Rally Poland: Elfyn Evans tops wet opening superspecial
Elfyn Evans will lead Rally Poland into its first full day after setting the pace on Thursday evening's Mikolajki Arena superspecial
In wet conditions, the DMACK Ford driver was eight tenths of a second ahead of Thierry Neuville's Hyundai, with the M-Sport Ford of World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Ogier a further tenth back.
Jari-Matti Latvala was the fastest of the Toyotas in fourth, ahead of Ott Tanak.
Latvala's team-mate Esapekka Lappi came through the stage with a competitive time for joint sixth place with Stephane Lefebvre and Hayden Paddon, but was concerned that his Yaris was developing an engine problem.
Lefebvre, who had missed the last rally in Italy to make way for Andreas Mikkelsen, was the fastest Citroen driver.
Mikkelsen, this time replacing Kris Meeke, and Craig Breen came in ninth and 12th.
M-Sport has an additional Fiesta WRC this weekend for its WRC2 star Teemu Suninen, who began his top-class debut with the 13th-fastest time.
Live Rally Poland coverage on Autosport begins with SS3 at 8am UK time on Friday morning
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS1:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elfyn Evans, D.Barritt | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 1m44.4s |
| 2 | Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul | Hyundai Motorsport | Hyundai | 0.8s |
| 3 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 0.9s |
| 4 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC | Toyota | 1.3s |
| 5 | Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 1.4s |
| 6 | Hayden Paddon, S.Marshall | Hyundai Motorsport | Hyundai | 1.5s |
| 7 | Stephane Lefebvre, G.Moreau | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 1.5s |
| 7 | Esapekka Lappi, J.Ferm | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC | Toyota | 1.5s |
| 9 | Andreas Mikkelsen, A.Jager | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 1.6s |
| 10 | Dani Sordo, M.Marti | Hyundai Motorsport | Hyundai | 1.8s |
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