Kalle Rovanpera continues WRC Rally Finland lead as Hyundai falter
3rd August 2025Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera continues to lead the World Rally Championship’s Rally Finland as Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux lose their top three positions.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Rovanpera continues to lead Rally Finland and stands on course to take his first home victory, and he holds a commanding 36.1-second lead over second-place Takamoto Katsuta and Sebastien Ogier, in second and third, respectively.
However, Hyundai had one of its worst days of the weekend following Tanak’s drop out of the top 10, thanks to a five-minute penalty on Friday. Hyundai’s woes came from Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux, who dropped out of the top three.
The Hyundais suffered from punctures on stage 16, on the second pass through Västilä, where both Neuville and Fourmaux suffered front-right punctures. Both cars arrived at the stop control with no tyres left on their rims, with Fourmaux suffering significant damage to his fender.
As such, both drivers dropped down to sixth and seventh, with Neuville leading Fourmaux, respectively. In turn, Toyota benefited from Hyundai’s misfortunes and allowed them to complete a top-five sweep, 1-2-3-4-5, on the timing board.
Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford, suffered technical problems on the second loop as the Latvian’s Rally1 Puma couldn’t de-mist the windscreen, forcing the M-Sport driver to drive blind temporarily. His co-driver, Renars Francis, couldn’t clear away the mist until they stopped at an access road.
😱 Massive position changes after SS16 😬#WRC | #SectoRallyFinland 🇫🇮 pic.twitter.com/RatH9VsHIM
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) August 2, 2025
How did Saturday end?
- Kalle Rovanpera, Toyota – 2 hours, 1 minute and 28.8s
- Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +36.1s
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +42.9s
- Elfyn Evans, Toyota +44.4s
- Sami Pajari, Toyota +59.2s
- Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +1m 54.7s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +2m 23.7s
- Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford +3m 28.3s
- Gregoire Munster, M-Sport Ford +4m 27.9s
- Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford +4m 38.7s
Ott Tanak occupies 14th place to complete the Rally1 contenders.
Only two stages line up the final day, Ouninpohja, which stands as the longest test of the weekend, and will also make up the Wolf Power Stage.
Read more WRC here:
- Neuville and Fourmaux lose Rally Finland top three to punctures
- Kalle Rovanpera extends WRC Rally Finland lead despite puncture
- 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
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
You can also support us on Patreon or our website!
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.
