The Rally Finland got underway with the Killeri superspecial on Thursday night. Martin Prokop was on impressive form to win the 2.06km stage in his C2 Super 1600. Rautenbach was just 1.06s behind, finishing the stage classified third.
Three loops of stages made up Friday’s action, totaling 133.49 competitive kilometers’. Martin Prokop continued where he had left off, as he still leads the Junior classification at the end of leg one. Despite struggling slightly during the second pass through the stages in the afternoon, the Czech held his nerve to finish 40 seconds up on his closest rival.
Rautenbach could not find a good rhythm on the final loop of stages, which robbed him of precious seconds as well as third place in the juniors. Aaron Burkart, getting to grips with the very specific demands of Finland for the first time, finished the day in 10th position.
Young Frenchman Yoann Bonato leads the C2-R2 category. The asphalt specialist felt perfectly at home on the fast gravel stages, despite surfaces that seemed to him to be rough or slippery in places. Just behind him, in 14th place, Raphael Auquier decided on caution. He was closely followed by Irishman Shaun Gallagher, who found it quite hard to adapt to some of the stages. The Irishman was 15th and third of the C2-R2 runners at the end of the opening leg. Gilles Schammel lost time in the morning but fought back during the afternoon before being forced into retirement with electrical problems. He will re-start tomorrow under the SupeRally rules. At the end of the chasing pack, the Italian Stefano Benoni also had to retire on the second stage of the day due to a gearbox oil leak.
Raphaël Auquier (BE) – Cédric Pirotte (BE) (Citroën C2-R2)
Born 03/10/82 – Single – Lives Braine l’Alleud (Belgium)
« We drove carefully all day. We had a small problem with a pressure sensor on the final stage of the opening loop, but we are generally satisfied with our position this evening. We weren’t caught out by the fast and difficult parts as we had a good set of notes that allowed us to attack within our limits. »
Yoann Bonato (FR) – Benjamin Boulloud (FR) (Citroën C2-R2)
Born 13/05/83 – Single – Lives Deux Alpes (France)
« I’m having a great time! It’s really good fun to drive the Citroen C2-R2 on gravel. There are several very fast and slippery sections, and being here is a real pleasure. It was a little bit more difficult in the afternoon. The roads were more cut up after the WRC cars had been through, but we still enjoyed ourselves. »
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