Esapekka Lappi edged closer to a maiden WRC victory in only his fourth outing in the premier class as he led Rally Finland on Saturday evening, thanks to the retirement of Toyota team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala.
The Finnish rookie holds an almost 50-second lead over second placed Teemu Suninen for M-Sport, with a third Finn completing the top three, as Toyota's third car piloted by Juho Hänninen finished a further 4.3s back.
Latvala meanwhile dropped out of contention whilst leading, after he built up an 8.5s advantage over Lappi thanks to eight dirt road speed test wins, before disaster struck and the home favourite came to a halt with a suspected electrical issue during the Ouninpohja special stage.
"I’m disappointed for Jari-Matti but it’s not my fault his car broke down so I need to enjoy this moment now. It’s something amazing," commented Lappi.
An upset Latvala, going for a fourth Rally Finland win, added: "It’s one of the biggest disappointments I have faced in my career. I was feeling extremely well and enjoying the driving but once you get a technical problem there’s nothing you can do and that’s a hard part of motorsport."
M-Sport's Elfyn Evans sits just 1.3s adrift of a top-three finish after an impressive victory during the final stage of the day.
Craig Breen could not retain his overnight fourth after struggling for rhythm in his Citroen C3 and surviving a spin and an overshoot. The Irishman was 14.7s clear of title challenger Thierry Neuville, sixth, who aimed to capitalise on absent championship leader Sébastien Ogier.
Ogier's rally ended yesterday with an off and his co-driver, Julien Ingrassia, signed off from competition for 15 days by medical chiefs after being diagnosed with mild concussion.
Ott Tänak was seventh at the close, making up a place in the final stage as he passed Kris Meeke, who had suffered a puncture and dropped almost a minute to finish eighth.
Dani Sordo was ninth and Mads Østberg 10th, despite crashing into a ditch and damaging his brakes.
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