Relive the Power Stage of the Swedish Rally with live text commentary

Elfyn Evans approaches the final day of the Rally Sweden is in a precarious leading position, 13,3 seconds ahead of his teammate Takamoto Katsuta. While on paper this final day only has three special stages, they are substantial, with two runs through the rally's longest stage, Västervik, which is over 25 kilometers long, and a Power Stage in Umeå, twice the length of the Sprint stage already run twice this weekend.

The program for Sunday, February 15th:
07:33 – SS16: Västervik 1 – 25,45 km – Elfyn Evans
10:11 – SS17: Västervik 2 – 25,45 km – Takamoto katsuta
12:15 p.m. – SS18: Umeå 2 – 10,23 km - Thierry Neuville

WRC – Rally Sweden
The last day in live text

13h20 - Thank you for joining us for this second event of the season, in Sweden! See you in Kenya from March 12th to 15th!

13h19 - The full results of this Rally Sweden can be found here:

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin win the Rally Sweden

13:17 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Elfyn Evans: « I'm thrilled and relieved! We didn't know what to expect on the Power Stage, but I'm happy with my time at the end and obviously very pleased to win the rally. Leading a quadruple victory! Toyota"It's truly fantastic. The atmosphere has been incredible here, as always. It's a very special rally, especially thanks to the very fast stages."

13:13 – SS18: Elfyn Evans wins the Swedish Rally! The Welshman misses out on the perfect weekend by a tenth of a second. Thierry Neuville wins the Power Stage!

13:10 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: “I’m not really happy, I could have done much better, especially yesterday. Elfyn did an excellent job all weekend, well done to him. I’m really unhappy, these things can’t happen at this level, in the World Championship. We were simply unlucky with our tires, Hankook is working on it and I hope it will be better next time.”

13:09 – SS18: Takamoto Katsuta finishes, the Japanese rider loses by four tenths of a second on the Power Stage, so he will not score the five points!

13:06 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Sami Pajari: “Thanks to the team, and also for all the support they showed me after a difficult Monte Carlo Rally. We were on pace all weekend, it ends on the podium, and now we're going to keep pushing for even better results.”

13:06 – SS18: Eighth fastest time for Sami Pajari, 7,3 seconds off the best time, but the Finn will still make it onto the podium!

13:02 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Oliver Solberg: “I expected it to be a bit better, but I underestimated how difficult Friday would be. I can’t say I did a great job with the sweeping compared to the others, but it was my first time on snow and ice with this car, so it’s a very good learning experience! After the position I was in on Friday, I clearly didn’t deserve better than fourth place. The goal remains to learn, and for the championship, it’s still a good position.”

13:01 – SS18: Oliver Solberg finishes 1,7 seconds behind Thierry Neuville, who could perhaps win this Power Stage!

12:59 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Adrien fourmaux : "It was a good rally in terms of conditions, the fans were there, we have to make the most of this rally which only comes once a year. We are not where we want to be but we will continue to push and move forward for the next events."

12:58 – SS18: Adrien Fourmaux finishes 3,2 seconds behind Thierry Neuville, he will be fifth in the rally, 2,9 seconds ahead of Esapekka Lappi.

12:55 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Esapekka Lappi: "It's great to be back at this level of competition. To be the best almost all weekend." Hyundai"I liked it, but on the other hand, being so far behind the leaders didn't appeal to me; clearly, that's the challenge we have to face as a team."

12:53 – SS18: Esapekka Lappi finishes with this Rally Sweden, the 2024 winner finishes sixth in the rally, and provisionally second in the Power Stage, 2,7 seconds behind Neuville.

12:50 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Thierry Neuville: "I don't know what to say. The frustration is very high, of course. But while there's life, there's hope; we have to stick together and make sure we get back to the top."

12:50 – SS18: Thierry Neuville finishes 3,2 seconds ahead, taking the lead in the Power Stage.

12:46 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Jon Armstrong: "It was a very good weekend. On the last stage, I tried not to take too many risks after having a small problem with snow on the front of the car during the first pass on Thursday. Fantastic to finish the weekend with a good pace. Thanks to the whole team who gave it their all."

