Kalle Rovanpera leads Toyota five-car charge in Canary Islands
Double world champion Kalle Rovanpera led a Toyota charge on the first full day of the Canary Islands Rally on Friday with the Japanese manufacturer filling the top five places.
Rovanpera was fastest on all six asphalt stages of the season's fourth round in Gran Canaria and was leading eight-times world champion Sebastien Ogier by 26.8 seconds with championship leader Elfyn Evans third and a further 9.6 back.
Sami Pajari was fourth and Takamoto Katsuta fifth.
Hyundai's reigning world champion Thierry Neuville was only sixth, ahead of team mates Ott Tanak and Adrien Fourmaux.
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean and co-driver Eoin Treacy are 12th overall.
Saturday sees the longest leg of the rally, making its world championship debut, with seven stages and more than 120km of action.
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