Kalle Rovanperä held a slender lead over Craig Breen at Rally Estonia following an action-packed Friday morning that included the shock retirement of pre-event favourite Ott Tänak. Breen was hot on the Finn’s heels in a Hyundai i20. The time lost was later removed by rally officials and Breen briefly sneaked into a one second lead before Rovanperä hit back in the final two tests. Home hero Tänak won Friday’s opening Arula test to relegate Rovanperä from top spot but plunged to seventh after a front right puncture in the following Otepää. The Belgian fell back from third with a rear left puncture in Kanepi, but still had 6.6sec in hand over Elfyn Evans, who twice overshot junctions in Otepää in his Yaris.

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