12:45 – SS18: Jon Armstrong finishes with a very good Rally Sweden, 3,3 seconds behind Sesks on this Power Stage.

12:42 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Josh McErlean: “It’s great to finish and to have had a clean rally, it’s been a while. The goal was to regain confidence after Monte Carlo, which was one of the toughest weekends of my life. We’re on the right track now, we’re going to focus on Kenya.”

12:41 – SS18: Josh McErlean finishes this Rally Sweden, 3,3 seconds behind Mārtiņš Sesks.

12:38 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Lorenzo Bertelli: "I had a really great time, it was an incredible weekend." WRC I missed the driving, and Toyota too. I had a small problem on Friday morning, but thanks to everyone who still did an excellent job. I would love to do another rally, but I don't think it will be possible.

12:37 – SS18: Lorenzo Bertelli finished, 6,3 seconds behind Sesks.

12:34 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Mārtiņš Sesks: “It was a difficult Friday, that’s true. But we can take some positives away from it: a stage win, good first runs when the road was more consistent between competitors. I think it could have been a good rally.”

12:33 – SS18: Sesks had the best time, 14,6 seconds ahead of Suninen.

12:32 – SS18: Now it's time for the Rally1 competitors, with Mārtiņš Sesks! The Latvian is no longer in the top 5 of Super Sunday, after a small mistake in the previous special stage.

12:31 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Roope Korhonen: “It’s incredible, it was a great weekend for us. What can I say? Thanks to the whole team who did an excellent job, my engineers and my fans also helped me a lot. I don’t know what a better way to start my year could be! The conditions weren’t very easy, we tried to stay clean and not make any mistakes, and it worked.”

12:29 PM – SS18: Roope Korhonen wins the WRC2 category! The Finn recorded the second-best time on the Power Stage, one second behind Suninen.

12:27 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Teemu Suninen: “I’m satisfied. It was an incredible rally, and after a year and a half away, getting back on the podium is something to be really happy about. Thanks to all my sponsors, to the whole team who did everything necessary to get here.”

12:26 – SS18: 3,2 seconds ahead at the finish for Suninen who secures his second place in WRC2.

12:24 – SS18: A small mistake for Teemu Suninen, but the Finn maintains the advantage in the various intermediate stages.

12:22 p.m. – SS18: 💬 Lauri Joona: “We achieved our goal. The pace was there at times, at others I lost a few seconds; we’ll have to improve for the next rallies. I’m still happy to have set some good times.”

12:22 – SS18: 6:17.0 for Joona, who will secure a fourth podium finish in WRC2 in his career.

12:17 – SS18: The special stage, which was run for the first time on Thursday as the opening stage, presents two distinct faces: a fast first section and a more winding second section in the Red Barn Arena. The current temperature is -10°C.

12:15 p.m. – SS18: 🟢 Lauri Joona is off and running, kicking off the festivities on the Power Stage!

12h12 - As always, the top 3 of WRC2 will start first, before giving way to the Rally1 cars.

12h10 - We're back to experience the final stage of the Rally Sweden together! Will Elfyn Evans manage to win the Power Stage and score all the available points?

11h03 - We'll meet again at 12:15 for the last special stage of the rally, the Umeå Power Stage!

11h02 - Let's take a look at the standings, starting with the special stage:

The one from the rally:

And finally, the one for Super Sunday:

10:55 – SS17: 💬 Elfyn Evans: "I didn't have a good special stage, it wasn't ideal, but it's okay."

10:54 – SS17: Evans finishes with the third fastest time, seven tenths behind Katsuta, but he retains the lead in the rally and Super Sunday.

10:52 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: “The conditions were quite tricky; perhaps I wasn’t confident enough in some places, I was rather cautious. It’s a real shame we lost so much time yesterday; I can’t accept that it happened. The grip had completely disappeared, I don’t understand why. I’ll try to finish this rally, but I’m frustrated.”

10:51 – SS17: Takamoto Katsuta narrowly takes the best time, with a tenth of a second advantage over Pajari.

10:49 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Sami Pajari: “I felt really bad on the special stage, so I wasn’t expecting the time to be good! It’s a real mystery, I tried to do what I could. I hope I can finish on the podium, but there’s still a good hour before the special stage, so a little nap, an espresso and off I go!”

