Katsuta (Ford) is still leading WRC2 with 2”7 ahead of Tidemand (Skoda). The local driver took the advantage over Veiby (Skoda) by 4″4. The fight in the category is very close since Huttunen is only one second off the provisional podium.

The crews are now preparing to compete in the second passage of Svullrya from 15:03 p.m. Neuville took the scratch this morning in 13'16″4.

Michel Nandan, Hyundai Motorsport team principal: “We are obviously satisfied with our positions at the moment, but the finish is still very far away. We had a difficult start to the season. The settings seem to be effective here. Many drivers can claim victory. Every little mistake will make the difference. We've changed Hayden's set-up slightly, but otherwise we're pretty stable on the car set-up. »

Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) took advantage of the sweep of his opponents to claim his first scratch at the Swedish Rally by completing the second pass of Hof-Finnskog in 10'19"5. Craig Breen (Citroën) and Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) were the closest, falling just over four seconds behind. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) followed six seconds behind, just ahead of his compatriot Mads Ostberg (Citroën). Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) is more than seven seconds ahead of Teemu Suninen (M-Sport). Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) is about twelve seconds behind. The gaps are significant behind with around 20 seconds behind for Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), Kris Meeke (Citroën) and Ott Tänak (Toyota).

Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) was the slowest among the first crews, finishing almost half a minute from the scratch opening the road.

Thierry Neuville maintains a slight lead at the head of Rally Sweden. Esapekka Lappi took second place for a tenth ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen and is two seconds behind the Belgian. Mads Ostberg remains in ambush four seconds from the provisional podium with five seconds ahead of Craig Breen. Hayden Paddon's performance allows him to move up to sixth place, three tenths behind the Irishman with around ten seconds ahead of Teemu Suninen and almost 17 seconds over Jari-Matti Latvala. Ott Tänak fell to ninth place, five seconds behind the Finn. Kris Meeke still completes the top ten ahead of Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans.

Ostberg signs the 5th fastest time, 6″4 behind Paddon’s scratch. The Citroën driver nevertheless retained his 4th place, being 4s behind Mikkelsen.

Paddon takes the new scratch by beating Breen by 4″2. The Hyundai driver is now ahead of Tänak and Latvala with a good lead.

Mikkelsen's time is finally revealed! The Norwegian had a good pace finishing 1″8 behind Breen with 1″7 behind Lappi who took 2nd place for a tenth ahead of the Hyundai driver.

Suninen sets the 4th provisional time, 5″6 behind the benchmark. The M-Sport driver took a dozen seconds from Tänak who fell behind the Finn.

Breen snatches the scratch from Lappi for a tenth lead. The Citroën driver remains around ten seconds behind Lappi in the general classification.

Mikkelsen is at the finish. His time is not yet known but the Norwegian is rather happy. “I am quite satisfied with my special. »

Lappi beats Neuville by 3″2 with a time of 10’23″8. The Toyota driver remains in the fight for the lead of the race, falling back to 2”1 behind the Belgian in the general classification. “You have to go slowly to go fast in these conditions, it's useless to attack. »

Evans is closest to Neuville, 5 seconds behind. Despite a good time from the Welshman, he is still more than half a minute behind Ogier following his puncture this morning.

Neuville takes the scratch with a time of 10'27″0. This is 11″6 better than Latvala for the leader of Rally Sweden chased by his teammate Mikkelsen. “The grip was good at the start but less good at the end. »

Meeke is the closest to Latvala with 1″3 behind. “My only objective is to stay ahead of Ogier. » A successful bet for the moment since the Citroën driver now has a 16″6 lead over the Frenchman in the general classification.

Neuville seems in a hurry. The Hyundai driver is already ahead of Latvala by more than 4 seconds in the first split.

Latvala improves his teammate Tänak's time by 2"7 with a time of 10'38"6. The Finn maintains the advantage over the Estonian in the general classification with a 5s lead. “It’s definitely harder to keep the car on the line. There is too much snow outside and the line is very thin. »

Tänak improves the time by 6″2 with a time of 10’41″3. The Toyota driver is in around 7th place. “It's definitely worse than this morning. That’s how it is, you have to do the best you can. »

Ogier set a first time of 10'47″5, around 15 seconds more than Tänak's scratch for the morning. “It's even worse in the second pass with the trajectories of the cars entered in the national championship. It’s m…”

Tänak is slower than Latvala, Meeke and Neuville in the first intermediate. No times yet for Ogier who is finishing.

All the leading crews left with only one spare wheel.

The roads are clearer than during the first passage. The pace of the first crews could change.