Uncertain duel between Craig Breen and Ott Tänak at the head of the Swedish Rally

Two states of mind clash for the head of the Rally of Sweden 2023 this Saturday February 11. On the one hand, Craig Breen (Hyundai) fait preuve d’une confiance à toute épreuve. De l’autre, Ott Tänak (M-Sport) ne cesse d’être contrarié par le manque de sensations que lui renvoie sa Ford Puma hybride.

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However, the two men perform practically identical work, as evidenced by the very small gap separating them at the end of the Saturday morning loop. After 11 special stages, the Irishman is only 2”6 ahead of the world rally champion (WRC) 2019.

Second fastest on SS1 👌@OttTanak closes the gap to 🥇 (+2.6s). pic.twitter.com/klY5sOIfdx

- M-Sport (@MSportLtd) February 11, 2023

Already leader of the Swedish Rally at the end of the first stage on Friday, Craig Breen (Hyundai) first confirmed his sparkling form by gaining a lead over his rival during SS9 and SS10. But the wear of the studded tires, especially on the longest sector of the weekend, was certainly better controlled by the leader of the M-Sport Ford clan, since he went faster in SS11.

“This special went better for us, declared Ott Tänak a little more positive than usuale. The course was more technical so I was able to control the car better. »

En troisième place, Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) va commencer à jeter un oeil derrière lui, car le champion du monde en titre Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) a entamé une remontée. Le Finlandais a débordé son équipier Elfyn Evans et ne compte plus que 10 secondes de retard sur Lappi. « We made some new changes to the binding, and finally it was a little better, Rovanperä said. At the start I could have been better – the grip was really low and I was sliding a little too much in places. »

Happy to benefit from better settings which have eliminated chronic understeer suffered the day before, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) set a scratch time and had the luxury of also overtaking Elfyn Evans.

The only Frenchman registered in Rally1, Pierre-Louis Loubet (M-Sport Ford) was handicapped by a lack of power from the hybrid system and sailed alone in 7th place.

In WRC2, everything is going well for Oliver Solberg (Skoda). The Swede remains half a minute ahead of Ole Christian Veiby (Volkswagen) and almost a minute ahead of Jari Huttunen (Skoda). In WRC3, Frenchman Laurent Pellier is in second place for his discovery of ice and snow, 37 seconds behind William Creighton.

General classification after SS11: