SS17: Rovanpera romps to victory

Rovanpera impressed throughout Sunday's final stages of the rally. The 34-year-old Finn was first out on fresh snow on three of the final leg's five stages, yet still managed to set competitive times and keep his rivals at bay. He had an 18-second lead over his closest challenger, compatriot Tommi Makinen, going into the last test.

But the four-time World Champion rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer early on in the 21.21km Hagfors stage and was forced to retire, handing Rovanpera his maiden victory.

"The feeling is very good," said Rovanpera, "but I'm sad about what happened to Tommi [Makinen], because we had a good battle going. Today was all about not having problems and not making mistakes and we did that."

Richard Burns held his monopoly of stage wins on Sunday, flying through the last test of the event to score five straight stage wins in a row. Taking a surprise second on the Hagfors section was veteran Kenneth Eriksson in the Hyundai. Perhaps responding to earlier pressure exerted by Ford's Colin McRae, Eriksson finished 13 seconds behind Burns.

Third was Toni Gardemeister in the Peugeot, followed by the impressive privateer Daniel Carlsson in his Toyota Corolla. Behind Rovanpera was the Subaru of Markko Martin in sixth.

Makinen's retirement means Petter Solberg snuck into the top six giving Skoda a solitary manufacturers' point following Bruno Thiry's 10th place overall.

More Rovanpera's win and how his victory affects the championship standings will follow shortly.


Richard Burns (GB)/Robert Reid(GB), Subaru Impreza WRC*, 12:26.8
Kenneth Eriksson (S)/Staffan Parmander (S), Hyundai Accent WRC*, 12:40.2
Toni Gardemeister (FIN)/ Paavo Lukander (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 12:43.2
Daniel Carlsson (S)/ Benny Melander (S). Toyota Corolla WRC, 12:47.6s
Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 12m55.3
Markko Martin (EST)/Michael Park (GB), Subaru Impreza WRC, 12m56.1s


Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, 3h27m01.1s
Thomas Radstrom (S)/Tina Thorner (S), Mitsubishi Carisma GT, +0m27.9s
Carlos Sainz (E)/Luis Moya(E), Ford Focus RS WRC*, +0m37.0s
Toni Gardemeister (FIN)/ Paavo Lukander (FIN), Peugeot 206 WRC, +2m05.3s
Francois Delecour (F)/Daniel Grataloup (F), Ford Focus RS WRC, +2m25.2s
Petter Solberg (NOR)/Philip Mills(GB), Subaru Impreza WRC, +2m48.5s

*denotes nominated for manufacturers' championship points