Rally Sweden 2019
08h
The crews are preparing to compete in the Svullrya special from 9:08 a.m. With more than 24km on the program, it is the longest route of the event.
08h
Kristoffersson is provisionally the fastest in WRC 2 and leads the category in 12th place overall, just a tenth behind Rovanperä.
08h
Ott Tänak (Toyota) got off to a strong start in the first stage of the Swedish Rally by taking the scratch in the 21,26km Hof-Finnskog. The Estonian set a time of 10'09''1, around 4 seconds ahead of Teemu Suninen (M-Sport), Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) and Sébastien Ogier (Citroën).
On the other hand, Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) marks time 18 seconds behind. The Alsatian ranks behind Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), Esapekka Lappi (Citroën), Kris Meeke (Toyota) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai).
Pontus Tidemand and Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) failed by more than 22 seconds, the Welshman having suffered a spin. Marcus Grönholm (Toyota) also performed a similar trick, but the double WRC champion finished 53 seconds behind.
Ott Tänak takes the lead in the Swedish Rally, 3 seconds ahead of Sébastien Ogier and almost 4 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville. Jari-Matti Latvala and Teemu Suninen follow a few tenths ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen, Esapekka Lappi and Kris Meeke. Sébastien Loeb is 9th ahead of Pontus Tidemand and Elfyn Evans. Marcus Grönholm is further back in the middle of WRC 2.
In WRC 2 Pro, Kalle Rovanperä is provisionally in the lead with almost 5 seconds ahead of Mads Ostberg.
08h
Grönholm also lost time suffering a spin. The double WRC champion lost more than 53 seconds in the mishap. “It wasn’t very pretty. The car is heating up with snow in the radiator, I have to move. »
08h
Evans marks time even though he had good pace in the special. The M-Sport driver is 26s behind the provisional scratch. The Welshman hit a wall of snow while spinning. “It took me a long time to get back on track. »
08h
Lappi takes the 6th time, almost 8s behind Tänak. The Citroën driver is between Mikkelsen and Meeke in the general standings. “The feelings are pretty good. It comes down to the details. »
08h
Mikkelsen takes 7th time, more than 9s behind the benchmark. The Hyundai driver finds himself between Suninen and Meeke. “The car wasn't very responsive. However, I rode well even if I could have been more at the limit. The weight of the 2nd spare wheel does not hamper handling. »
08h
Tidemand is not there unlike his teammate Suninen. The national driver is the slowest with 23 seconds behind Tänak's provisional scratch. “The windshield wipers weren't working, I had snow on the windshield. »
08h
Suninen stands out by being the closest to Tänak with 3″8 behind. The M-Sport driver is half a second behind his compatriot Latvala in the general standings. “We can go much faster. It's not easy though. »
08h
Latvala is doing the best after his untouchable teammate by being 4s behind Tänak. The Finn is just behind Neuville. “The feelings are pretty good. »
08h
Loeb blames the blow. The Alsatian ranks 18s behind Tänak's provisional scratch. “I hesitated at the wheel, I was not released. It wasn't easy to attack. »
08h
The gap hurts for Meeke who is more than 8s behind his teammate Tänak. “I thought I was clean, but I don't think I took advantage of all the grip the road offered. I remain satisfied, it's a good start. »
08h
Tänak announces the color by sticking more than 4s to Ogier. The Estonian is ahead of the Citroën by 3s overall. “Some sections were complicated, but I enjoy driving. The car responds well. »
08h
Neuville: “I could have attacked a little more. The conditions are not too bad. I thought Ogier had a different time. »
08h
Neuville drops 1″6 to Ogier and finds himself 8 tenths behind the Citroën driver.
08h
Ogier launches the salvo of the times in 10'13″2 at the end of the 21km. “It’s very mild. The grip is pretty good, but it's still complicated. It's still easier than last year when there was 10cm of fresh snow. »
08h
Neuville came back to 1″3 behind Ogier in the third half. Tänak remains one second ahead of the Frenchman in the 3nd intermediate position. Meeke is 2 tenths behind the French driver in the first split.
08h
Ogier is 2 seconds ahead of Neuville in the second half, but Tänak is faster with more than a second ahead of the championship leader in the first half.
07h
All the drivers obviously took studded tires. Mikkelsen was the only one to take 2 spare wheels.
07h
The WRCs will start with a gap of 2 minutes. The rest of the peloton will leave every minute.
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