The Finn, 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 opening round of the year. During the first and only special stage held on Thursday, Rovanperä beat his teammates Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans by 1.4 and 2 seconds respectively after a course of 5.16 km.
The Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), imperial at the end of January in Monte-Carlo, when he deprived the eight-time French world champion Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) of a record tenth victory in the Principality, occupies sixth place with 2.7 seconds behind Rovanperä. Seven special stages representing a total of 108.78 km are on the program for Friday on the second day of the Swedish Rally, the only round of the season contested on snow.