Ott Tänak narrowly leads Rally Sweden, Craig Breen hot on his heels

It had been a few years since the Rally de Sweden had not reserved such suspense. At the end of the second stage, this Saturday February 11, and with only three special stages remaining, the two first classified drivers are only separated by 8”6!

Mechanics had its role in the battle between Ott Tänak (M-Sport Ford) and Craig Breen (Hyundai). After a morning loop which did not allow one of the two duelists to make the difference, an unspecified mechanical problem on the part of Hyundai slowed Craig Breen down somewhat.

The Irishman, leader since Friday morning, was not helped by a delaminated front left tire. But as these pranksters from Pirelli also caused the same alarm with Ott Tänak, we can reasonably think that these two damages did not weigh heavily in the balance.

So this happened on SS14, just after we managed to extend the cap to +9.5 over Breen in the last split. 😤

But we got through it and leading the rally by 2.3sec now. 💪#RallySweden #WRC #goOtt #TanakFanArmy #rallying #OttTanak #MartinJarveoja #MSPORTERS pic.twitter.com/Kd0MMz2mks

— Ott Tänak (@OttTanak) February 11, 2023

In the last special, the Estonian, despite a slick tire replacing the delaminated studded tire, gained a little margin over his Irish pursuer, who did not admit defeat. “We carried a problem with us all afternoon. I'm not going to let it get me down, there are less than 10 seconds between Ott and me! »

The match for the last step of the podium is also interesting. Equipped with studded tires in better condition, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) overflowed Kalle Rovanperä at the last minute (Toyota) in the last ES of the day. The gap remains tiny (+2”8).

“It’s going to be a tough battle tomorrow with Kalle, he’s not going to give up, Neuville said. We are happy with our day because we attacked, which allowed us to win some stages. »

Kalle Rovanperä admits her mistake. “We messed up our afternoon with our tire tactics. They were better than us in that regard, I lacked grip and I couldn't do better. » Behind him is Elfyn Evans (Toyota). The Welshman rides anonymously and does not get involved in any battles from the start.

Regularly left behind, Pierre-Louis Loubet (M-Sport Ford) continues his learning of snow and ice. The Frenchman, co-driven by the Belgian Nicolas Gilsoul, is in a satisfactory 6th place. “ It was a complicated day, I’m glad I made it. Now I have to be careful because I don't want to make any mistakes. »

At the foot of the podium on Saturday morning, Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) was ousted from the top 10 following a tire delamination which sent him into a snowdrift in the last corner of SS13. Stuck in the snow for more than 7 minutes, the Finn will try to score a few points in the Power stage on Sunday noon.

In WRC2, it’s the status quo. Oliver Solberg (Skoda) goes it alone thanks to the troubles of his opponents on Friday. His category victory is acquired if the mechanics do not give up on him. In Junior WRC and WRC3, rookies Laurent Pellier and Marine Pelamourgues took the lead in the class at the wheel of his Ford Fiesta Rally3. The French have an 18” lead over William Creighton.

The final stage of the Swedish Rally will begin on Sunday at 7 a.m. French time, and can be followed live text on AUTOhebdo.fr.

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Rally Sweden 2023 ranking at the end of Stage 2: