Dominant most of the day, Evans had set the best time on five and eight specials of the day, mainly disputed on forest roads where showers were invited on the course from midday.

Briton Elfyn Evans, driving his Toyota, during Rally Estonia, July 17, 2021, near Karste Timo Anis AFP / Archives

But in the middle of the afternoon, the Welshman, who had up to nearly 20 seconds ahead of the competition, had - in addition to the rain - to deal with the strong comeback of Rovanperä, author of the three last time scratchs the day.

At the start of SS9, the last special of the day, the Finn was only about ten seconds behind Evans.

Badly engaged on this wet special, the Welshman lost the lead in the race he had held since dawn.

He is Friday evening at 11 sec 7/10ths from his rival, winner last year in Estonia.

Tänak in pain

Behind the leading duo, the Estonian Ott Tänak, third, is now more than 44 seconds behind the leader.

In the middle of the day, the local of the event had demoted from second to third provisional place after having received a 10-second penalty for not having driven his hybrid Hyundai - technology arriving this year at the World Cup - in all mode -electric in a portion where it was mandatory.

The Hyundai, driven by Estonian Ott Tanak, during Rally Estonia, July 17, 2021 near Metsakivi Timo Anis AFP / Archives

And the troubles didn't stop there because at the very end of the day, he encountered a mechanical problem on his car, after a pipe broke off from the heating.

The falling rain, "we had no visibility" because of the fog, he explained.

Very far from the leading men, the Irishman Craig Breen (M-Sport Ford), who had posted the best time on Thursday evening on the opening super special, had to retire for the day, victim of an exit road that damaged its suspension.

A day to forget for the second in the event in 2021, especially since he received a 10-second penalty for the same reasons as Tänak.

A dark day also for Thierry Neuville, second in the provisional general classification of the championship but who seems to be struggling at the wheel of his Hyundai.

More than 1 min 10 sec from Rovanperä, he occupies 5th place on Friday evening, behind the Finn Esapekka Lappi (Toyota).

"The conditions are tricky and I don't have confidence in the car. I don't have confidence and I know I can't fight the guys up front this weekend," he said. Belgian in the early afternoon.

His goal now for this weekend?

"Getting closer to the podium".

A podium that already seems far away for the French engaged in Estonia, since Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford) is 6th more than two minutes behind the leader.

His teammate at Ford, Pierre-Louis Loubet, is in 9th place, nearly 4 minutes behind Rovanperä.

On the last special, the Corsican went into a barrel.

Although he was able to restart thanks to the help of the spectators present on the side of the road to finish the special, he lost more than two minutes.

© 2022 AFP