Lappi ended the morning loop with a 1m24.3s lead over M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, with Toyota’s Elfyn Evans [+1m40.5s] in third after Toyota driver Katsuta’s victory tilt came to an end on stage 10.
Oliver Solberg continued to impress and sat an incredible fourth overall (+2m25.4s) in the WRC2 class lead, while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville climbed from 11th to fifth overall, 2m42.9s behind team-mate Lappi.
The heavy snow showers that dominated Friday’s action abated on Saturday and were replaced by much colder temperatures.
That the conditions were much more favourable to the front runners was outlined by the returning Ott Tanak, who set the pace on the day’s first test, stage nine [Vannas, 15.65km].
After crashing out on Friday’s stage four, the Hyundai driver started first on the road but was able to pip Evans by 0.3s, as he made the most of a compacted ice layer on the road.
World champion Kalle Rovanpera, also returning from his crash on stage four, was third fastest and just 1.2s adrift of Tanak.
In the battle for the overall lead, Katsuta responded to overnight rally leader Lappi by posting a time 2.3s faster than the Finn to cut the deficit to 0.9s.
“My driving was quite messy, not so good,” said Katsuta.
Source: Autosport