Tanak leads Rally Finland after opening stage

Ott Tanak has taken an early advantage on the opening stage of Rally Finland ahead of Rally Poland winner Thierry Neuville.

Haydn Cobb_1

27 Jul 2017

Click here for full Rally Finland leaderboard after SS1

Ott Tanak has taken an early advantage on the opening stage of Rally Finland ahead of Rally Poland winner Thierry Neuville and World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Ogier.

The M-Sport Ford driver is aiming to bounce back from a frustrating Rally Poland after being cruelly denied a fight for victory in the final day of action and began the Finnish round on the front foot with stage victory 1.1 second ahead of Neuville.

Ogier, who holds a slender 11-point advantage over Neuville in the drivers' standings, takes up third on the leaderboard ahead of Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT of Craig Breen.

Local star Jari-Matti Latvala takes up fifth on the times for Toyota Gazoo Racing with Hyundai's Hayden Paddon sixth in between fellow Finnish Toyota driver Juho Hanninen.

After topping Rally Finland's Shakedown, Kris Meeke is back in action for Citroen having been dropped for Rally Poland and is eighth after SS1 ahead of fellow countryman Elfyn Evans as Dani Sordo rounded out the top ten.