Ott Tänak wins WRC Rally Finland opening stage
Ott Tänak and his co-driver Martin Järveoja finished first for M-Sport Ford in stage one of WRC Rally Finland Thursday evening.
Tänak had finished fourth in Thursday morning's shakedown run on a fast-paced course around the town of Jyväskylä.
He went on to win the 3.48-km opening stage in a time of 2.39.0, beating Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) by 0.6 seconds.
Reigning WRC champion and current table leader Kalle Rovanperä was third in the Toyota Yaris, in front of a home audience.
It's a stage win from SSS1 Harju 1 #WRC #RallyFinland #goOtt #TanakFanArmy #rallying #SectoRallyFinland pic.twitter.com/tPGLB6ThkC
— Ott Tänak (@OttTanak) August 3, 2023
These top three were followed by Esapekka Lappi (Finland, Hyundai), Elfyn Evans (Wales, Toyota;), Pierre-Louis Loubet (France, M-Sport), Takamoto Katsuta (Japan, Toyota), Teemu Suninen (Finland, Hyundai) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland, Toyota).
The two other Estonians taking part in the race, in the WRC2 category, are Georg Linnamäe (Hyundai), who placed 10th in stage one, and Robert Virves (Ford) who placed 16th.
Rally Finland continues on Friday, the first full day of competition, with stage one starting at 8:05 a.m. local time. A total of nine stages will be raced Friday, with 12 more to follow Saturday and Sunday.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte
