Day three of Repco Rally New Zealand has passed. Kalle Rovanperä would lead after a chaotic day.
SS11, Kaipara Hills 2
Stage 11 would see Kalle Rovanperä take his third stage win of the event. Beating Toyota teammate Sebastian Ogier by five seconds on the stage. Thierry Neuville would place third on the stage. Finishing 6.4 seconds behind Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta would place fourth on the stage, three seconds behind Neuville. Craig Breen would round out the top five finishing 1.9 seconds behind Katsuta. Thierry Neuville would move into fourth overall after Evans retired during service. Katsuta would take over fifth.
SS12, Puhoi 2
Stage 12 would see Kalle Rovanperä take his fourth stage win of the rally, as well as his third straight stage win. Rovanperä would finish the stage 6.6 seconds ahead of Sebastian Ogier. Ott Tänak would come in third, 1.2 seconds behind Ogier. Thierry Neuville would place fourth on the stage, 7.6 seconds behind Hyundai teammate Ott Tänak. Craig Breen would round off the top five on the stage, finishing 1.6 seconds behind Thierry Neuville. Oliver Solberg would move into fifth overall after Takamoto Katsuta would retire.
SS13, Komokoriki 2
Stage 13 would see Craig Breen take his fourth stage win of the rally. Breen would beat Rovanperä by 2.9 seconds to win the stage. Thierry Neuville would place third on the stage, 0.7 seconds behind Rovanperä. Sebastian Ogier would finish fourth on the stage, 0.2 seconds behind Neuville. Oliver Solberg would round out the top five, finishing 4.8 seconds behind Ogier.
Evans Out
Elfyn Evans would retire at the midday service due to damage to the roll cage. Evans will likely not rejoin the rally unless the Toyota crew can repair his roll cage enough to pass inspection. Evans sat in fourth at the end of SS10, 13.1 seconds behind Ott Tänak. On SS9 Evans would spin out and crash, he would finish the stage and line up to start SS10. Luckily for Evans SS10 would be red flagged and cancelled.
Katsuta Out
Takamoto Katsuta is the most recent driver to fall victim to Repco Rally New Zealand. After going off the road on SS12 and retiring. It’s unknown if Katsuta will rejoin on the final day of the rally.
Repco Rally New Zealand What To Expect From The Final Day
The fourth and final day of Repco Rally New Zealand will likely see drivers take a step back in an attempt to finish the rally. Especially if you’re Kalle Rovanperä who can become the youngest ever champion by just finishing the rally at this point and beating Tänak by seven points. Ott Tänak could push however to try and ensure he finishes within seven points of Rovanperä.
Repco Rally New Zealand Recaps
Three Driver Receive Penalties
Hyundai Trio Receive Penalties
My name is Joe Moore. I am a writer for Belly Up Hockey, Belly Up Racing, and Belly Up Sports. You can find me on Twitter.
