15h
The crews are already about to compete in the second passage of Röjden, 19,13km long. Mikkelsen took the scratch this morning in 10'18″5.
15h
While he had taken second place in the Swedish Rally, Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) lost around half a minute by making a mistake on the second passage of Svullrya, 24,88km long.
Craig Breen (Citroën) took the scratch with a time of 13'17"3 where he was around three seconds ahead of the Hyundais of Andreas Mikkelsen and Hayden Paddon as well as the Ford of Teemu Suninen. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) remains on the pace by following four seconds just ahead of Mads Ostberg (Citroën).
Kris Meeke (Citroën) is still marking time, 17 seconds behind the benchmark, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) and Ott Tänak (Toyota), the latter less than half a minute from the scratch. Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) is 35 seconds behind his teammate Elfyn Evans.
Thierry Neuville retains the lead in the Swedish Rally but is only one second ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen who is back in second place following the troubles of Esapekka Lappi who fell to seventh, losing five positions. Mads Ostberg completes the new provisional podium six seconds behind his compatriot with a six-tenths lead over Craig Breen. Hayden Paddon climbs into the top five, three seconds behind the Irishman. Teemu Suninen finds himself sixth with a dozen seconds ahead of the unfortunate Finn. Jari-Matti Latvala remains eighth, now 11 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak. Kris Meeke still completes the top ten, coming back to less than 10 seconds of the Estonian. Sébastien Ogier is more than half a minute out of the top ten and leads Elfyn Evans by a similar gap.
15h
Ostberg only set the 6th time, 4″8 behind his teammate Breen. The Norwegian finds himself on the provisional podium 6s behind Mikkelsen but only 6 tenths ahead of Breen. “I can't feel confident in the car. I'm having trouble finding the right rhythm. »
15h
Paddon achieves the same time as his teammate Mikkelsen, 2”9 behind Breen. The New Zealander remains a little more than 3s behind the Irishman in the general classification. “The conditions are very difficult. We find ourselves a passenger as soon as we leave the trajectory. »
15h
Suninen sets the 7th fastest time, around ten seconds from the provisional scratch. The M-Sport driver took advantage of Lappi's problems to beat his compatriot by almost 13 seconds.
15h
New reference signed by Breen who is ahead of Mikkelsen by 2″9. The Citroën driver is less than 7s behind the Hyundai driver. “The special was very difficult but we did well. »
15h
Mikkelsen takes the scratch 1″2 ahead of his teammate Neuville who only has a one second lead in the general classification. The Norwegian got out of his Hyundai to check the front of his i20 WRC. “I thought I might have a puncture towards the end of the stage because the car was going in all directions. »
15h
Lappi reaches the finish line with some damage to the front of his Toyota. The Finn who was in 2nd place lost more than half a minute at the head of the race. “I missed a turn with no grip when braking. » Lappi risks losing many places in this special.
15h
Despite his good position, Evans failed half a minute from the benchmark. The top ten is still far away for the Welshman. “It was getting better but I got stuck in a wall of snow and had to reverse. »
15h
Neuville arrives with minor damage at right-back. The Hyundai driver takes the scratch with a 13s lead over Meeke. The Belgian is currently defending his leadership position against Lappi and Mikkelsen. “We'll have to see what happens. I made the trajectories because I was on the attack. »
15h
Meeke takes the scratch with a 4″6 lead over Latvala. By gaining around ten seconds from Tänak, the Citroën driver comes back to 7″4 behind the Toyota driver in the general classification. “I had a few scares. However, I wasn't too aggressive. It's hard to describe. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. »
15h
Latvala improves his teammate Tänak’s time by 5″9. The Estonian is 11s behind the Finn. “We will lose time with the improvement of the roads over time. That's how it is sometimes, you have to deal with it. »
15h
Tänak improves Ogier's time by 7″9 but the Toyota driver also risks losing track against opponents starting behind. “It’s very good,” says the Estonian ironically. No, the special is very difficult. »
15h
Ogier sets a first time in 13'52″8. This is more than half a minute more than Neuville's scratch achieved this morning. “It’s simply a joke, a joke…” The Frenchman is clearly annoyed by his position on the road.
15h
Ogier set off on SS6. The goal for the Frenchman is to lose as little time as possible in order to catch up with his opponents during the next stages where he will have a much more preferable position on the road.
14h
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.
