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Kalle Rovanperä is closing in on his maiden FIA World Rally Championship title after taking the Repco Rally New Zealand field by storm on Saturday. A lead heading into Sunday’s final leg was the best 22nd birthday present the Toyota Gazoo racing star could have asked for after six technical stages on gravel roads north of Auckland. The icing on the cake was a buffer over his main title challenger Ott Tänak, who finished the day in third after being lumbered with 15 seconds worth of time penalties. Rovanperä himself was handed a five-second penalty before the day had even started for his own hybrid rule breach, but the Finn carved through the pack on muddy roads to seize the top spot by mid-leg service before taking a brace of stage wins in the afternoon. Tänak initially stayed within touching distance of his rival despite being unhappy with the feeling aboard his Hyundai i20 N but slipped out of touch when he received an additional 10sec sanction
