WRC – Sweden: Ogier already well established in the lead

Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen) was in difficulty in the second passage of the first stage of the Rally of Sweden, but the leader of the event took advantage of the retirement of Kris Meeke (Citroën) to increase his lead. The Northern Irishman dismounted when he hit a stone in SS8, a case similar to his retirement at the Monte-Carlo Rally, when he was 21 seconds behind the triple world champion.

Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) is now Sébastien Ogier's closest rival, trailing by 27 seconds. Mads Ostberg (Ford) completes the provisional podium seven seconds behind the New Zealander, ahead of Ott Tänak (Ford) of one second. Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and Andreas Mikkelsen follow the Estonian a few seconds behind.

Henning Solberg (Ford) is in seventh place, one minute behind the top six. The Norwegian is two seconds ahead Craig Breen (Citroen). Éric Camilli (Ford) follows at a good distance in ninth place. Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford) completes the top ten. Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) retired on SS9 after operating with a broken transmission. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) lost a lot of time for the same reasons, the drivers not having benefited from assistance mid-stage.

Elfyn Evans (Fiesta R5) finishes the stage in the lead of WRC2 with a lead of 17 seconds over Fredrik Ahlin (Fiesta R5). Anders Grondal (Fiesta R5) completes the top three.

The second stage of the Rally Sweden will be contested tomorrow from 8:11 a.m.