Rovanpera admits that the plan to win Rally Sweden is “ready” | World Rally
The young Finn has a lead of 8.4 seconds over Toyota Gazoo Racing’s teammate Elfyn Evans as the crews prepare for the Sunday leg of the winter race. Despite some broken moments today, Rovanpera feels that there is much positive to take from his performance
“Yes, we must be happy,” he said. – Overall, it was a pretty nice day. Only the few stages [on the first loop] where we lost some time, it was not so positive because you always want to be in step – or at least close to it.
“In the second session, I do not think I pressed enough. I was not aggressive enough – of course I tried to be fast and pushy – but under these tricky conditions you have to use the snowdrifts a bit and so it is difficult to be clean and tidy.
“Of course, the gap to Elfyn is very small – a small mistake and it is gone – so we have to push hard,” he added. “I think the plan is pretty clear: in the morning we have to try to start really well, push hard and see where we go.”
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is 13.4 seconds shy than Evans and another 8.3 seconds from the pace set by Rovanpera at the front. The Belgian’s hunt for them did not help when he misjudged his braking and missed his turn-in towards the end of the morning’s final stage.
Given the size of the gap and the speed curve shown by the two Toyota drivers, Neuville admits that the third would be a more than satisfactory result, especially as Esapekka Lappi breathes down her neck in fourth place.
“We had a complicated morning; we did our best but the other three went very fast. It was difficult to resist them, he says.
“We also went wide during braking in the last stage of the morning, and I had to spin the car around which lost us a few seconds.
“I thought we might have a chance in the dark stages tonight to take back some time, and we could take back a position. [from Lappi].
“Our main issue this weekend has been slowing down, and we still have a lot to do with the chassis to gain more confidence in this area,” he added. “Let’s see what’s possible tomorrow – if we can finish on the podium, I’ll be happy.”