Rallye de Suède: Lappi en tête, Rovanperä and Tänak jetten l'eponge

A day full of surprises at Rally Sweden! After the mid-day retirements of Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) and Ott Tänak (Hyundai), it was the Finn Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) who took the lead at the end of the second day on Friday.

Rovanperä, the two-time reigning Finnish world champion, who was the big favorite in the rally, was leading the race after the first three stages but was unable to finish the fourth after making a mistake. However, he should be able to leave on Saturday and hope to pick up a few points on Sunday. The 23-year-old driver, who decided this season to take a break from rallying and only compete in certain events, is making his return after skipping the Monte-Carlo, the inaugural round of the year.

Tänak, who was aiming for three in Sweden after winning in 2019 and 2023, also said goodbye to victory during SS4. The Estonian made a mistake and hit a wall of snow which damaged the front of his car. After the retirements of the two main favorites, the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) took control of the rally at midday, but could not resist the return of Lappi who is now ahead of him by 3.2 seconds.

The other big surprise of the day was the third place occupied by the Swede Oliver Solberg (Skoda), who plays in a lower category (WRC2) but who showed great enthusiasm in front of his audience. Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport/Ford) occupies fourth place after having a big scare at midday by narrowly avoiding Tänak, who was traveling at reduced speed after leaving the road. He is ahead of British world vice-champion Elfyn Evans (Toyota).

The Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), leader of the world championship after his success in Monte-Carlo at the end of January, had to open the road and paid dearly on the Swedish snow since he is only in 11th place, almost three minutes from the leader, after receiving a 40-second penalty for showing up late at the start of SS6. “I was just trying to get through this day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow (Saturday) hoping for a problem-free day. We’ll have a little more fun,” he explained. Seven special stages representing a total of 126.74 km are on the program on Saturday for the third day of the Swedish Rally, the only round of the season contested on snow.