Rovanpera blitzed the competition after electing to tackle the 2.87-miles of ‘Rannankylä’ for a fourth time. At one minute 56.3 seconds, it was eight tenths of a second faster than Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate and former event winner Elfyn Evans - and a possible sign of what lies in sto🥂re over the course of the weekend ahead.

“Not maybe pressure but 🐼of course there is more will to try and win it,” said 22-year-old Rovanpera. “Definitely it is not going to be easy from first on the road, but that's our target - to try to push for the win of course but still have a good rally to score some good points for the season.”

Slottingꦅ in at three in his i20 N Rally1 car was fellow Finn Esapekka Lappi – another winner of theꦜ ‘Gravel Grand Prix’. The Hyundai Motorsport driver was 1.1 seconds off Rovanpera’s benchmark.

Ott Tanak – who goes in search of back-to-back wins in an attempt to keep his already slim World Rally Championship title hopes alive – manag𓂃ed to complete the exercise fourth overall despite reporting electrical gremlins wi🐬th his Puma Rally1 after the opening run.

Tanak’s time was two tenths faster than the third points-scoring Toyota of Ta൩kamoto Katsuta, who returns to the factory team in the absence of eight-time World Champion, Sebastien Ogier.

The second works Hyundai driven by Thierry Neuville was sixth, M-Sport Ford’s Pierre-Louis Loubet seventh and Teemu Suninen – on his second Rally1 outing with Hyundai Motorsport – eighth. Coming out of retirement for his 210th World Rally Championship start, triple Rallꦏy Finland victor Jari-Matti Latvala was the last of the priority Rally1 runners in ninth (two minutes 1.7 second🔯s).