Latvala gives victory to Toyota

Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) était sous pression en ne possédant qu’une poignée de secondes d’avance sur Ott Tänak (Ford) before the start of the last stage, but the Finn was impeccable in winning the three special stages of the day to win with almost half a minute ahead of the Estonian.

The Nordic pilot, who won the 4th time the Rally of Sweden, offers the first success to Toyota in the World Rally Championship, the first with the Yaris WRC, since Didier Auriol's victory at the 1999 China Rally in a Corolla. The Japanese brand has not won in the Scandinavian event since Mats Jonsson in 1993 in a Celica Turbo 4WD. The Japanese manufacturer also achieved its 44th WRC success and thus equaled Volkswagen.

Sébastien Ogier (Ford) a dû se contenter de la dernière marche du podium après être parti en tête-à-queue dès le début de l’étape. Le quadruple champion du monde se classe devant Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and Craig Breen (Citroen). Elfyn Evans (Ford) retained his 6th place for 4 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) despite mechanical problems. Stéphane Lefebvre took 8th place while driving the old DS 3 WRC.

Pontus Tidemand (Skoda) won in WRC 2 with a 52s lead over Teemu Suninen (Ford), while Ole Christian Veiby (Skoda) completed the podium in the category ahead of Éric Camilli (Ford).

Jari-Matti Latvala scored plenty of points as he won the Power Stage with more than a second ahead of Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) returns to Rally 2. Kris Meeke and Hayden Paddon completed the top five on the final stage of Rally Sweden.

Power Stage results:
Latvala
Ogier
Neuville
Meek
Paddon
Deaf
Thin
Evanshttps://t.co/Dan3hfMtF4#wrc #RallySweden pic.twitter.com/QmuwghVcC3

— Michelin Motorsport (@Michelin_Sport) 12th February 2017

The winner of the Rally of Sweden finds himself at the top of the Championship with 4 points ahead of Sébastien Ogier and will thus open the road to the Rally of Mexico (March 9 to 12). Ott Tänak follows 15 points behind the Finn, ahead of Dani Sordo by 8 points. Craig Breen follows 5 points behind the Spaniard with a 2 point lead over Elfyn Evans. Thierry Neuville is only 8th in the Drivers' standings, two points behind Stéphane Lefebvre.

Among manufacturers, M-Sport reste aux commandes en disposant désormais 20 points d’avance sur Toyota Gazoo Racing. Hyundai Motorsport suit à 33 unités de l’équipe de Malcolm Wilson. Citroën Racing ferme la marche à 47 points de la structure britannique.

Discover the analysis of the Swedish Rally carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2101 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.