The first day of Rally Islas Canarias kicked off under cool but dry conditions, despite some forecasts suggesting damp patches. The action started on the Valsequillo – Telde stage, where Kalle Rovanperä made a strong start, setting the fastest time of 15:43.0. His teammate Elfyn Evans followed, 6.5 seconds behind, while Sébastien Ogier came third, 9.1 seconds back.
For reigning champion Thierry Neuville, it was a tough beginning. He finished 19.6 seconds behind Rovanperä, and some oil was spotted under his car as he left the stage.
In the second stage, the Toyota trio stayed in the lead, but Ogier moved ahead of Evans in the rankings. Neuville continued to struggle and admitted, „I can’t tell you what’s going on, I don’t know.”
By the end of the morning loop, no major surprises had occurred. The three Toyotas remained at the top. Both Tänak and Neuville had car issues that engineers were still trying to understand.
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin was doing well early on but ran into tire problems toward the end of the morning loop, which affected his pace.
The afternoon loop brought no major changes at the front. Toyota kept all three top positions. Rovanperä leads overall with a time of 1:10:31.8, followed by Ogier (1:10:58.6) and Evans (1:11:08.2). Neuville finally picked up the pace, climbing to sixth place overall by the end of the day.
One of Friday’s big surprises was young Finn Sami Pajari, who now sits fourth overall, 55.3 seconds behind Rovanperä — an impressive performance.
As Friday ends, the top 10 is made up of the five Toyotas, the three Hyundais, and the two Fords.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel is leading with a time of 1:13:22.5. Alejandro Cachón is second, +18.7 seconds behind, and Gryazin is third, +38.9 seconds back.