10:48 – SS17: Good special stage from Sami Pajari, who regains a 7,5 second lead over Oliver Solberg, which allows him to regain a similar advantage to that which he had at the beginning of the day, 31,2 seconds overall over Solberg.

10:46 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Oliver Solberg: "It was so slippery at the start of the stage, I kind of lost my line and went into a ditch, I must have lost five or six seconds. It was very difficult, the tires are starting to wear so it's not easy."

10:45 – SS17: Oliver Solberg finishes 3,9 seconds ahead, taking the provisional best time.

10:43 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Esapekka Lappi: "I was too slow, that's all. I tried to be very clean and not touch the snow walls, but I think I just didn't attack enough."

10:42 – SS17: Esapekka Lappi finishes 12,5 seconds behind Adrien Fourmaux, who takes fifth place overall by 3,4 seconds.

10:40 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: “We just received a text message saying they don’t know why Lappi is slower. For me, my stage was quite similar to the first one of the day, with a fair amount of understeer. We’re going to give it our all in the Power Stage; it wasn’t so bad yesterday in the Sprint section.”

10:39 – SS17: Adrien Fourmaux takes the fastest time with a 2,8-second lead. The Frenchman could gain a place in the overall standings based on Esapekka Lappi's intermediate times.

10:37 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Thierry Neuville: "I hit something in a crevasse, probably a rock. The car was handling well, I was worried I might have had a puncture but it seems to be okay."

10:36 – SS17: Thierry Neuville concedes one second at the finish to Armstrong, he still has a 13,1 second lead over the Irishman in the general classification.

10:33 – SS17: No mistakes and a very good time for Jon Armstrong, who improves the best mark by twenty seconds.

10:31 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Josh McErlean: "The car treats me pretty well, but I'm not exactly a great driver!"

10:31 – SS17: Josh McErlean takes the best time with a four-second lead over Sesks.

10:28 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Lorenzo Bertelli: It was better than the first time! It was trickier for me this morning, but this time I was careful and had more fun.

10:28 – SS17: Bertelli finished the special stage ten seconds slower than Sesks.

10:26 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Mārtiņš Sesks: « The braking zones are quite dirty compared to the first pass; I completely locked the wheels on my first braking attempt.

10:25 – SS17: Mārtiņš Sesks finishes in 12:58.9, 22 seconds slower than in the first pass, which can be explained by the Latvian's mistake.

10:22 – SS17: Josh McErlean makes a mistake on a left-hand turn, but manages to avoid ending up in a tree, and he gets going again without any contact!

10:18 – SS17: The sweeping effect was significant on the first pass; we see much more frozen gravel reaching the surface this time.

10:14 – SS17: Lorenzo Bertelli takes his turn.

10:12 – SS17: The Latvian makes a mistake in the first minute, going wide in a crossing, but he gets going again without losing too much time.

10:11 p.m. – SS17: 🟢 Let's go to Mārtiņš Sesks!

10h11 - For the last two stages of the rally, all Rally1 crews chose five studded tires, and therefore only one spare tire.

10h10 - As before, the competitors will start in the Västervik special stage, with a winding first section, before long straights where the Rally1 cars reach their top speed!

10h05 - Here we are again, six minutes from the start of the seventeenth special stage of this Swedish Rally!

8h26 - The drivers will now return to the service area for short setup changes if needed, before returning to Västervik at 10:11.

8h22 - The provisional classification of SS16:

And the point to the general:

8:17 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Elfyn Evans: « It was a pretty clean run; there was a bit more grip than we expected.

8:16 – SS16: And the scratch time goes to Elfyn Evans! 1,4 seconds ahead of Katsuta, giving him a 14,7 second lead overall!

8:13 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: "I tried to use the snow walls, but sometimes I did it before very, very long straights, so it wasn't perfect! The feeling is totally different from yesterday, I don't understand why. Here I'm regaining control and confidence, even though I haven't changed anything huge on the car."

8:13 – SS16: Katsuta finished 3,3 seconds ahead; can he catch Evans this Sunday?

