Relive the second day of the Rally Sweden with live text commentary

Can Oliver Solberg repeat his Monte Carlo feat? The three-time WRC2 winner in Sweden got off to a good start on home soil after SS01 trapper "But succeeded by the Swede, who will start first for the longest day of the rally (124,88 km).

In the absence of the Frenchman Sébastien OgierElfyn Evans, the winner of the last edition, is also under pressure to deliver. The Welshman is hoping to snatch the overall lead from his Swedish teammate.

With four Toyota in the top 4 during SS1, Hyundai must raise the bar. On its preferred surface, Adrien fourmaux should be able to feel at ease. On the side of M-SportJon Armstrong made a mistake during the first stage. He mustn't repeat that today.

ALSO READ > Sweden – ES1: Oliver Solberg continues his mission

The day's program of vFriday, February 13, 2026 – 124,88 km
10:07 PM. – SS2: Bygdsiljum 1 – 27,55 km (winner: Elfyn Evans)
11:08 PM. – SS3: Andersvattnet 1 – 20,51 km (winner: Elfyn Evans)
12:16 PM. – SS4: Back 1 – 11,53 km (winner: Oliver solberg)
15:40 PM. – SS5: Bygdsiljum 2 – 27,55 km (winner: Takamoto katsuta)
16:41 PM. – SS6: Andersvattnet 2 – 20,51 km (winner: Takamoto katsuta)
17:49 PM. – ES7: Bäck 2 – 11,53 km (winner; Thierry Neuville)
19:05 PM. – SS8: Umeå Sprint 1 – 5,70 km (winner: Oliver solberg)

WRC – Rally Sweden
Relive the first day live with commentary

19:45 PM -👋🏻 Thank you all for following us today! See you tomorrow morning at 10:10 for SS9.

19h40 - 📊 The overall standings of the Rally Sweden after SS8:

19h40 - 📊 The SS8 standings:

19h34 - Adrien Fourmaux has therefore made up half of his deficit for fourth place thanks to the Finn's result.

19h33 - Esapekka Lappi's tires are at the end of their life, the Finn is 7,8 seconds behind Oliver Solberg.

19h30 - 📊 The initial standings for SS8 after several runs:

19h27 - 💭 The Irishman finished seventh in this final stage of the second day. While he expressed frustration, McErlean acknowledged his mistakes.

19h26 - Josh McErlean is out of sorts… nothing is going right at M-Sport!

19h24 - Unlike his rivals, Sami Pajari performed well but only managed sixth place provisionally in the special stage. The Finn nevertheless retained third place in the overall standings.

19h23 - Despite this scare, Katsuta secured third place provisionally in SS8. The Japanese driver consolidated his overall position with a 2,8-second lead over Elfyn Evans.

19h21 - Like Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta was tricked!

19h21 - 📊 The first results of ES8:

19h18 - Thierry Neuville concedes only 1,1 seconds to Oliver Solberg and finishes this special stage in second position.

19h15 - Adrien Fourmaux struggled with his Hyundai, which was understeering. He finished 3,6 seconds behind Oliver Solberg's time but finished ahead of the Swede overall by 0,7 seconds.

19h13 - Elfyn Evans concedes 4,6 seconds in just 5,70 km. Gallois' Toyota is badly damaged.

19h12 - Elfyn Evans hit the wall just before the finish line!

19:11 PM. -💭 Oliver Solberg finishes a difficult second day of the Rally Sweden: This afternoon's special stages were nightmarish. »

19:09 PM – ⏱️ World Rally Championship leader Oliver Solberg finishes the 5,70 km special stage in 3:49.1.

19h07 - Oliver Solberg briefly loses control. Nothing serious, the Swede continues the race.

19:05 PM – The final special stage of this second day of the Rally Sweden has begun. 

18h28 - 📊 The overall standings of the Rally Sweden after SS7:

18h28 - 📊 The SS7 standings:

18h24 - The Irishman's car broke down a few meters from the finish line. He conceded more than 40 seconds to Thierry Neuville.

18h23 - Jon Armstrong loses 20 seconds on the last intermediate sector, allowing Thierry Neuville to pull away in the battle for seventh place.

18h20 - Hampered by his punctured tire, Jon Armstrong makes a mistake but gets going again without incident.

18h19 - 🔨Another puncture on a Ford… Jon Armstrong loses the front left.

18h14 - Irishman Joshua McErlean's day is not improving. He finishes the stage 7,6 seconds off the fastest time.

18h13 - 💭 Takamoto Katsuta had a scare on SS7: " The brakes weren't working at all, so it was quite scary. But it's okay. »

18h11 - Sixth provisionally, Sami Pajari is far from dislodging Thierry Neuville, still provisionally first after the seventh stage. He finishes 5,4 seconds behind the Belgian.

18:09 PM – 🏁 Takamoto Katsuta takes the lead of the Rally Sweden from Elfyn Evans by one tenth of a second!

18:07 am 📊 ES7 times:

18:06 – ⏱️ Belgian Thierry Neuville beats Oliver Solberg's time, taking the provisional fastest time of the special stage in 6:54.8. He takes over from the favorite in second place.

18h04 - The winner of SS5 and SS6, Takamoto Katsuta, is as fast as Oliver Solberg's benchmark time at the halfway point. He is tied with the Swede.

18h02 - Adrien Fourmaux conceded 2,6 seconds to Oliver Solberg, losing time at the finish. The Frenchman is provisionally second.

