Kalle Rovanpera made a major breakthrough by leading a gravel round of the FIA WRC in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 for the first time this season.

Rovanpera moved into the lead on stage three and remained at the head of the field to end Friday 4.9s ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Interestingly Rovanpera’s speed has come despite the Finn admitting that he hasn’t been comfortable behind the wheel, and at times felt he was “all over the place.” in tricky wet conditions.

In WRC2, Roope Korhonen extended his lead to 7.7s, which is now over 18-time WRC winner Jari-Matti Latvala. Crews will repeat the quartet of stages on Saturday afternoon with further rain expected. To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.