Finnish star Rovanperä crashed on shakedown

2020-10-08T11:39:09.076Z

Kalle Rovanperä was fastest of all on the initial lap of shakedown before the Italian World Rally Championship, but the Finn crashed shortly after the finish and was forced to interrupt full-speed training. - He left after the finish, but both he and Jonne (the map reader editor's note) are OK, the team can examine the car as soon as it returns to service, Toyota Gazoo racing writes in a comment on twitter after the crash.

The WC competition does not start until tomorrow, but the shakedown, the full-speed test, is mandatory for the WC drivers and a last chance to test settings on the car etc. before the rally's official start.

Kalle Rovanperä, who is in fourth place in the WC table, was two seconds faster than Dani Sordo on the first lap but drove off and rolled shortly after the finish.

Both Rovanperä and his map reader Jonne Halttunen were quickly out of the car, which stopped on the roof, and signaled that they were OK.

The car will now be taken to the service site for a review and probably some jobs await the mechanics before the start tomorrow.

Shakedown is still going on for other drivers.

Evans 18 points lead

Elfyn Evans leads the drivers' championship in the Rally World Championship 18 points ahead of teammate Sébastien Ogier before the competition in Sardinia which starts tomorrow.

- Leading the championship is really a good position to be in, even if it provides an extra challenge in that we will have to "sweep" the road in Sardinia, says Elfyn Evans in a press release.

The Italian World Cup competition is usually decided in June but was postponed this year due to.

The Corona Pandemic, it is now the first time since 2012 that the competition runs as an autumn event.

The sub-competition is known for its fast and sometimes narrow gravel sections, a surface that will be affected by weather and wind and which is always the starting order and conditions on the section very interesting.

A total of 238.84 full-speed kilometers are expected, spread over 16 special sections.

Hear Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier's thoughts, in the clip above, about the starting position and how the weather can affect the competition.

Evans: "Sardinia is unpredictable":

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Finnish star Rovanperä crashed on shakedown

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