Latvala remains leader ahead of Hirvonen

At the end of the second stage of Rally from Sweden, Jari-Matti Latvala maintains the lead of the event with 23 seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën), who is doing his best to keep the pressure on his former teammate. “Mikko is really very fast, he manages to keep the pressure on me. I can't give up anyway,” comments the leader of the Swedish event, author of four scratches in this stage compared to two for his compatriot.

Petter Solberg (Ford) does not seem able to interfere in the Finns' duel since the Norwegian is 28??4 behind the first DS3 WRC. The 2003 world champion is more focused on his mirrors while resisting the attacks of Mads Ostberg (Ford), who is still only 11??1 behind to claim a place on the podium. “This fight with Mads Ostberg is incredible. Tomorrow?s stage will be very difficult », assures the former world champion.

Evgeny Novikov (Ford) is now comfortably installed in fifth position. The Russian leaves Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) and Henning Solberg (Ford) fight for sixth place. Despite a spin and a puncture, the Alsatian managed to gain the advantage over the Norwegian and returned to the service park with a 4??9 lead over the Fiesta RS WRC. The Citroën driver does not hide his disappointment. “Neither this day nor this stage is satisfactory. We are fighting for sixth place and the puncture hasn't helped anything. »

Patrik Sandell (Mini) and Martin Prokop (Ford) are in the middle of a battle for eighth place. The Swede only has a 2??6 lead over the Czech before the start of the last stage. Behind Eyvind Brynildsen (Ford), Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen continued their internal struggle for 11th place. The Frenchman finished the day 12?8 ahead of the reigning IRC champion. “I am happy with my day”, comments the former Citroën driver. “I'm going to work with my engineers to see if there aren't some adjustments to make to the set-up. »

Thierry Neuville continues his learning on snow with the DS3 WRC and hangs on to his 13th place. The Belgian keeps in mind the finish which represents his main objective in this event. ?I didn?t make a mistake today, that?s the most important thing. We continue our learning, I learned a lot today and I hope things will continue in this direction. »

The crews will leave tomorrow to compete in the last six stages of the Rally Sweden. The first car will set off at 8:34 a.m. for three courses which will be resumed in the afternoon. The Hagfors Power Stage will be contested from 14:11 p.m.