(Reuters) – Double world champion Kalle Rovanpera won Rally Poland for Toyota on Sunday in a remarkable turnaround after being called up as a late stand-in for Sebastien Ogier with little time to prepare.
The Finn, who got the call on Tuesday night after Ogier was involved in a head-on car accident during the rally reconnaissance, finished 28.3 seconds clear of Welsh team mate Elfyn Evans.
“It’s (been) quite an amazing week,” said Rovanpera, who is doing only limited events this season, of his 13th career victory.
“Not so normal…I think the best thing is we came here and it was not a bad idea to come. We helped the team a lot and took a lot of points for the teams championship so we didn’t waste our time.”
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux finished third.
World championship leader Thierry Neuville was fourth for Hyundai.
Neuville has 136 points to Evans’ 121 and Hyundai’s Ott Tanak on 115. Hyundai lead the manufacturers’ standings with 311 points to Toyota’s 301.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.