The first loop of Repco Rally New Zealand day three has passed. Rovanperä would lead after the loop.
SS8, Kaipara Hills 1
Stage eight would see Craig Breen take his third stage win of the rally. Beating Kalle Rovanperä by 4.1 seconds to start the day. Ott Tänak would place third on the stage, four seconds behind Rovanperä. Thierry Neuville would come in fourth 1.3 seconds behind Hyundai teammate Ott Tänak. Elfyn Evans would round off the top five. Finishing 0.7 seconds behind Neuville. Toyota teammates Kalle Rovanperä and Sebastian Ogier would swap places as Rovanperä would move into third as Ogier fell to fourth. Thierry Neuville would move into the top five passing Gus Greensmith who fell to sixth.
SS9, Puhoi 1
Stage nine would see Kalle Rovanperä take his second stage win of the event. Beating Craig Breen by 1.6 seconds. Sebastian Ogier would come in third, 0.9 seconds behind Breen. Ott Tänak would come in fourth, 5.3 seconds behind Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta would round out the top five. Finishing 9.3 seconds behind Tänak. Kalle Rovanperä would take the rally lead after Elfyn Evans fell to fourth. Sebastian Ogier would move into third.
SS10, Komokoriki 1
Stage 10 would be red flagged and cancelled after Gus Greensmith would roll on the stage. Greensmith’s rally would be over as a result of the roll. Craig Breen was set to win the stage as he was the fastest out of the six drivers to run the stage. Finishing the stage three seconds ahead of Neuville. Greensmith and his co-driver would make it out safely. All crews would return to service via an alternate route.
No Penalty Is Slowing Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä would receive a five-second penalty this morning. Putting him 12 seconds behind Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans who led Repco Rally New Zealand into day three. It took Rovanperä two stages to gain the lead and some. Ending the loop 4.6 seconds ahead of Championship rival Ott Tänak.
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.
