Latvala resists Neuville

Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) reste aux commandes du Rally of Sweden after the first pass of the first stage. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) a pourtant pris la tête en signant deux scratchs d’affilée, mais le Finlandais a répliqué dans l’ES4. L’ancien pensionnaire du Volkswagen Motorsports rejoint l’assistance de la mi-journée avec une avance de 4s sur le Belge.

The other priority crews are left behind since Kris Meeke (Citroën) completes the provisional podium almost 19 seconds behind the leader. The Northern Irishman is threatened by Sébastien Ogier (Ford) which came back to 3 tenths of the C3 WRC after gaining 4 places in the last course. The Frenchman leads the Fiesta RS WRC by a handful of tenths.Ott Tänak and Mads Ostberg. The Estonian complained of gearbox problems on the final stage.

Dani Sordo (Hyundai) fell to 7th after losing 3 positions in SS4. By missing a turn, the Spaniard finds himself 36 seconds from the lead of the race and only has a one second lead over Craig Breen (Citroen). Juho Hänninen (Toyota) and Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) complete the top ten.

Elfyn Evans (Ford) was in 7th position before losing almost 2 minutes following a puncture. The Welshman finds himself 12th behind the DS 3 WRC of Stéphane Lefebvre.

Pontus Tidemand (Skoda) took the lead of WRC 2 in SS4, ahead of Christian Veiby (Skoda) by 5 seconds. Teemu Suninen (Ford) completes the top three in the category with a 2s lead over Eyvind Brynildsen (Ford). Éric Camilli (Ford) is 5th, half a minute behind the Norwegian in front of him. Pierre-Louis Loubet (DS 3) is 10th in the category.

The crews go to mid-stage service before competing in the second loop from 13:20 p.m. The afternoon will be rounded off with the 16,43km Torsby special.