Neuville grabs early lead in Finland

The Belgian topped the times in the 3.48km Harju by 1.1sec in his Hyundai i20 N. Takamoto Katsuta was second in Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally1 with Ott Tänak completing the top three, 1.3sec back from the lead in another Hyundai.

Championship leader Neuville started last of the Rally1 runners and was pleased to set the pace over the tricky mix of asphalt roads and gravel tracks near the centre of Jyväskylä having endured a frustrating shakedown earlier in the day.

“It’s a good start, but the real stuff starts tomorrow,” he said. “We are looking forward to it. It was a difficult shakedown for us this morning and we had some problems with the car. Hopefully tomorrow everything is working like it should be.”

Sébastien Ogier was fourth in his Toyota, followed by home hero and reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä in his similar car. Sixth went to M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 hotshot Adrien Fourmaux with Esapekka Lappi only one-tenth behind despite clipping some stage-side furniture with the rear corner of his i20 N.

The GR Yaris cars of Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari were eighth and ninth while Grégoire Munster, driving a Puma, rounded out the early top 10.

The action moves into the Finnish forests on Friday, where nine lightning-fast speed tests totalling almost 120 competitive kilometres lie in wait.