Overview

• Kalle Rovanperä won all three Friday morning asphalt stages, building a 17.8-second lead over teammate Sébastien Ogier, with Elfyn Evans in third.
• Rovanperä attributed his breakthrough to setup adjustments tailored to the new Hankook tyres, reversing his earlier struggles this season.
• Ogier acknowledged Rovanperä's superior pace, describing him as being 'in his own league' during the morning stages.
• Hyundai's drivers, including Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak, reported severe understeer and an inability to attack, leaving them well off the pace.
• Hyundai's technical director François-Xavier Demaison admitted uncertainty about the cause of the handling issues, despite promising results in recent testing.