CER - 2nd Day - 2nd Loop: Rovanpera builds a safety net, Neuville up to 2nd

At the end of Friday, Kalle Rovanpera is still the leader of Central European Rally with Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans following him.

Kalle Rovanpera continues to lead Central European Rally after the end of Friday afternoon as he set the fastest time in  SS7.

Thierry Neuville moved ahead of Elfyn Evans on the classification at the end of SS8 and is now second overall despite the fact that he was fighting to keep his i20N on the road as he stated after SS7. Finally, he set the fastest time in SS8.

Elfyn Evans slipped behind the Belgian driver for 10,8 seconds as he did not feel comfortable to push with his Yaris. However, he was the fastest driver in Stage 6 while his advantage over TN was at 0,3 seconds before the start of SS8.

Ott Tanak remains fourth overall who dropped time in Stage 8 due to the fact that he had no gear lever.

Takamoto Katsuta completes the top five and had a big moment in SS7 as he passed very near the trees. In addition to that, his Yaris had no hybrid power throughout Stage 6.

Sebastien Ogier gained two places and is now sixth overall, just 9,1 seconds behind his teammate Katsuta.

Teemu Suninen dropped to seventh overall, but he has the chance to claim back his sixth position as his gap from Ogier is at 3,2 seconds.

Gregoire Munster was chasing Suninen for the seventh place as their margin was at 1,6 seconds after the end of SS7, but now the M-Sport driver is 20 seconds behind Suninen.

Pierre-Louis Loubet dropped to ninth after his having received a one-minute time penalty for breaching FIA's safety regulations, but he completed Stage 8 after five minutes which means that he is outside the top ten. He stopped 200 metres into SS8 to change a wheel and reached the finish with a front-end damage. As he said after SS8, the front was completely locked and went straight into the side.

Stage 6 was interrupted after Katsuta's pass, therefore the upcoming drivers received a notional time.

Watch below the stage times:

Watch below the overall classification after SS8:

Photo Credits: Toyota