Rovanpera has extended his rally lead, in his home event, to 14.7 seconds over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, despite picking up a rear-right puncture on the penultimate stage of the morning.
The Finn, who is yet to win his home rally event, picked up a puncture – and some damage to his rim – on the 13th stage of the rally and cost the Finnish driver 2.7 seconds to Neuville, who won the stage.
With an extensive gap between himself and Rovanpera, Neuville has his teammate Adrien Fourmaux to keep him distracted from the Finn. The two leading Hyundais, in second and third, are only separated by three tenths of a second as they prepare for the afternoon loop.
The championship leader, Ott Tanak of Hyundai, finds himself outside the top 10 after being given a five-minute penalty for an incident with a scrutineer following the stop control of SS7 (Saarikas 2) on Friday.
Tanak arrived at the tyre checking area, and before the signal to leave was given, the championship leader accelerated and struck the scrutineer with the front-right bumper. The official had minor injuries, which included bloody scratches to their left knee.
How did Saturday’s morning loop end?
- Kalle Rovanpera, Toyota – 1hr 29m 4s
- Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +14.7s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +15s
- Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +25.9s
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +36.4s
- Sami Pajari, Toyota +37.3s
- Elfyn Evans, Toyota +38.7s
- Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford +1m 46.3s
- Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford +2m 16.5s
- Gregoire Munster, M-Sport Ford +3m 3.3s
Tanak occupies P22 in the overall standings, six minutes and 44 seconds off Rovanpera’s time, residing amongst the WRC2 contenders.
Read more WRC here:
- Kalle Rovanpera takes the lead at Rally Finland
- Ott Tanak takes overnight lead at WRC Rally Finland
- WRC confirm 2026 calendar ahead of Rally Finland
- Sami Pajari fastest on first shakedown pass at Rally Finland
- Stage guide: what is the itinerary for WRC Rally Finland?
- Rally Finland: the latest weather forecast ahead of WRC
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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.
