Jari-Matti Latvala slithered into the lead of Orlen 74th Rally Poland on Friday morning after a rain-soaked start to the first full day.
He was second fastest through the short Chmielewo speed test before moving into a 2.1sec advantage over Sébastien Ogier after winning the following Wieliczki. The Finn was surprised to find himself in front.
“That’s surprising because I didn’t think I was driving that well. It’s really slippery and the grip changes are big,” said the Toyota Yaris driver.
Road opener Ogier was third in both special stages in his Ford Fiesta and the championship leader echoed Latvala’s thoughts.
“It’s tricky, it’s going to be a long day. There are a lot of grip changes and it’s hard to find where you can push. You can’t be on the limit but at the end I was a bit too cautious,” he said.
Thierry Neuville won Chmielewo to relegate overnight leader Elfyn Evans, and fourth in Wieliczki left the Belgian tied in third with Ott Tänak. The pair were three-tenths of a second behind Ogier.
“Much more grip than I expected in the first part and much less at the end,” Neuville explained at the finish of Wieliczki. “I was far too slow at the start and had difficulty to get back good speed because there were too many surprises at the end and I didn’t want to make any mistakes.”
Neuville clipped a bank in the opener in his Hyundai i20 while Tänak, who was second in Wieliczki in his Fiesta, lost time after missing a junction.
Conditions deteriorated with the passage of every car as the sandy gravel became increasingly muddy. The leading quartet were already more than 10sec clear of Esapekka Lappi in fifth, the Finn having resolved last night’s engine glitch in his Yaris.
Dani Sordo was sixth, despite stalling his i20 at the first junction in Chmielewo, as did Teemu Suninen.
Craig Breen was already almost three minutes off the pace. The Irishman had three-wheel drive only in his Citroën C3 after breaking a rear right driveshaft. He tried to make repairs between stages but his efforts were in vain: “We’ve locked the differential and are just checking our notes before the repeat pass,” he said.