Ogier Leads in Finland, Fourmaux vs. Pajari for Second Place

World Champion Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) leads Rally Finland, the 10th round of the World Rally Championship, after today's four morning stages. Ogier claimed the first stage of the day, "Laukaa 1" (18.16 km), dethroning Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), who had been fastest in yesterday's super special stage in Jyväskylä. Ogier then went on to win the third stage, "Sidanmaa 1" (19.04 km), as well as the final stage before the midday service, "Hoho 1" (9.55 km), establishing a 5.3-second lead at the top of the standings.

Fourmaux sits in second place. In "Sidanmaa 1," he was briefly overtaken for second by Sami Pajari (Toyota), but managed to reclaim the position in "Hoho 1," now 2.7 seconds ahead of the Rally Estonia winner.

In the last morning stage, Oliver Solberg (Toyota) climbed two places to fourth, now 11.8 seconds behind Ogier and holding a 2.3-second advantage over WRC leader Elfyn Evans (Toyota). Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) rounds out the top six, 27.4 seconds adrift of Ogier.

In "Hoho 1," Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) stopped 7.3 kilometers after the start, going off road after a jump. However, the Belgian managed to continue and finished the stage 1 minute and 45 seconds behind Ogier. Prior to this stage, Neuville was in fourth place, just one second behind the top three, which included Pajari. The third Hyundai driver, Esapekka Lappi, crashed in "Sidanmaa 1," just 800 meters after the start of the stage. Both he and his co-driver, Enni Mälkönen, were unharmed.