08h

The crews will now head to the 23,4km Hagfors special which will be contested from 9:12 a.m. This is the longest special of the day.

08h

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) stayed on the pace in Torntorp, SS9 of the Swedish Rally, finishing almost eight seconds behind Ott Tänak (Toyota) who completed the 19,88km special in 10'02 »0. But the Belgian seems to have encountered a problem with the paddles, having to shift gears with the lever. Hyundai said it did not know what caused the problem.

Craig Breen (Citroën) was closest to the scratch, four seconds behind, just ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) followed seven seconds behind. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) was eight seconds behind while his teammate Hayden Paddon dropped around ten seconds. Mads Ostberg (Citroën) followed a dozen seconds behind, preceding Kris Meeke (Citroën), Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport), Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) and Elfyn Evans (M-Sport).

Thierry Neuville retains the lead of Rally Sweden with a 5”2 lead over Andreas Mikkelsen. Craig Breen climbed onto the provisional podium by coming back to 3”6 from the Norwegian and ahead of Hayden Paddon by more than five seconds. Mads Ostberg remains three seconds behind the New Zealander. Esapekka Lappi moved up to sixth place by overtaking his compatriot Teemu Suninen with almost six seconds ahead. Jari-Matti Latvala remains eighth with 18 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak. Kris Meeke completes the top ten ahead of Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier separated by 3”5.

 

08h

Neuville sets the 5th time, 7″8 behind Tänak, gaining 3 tenths from his teammate Mikkelsen. The Belgian has a 5”2 lead at the head of the rally. “We have no problem but we have to go,” Neuville simply indicated.

08h

Neuville uses his gear lever to shift gears. The Hyundai driver probably has a problem with his paddles.

08h

Mikkelsen sets the 5th time, 8″1 behind Tänak. The Hyundai driver gives up more than 4 seconds to Breen who is 3″6 behind 2nd place. “I try to get into the right rhythm. »

08h

Paddon drops 5″8 to Breen, finishing around ten seconds behind the benchmark. The Hyundai driver slipped to 4th place, 5”3 behind the Irishman. “We will be able to attack more in the next special. »

08h

Breen is closest to Tänak, 4 seconds behind, while Paddon seems slower. The Irishman is in the fight for the podium.

08h

Ostberg finished in 4th place, 11″8 behind Tänak. The Norwegian occupies 5th place with 20″6 ahead of Lappi. “We could go very fast in this special but I am not at all satisfied with my pace. I wasn't fast enough. »

08h

Suninen in third place with the 6th time, almost 22 seconds behind Tänak and 14 seconds behind his compatriot Lappi. The M-Sport driver slips to 7th place, 5”8 behind Lappi. “We had problems. Maybe it comes from the pilot. »

08h

Lappi signs the 3rd fastest time, 7″1 behind his teammate Tänak. The Finn maintains a 25s lead over Latvala, occupying 7th position. “I had a lot of grip. I start to attack but we are getting closer to the walls of snow. »

08h

Latvala gives up 4″6 to his teammate Tänak who is 18″2 behind the 8th place occupied by the Finn. “It’s clearly better than the day before. We have a lot of grip in this special. »

08h

Tänak increases the pace by improving Meeke’s time by 15”6. The Toyota driver secures his 9th place. “The conditions are much better than the day before. We find ourselves in a normal situation regarding sweeping on the road. »

08h

Tänak increases the pace by improving

08h

Kris Meeke improves Ogier's time by 3s. “There are only 3 cars in front of me, they are the ones I have to beat. My only objective is to stay ahead of Ogier. »

08h

Evans fails 4s behind his teammate Ogier. The Welshman maintains his 11th place for 3″5 ahead of the five-time WRC champion. “The conditions are better than the day before but the car has also improved. »

08h

Ogier improves Henning Solberg's time by almost 25 seconds. The M-Sport driver ranks 12th. “There aren't many people we can threaten anymore. I have good memories of this rally with the Polo, the special stages are beautiful. »

08h

Henning Solberg signs a first benchmark in 10'45"4. The weather should improve quickly.  

07h

All the leading crews left with a spare wheel.

07h

Henning Solberg sets off in the first ES of the day. The Norwegian is in 18th place in the general classification.

07h

And here is the order of departures for this day:

 

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