8:11 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Sami Pajari: "It was really tricky for me, I wasn't clean, especially on the narrow sections at the beginning. I knew the time wasn't going to be great, I'll have to do better on the second run."

8:10 – SS16: Sami Pajari loses 9,3 seconds to Solberg, the gap between the two men is now 23,7 seconds in the general classification.

8:08 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Oliver Solberg: "The stage will be cleaner afterwards, there's gravel and quite a bit of snow, every car behind should be faster if they push hard."

8:07 – SS16: Oliver Solberg is the first to beat Mārtiņš Sesks' time, and in impressive fashion! A 10,5-second lead at the finish for the Swede, who may not be saying goodbye to the podium just yet!

8:05 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Esapekka Lappi: "There's a lot of snow, sometimes even on the track, and it's very easy to hit the snowbanks. I hit a few, but I was trying to avoid them. By attacking really hard, you can gain a lot of time, but there's a real risk."

8:04 – SS16: Esapekka Lappi finishes 2,6 seconds behind Sesks, and with the second fastest time on the special stage so far.

8:02 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: "We'll try to score some more points, but that will be the case for everyone! The grip isn't great, there's not really any consistency. I was very clean, but I think we can do better."

8:01 – SS16: Adrien Fourmaux crosses the finish line, 3,5 seconds behind Mārtiņš Sesks who retains the lead in the special stage.

7:59 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Thierry Neuville: "It was a nightmare! It was crazy how bad it was, a complete disaster. I had so much understeer, I had to use the handbrake three times in the same corner at one point, but still no feeling with the car."

7:58 – SS16: Thierry Neuville concedes 6,2 seconds at the finish to Sesks, and only seven tenths to Armstrong.

7:56 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Jon Armstrong: “Thierry and I were joking about the battle this morning, so we’ll give it a go then! I had a bit of trouble finding my rhythm at the start of the special stage, it’s very narrow. I have a bit of understeer in the fast corners, which is costing me some time.”

7:55 – SS16: Jon Armstrong finishes 5,5 seconds behind.

7:53 – SS16: 💬 Josh McErlean: "We've had a bit of trouble, I can't seem to find the right settings. I'm not following Armstrong's settings yet, but perhaps we should start."

7:52 – SS16: We could see big gaps on this special stage, Josh McErlean finishes 21,4 seconds behind Sesks, which is almost a second per kilometer.

7:50 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Lorenzo Bertelli: "I had a lot of trouble getting into the rhythm during the first part; I struggled to really enjoy this special stage, but that's my fault, I'm probably not awake enough!"

7:50 – SS16: Bertelli finished 36,6 seconds behind.

7:48 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Mārtiņš Sesks: « It was very tricky, because after each intersection, the conditions change and the ice isn't always as good. In some places there's grip, in others none at all, and sometimes there's even snow. It's not easy being first on the stage, but it happens. It's fun to drive at those speeds, but it's sometimes a bit scary! After 15 seconds at 180 km/h, you take a corner almost flat out and have to brake for hundreds of meters to make an intersection. It's not easy, but that's why we do it!

7:47 – SS16: 12:36.3 for Mārtiņš Sesks, first time of the day.

7:46 – SS16: Jon Armstrong and Thierry Neuville are in the special stage, and engaged in a battle for seventh place overall, following a one-minute penalty for the Belgian, who had not properly fastened his helmet.

7:43 – SS16: The end of the special stage is much faster however, with Mārtiņš Sesks reaching a top speed of 184 km/h!

7:39 – SS16: Lorenzo Bertelli and Josh McErlean are also on the special stage route.

7:38 – SS16: The special stage is more technical than yesterday's, with many winding and narrow sections in the forest.

7:35 – SS16: Sesks allows us to discover a legendary special stage of the Swedish Rally, but this time it is run in the opposite direction compared to last year.

7:33 p.m. – SS16: 🟢 The action is on this Sunday, with Mārtiņš Sesks being the first to set off, just like yesterday.

7h32 - All Rally1 drivers start with only one spare wheel, since everyone will be entitled to assistance at the end of this first special stage of Super Sunday.

7:30 p.m. – 👋 Hello everyone, welcome to AUTOhebdo.fr to follow the conclusion of the 2026 Swedish Rally live!