Rallying-Ogier takes the lead in Finland

Toyota's Sebastien Ogier led Rally Finland on Friday, 16.3 seconds ahead of teammate Elfyn Evans, after Hyundai's drivers encountered trouble in the torrential rain.

Toyota's reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier and ​stand-in co-driver Julien Ingrassia balanced pace ​and risk to lead Rally ‌Finland on ​Friday after Hyundai's hopefuls hit trouble. Ogier ended the day 16.3 seconds ahead of championship-leading teammate Elfyn Evans, with Finland's ‌Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg completing a Toyota top four on a day of torrential rain and hazardous standing water.

"It's been a very good day. Very tricky this afternoon, not ‌so enjoyable, I guess, for anybody, but it's good that we managed to ‌come out of that," said Ogier. Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux, fastest in Thursday's opening super-special, slid into a concrete block and dropped to sixth while teammate Thierry Neuville went from second to ninth after damaging his ⁠car's suspension ​on a rock.

Hyundai's ⁠Esapekka Lappi also rolled out, with the crew unhurt. "Rallying, unfortunately, sometimes it hits you hard," said Neuville. "But ⁠we were able to carry on, we were able to get that experience this afternoon in ​tremendous conditions."

Ogier, whose regular co-driver Vincent Landais was absent for personal reasons, won ⁠three of the morning's four fast gravel stages around Jyvasjkyla and overcame a slide into a ditch in ⁠the ​afternoon. Home hero Pajari, 26.7 seconds behind and losing time with a misted-up windscreen, won stages three and six while Evans, Oliver Solberg and Takamoto Katsuta (eighth overall) ⁠contributed to Toyota's tally and Fourmaux also won a stage.

"The afternoon was a bit of ⁠a lottery in ⁠the end. I'm glad we managed to survive that," said Evans, who started the rally with a 25-point lead over Katsuta. Saturday features ‌a further ‌eight stages.