18h01 - Thierry Neuville is going all out, with a 1,2 second lead at the halfway point over Adrien Fourmaux.

18h00 - Despite a spin at the finish, Elfyn Evans was unable to improve on Oliver Solberg's time. He finished second provisionally, 3,5 seconds behind the Swede.

17h58 - Adrien Fourmaux from the North is on the attack! His Hyundai reaches 185 km/h on some straight stretches.

17h56 - Even slower than this morning, Oliver Solberg sets a first benchmark of 6:55.6 for the competition on SS7.

17h55 - Adrien Fourmaux got a clean start in first gear. The Frenchman couldn't get going in second gear.

17h52 - Elfyn Evans takes the start of SS7.

17h51 - Same route as the fourth special stage, it seems to be a little more polluted after several passes.

17:49 PM – The seventh special stage of the day is launched by Oliver Solberg!

17h23 - We'll see you for SS7 at 17:49 PM! See you soon.

17h21 - 📊 The overall standings of the Rally Sweden after SS6:

17h20 - 📊 The SS6 standings:

17h17 - Esapekka Lappi finished fifth, 7,8 seconds behind the leader of the sixth stage. Provisionally fourth overall, he is the top Hyundai driver in the Rally Sweden.

17h11 - Seventh provisionally in SS6, 21 seconds behind Katsuta, Josh McErlean is more than three minutes adrift in the overall standings after six stages. A tough blow for the Irishman.

17h10 - 📊 The standings for SS6 after several runs:

17h09 - Sami Pajari confirms. He takes the second provisional time of this sixth special stage, 2,6 seconds behind Takamoto Katsuta.

17h07 - After a very strong fifth stage, Sami Pajari maintains a very good pace. The Finn is only 2,1 seconds behind at the penultimate intermediate sector.

17h05 - For Takamoto Katsuta, the overall gap to Elfyn Evans is now only 2,5 seconds. The Japanese threat is closing in…

17:03 PM – ⏱️ Takamoto Katsuta manages to take the lead in SS6 with a 3,1-second advantage over Elfyn Evans. He needs to be careful not to push too hard, though, to preserve his tires. 

17h01 - Thierry Neuville is 2,7 seconds behind his teammate Adrien Fourmaux. The Belgian is currently in third place in SS6.

17h00 - Adrien Fourmaux is very positive after his provisional second position in SS6.

16h58 - Is Takamoto Katsuta charging towards a potential victory? At the halfway point, the driver who is only 5,6 seconds behind in the overall standings catches up with Elfyn Evans in SS6.

16h57 - Adrien Fourmaux is only four-tenths of a second behind Welshman Elfyn Evans. The French crew has managed to improve on their performance at the start of the Rally Sweden.

16:55 PM – ⏱️ Elfyn Evans continues to impress, posting a time 9,4 seconds faster than opener Oliver Solberg. He takes the lead in SS6 with a time of 10:48.1.

16h54 - Adrien Fourmaux maintains a good time at the halfway point and is only slightly behind the reference time.

16h53 - Oliver Solberg has gambled on a different tire strategy… will it pay off?

16h51 -  The entry list for the Kenya Rally.

16h45 - Rally Sweden leader Elfyn Evans has withdrawn. Is a third victory on the cards for the Welshman?

16:42 PM – Oliver Solberg set off into the Swedish night for a 20,51 km special stage.

16h34 - See you for ES6 after the break!

16h27 - 📊 The overall standings of the Rally Sweden after the fifth special stage:

16h26 - 📊 The SS5 standings:

16h24 - Lorenzo Bertelli was able to resume the day despite brake problems in the morning. The Italian finished SS5 29,7 seconds off the fastest time.

16h18 - 📊 The provisional standings for SS5, with the majority of drivers having crossed the finish line:

16h18 - Jon Armstrong lost radio contact towards the end of the fifth stage. The Irishman found himself being guided by hand by his co-driver.

16h17 - Esapekka Lappi finishes SS5 8,1 seconds behind Takamoto Katsuta and moves into fourth position in the overall standings.

16h14 - His M-Sport teammate and compatriot Jon Armstrong is, for his part, 7 seconds behind at the fourth intermediate sector.

16h13 - No improvement for McErlean, who is 32,1 seconds behind at the end of SS5.

16h11 - ​💭 Sami Pajari frustrated with his end of the special. “ With only two corners to go, I couldn't turn the car, we lost a few seconds. »

16h10 - Esapekka Lappi is 4,7 seconds behind the reference time at the halfway point.

16h08 - Sami Pajari is provisionally second in the fifth special stage with a time of 12:54.6, behind Katsuta

16:06 PM – ⏱️ Takamoto Katsuta sets the fastest time on SS5 in 12:50.09 despite a special stage “ difficult "There are still 5,6 seconds to make up in the overall standings for the Japanese driver."

16h05 - 📊 The early times during the fifth special stage:

16h04 -Thierry Neuville secured second place provisionally in SS5, 4,7 seconds behind Evans' time. However, it's worth noting that the Belgian driver still needs to make up a 1 minute 42 second deficit overall.

16h03 - All the drivers now competing will be racing at night. That's sure to increase the difficulty!

16h02 - 💭 Oliver Solberg at the finish of SS5: " I lost the car several times at the beginning, with no evidence. I tried to be clean. »

16h00 - Adrien Fourmaux beats Oliver Solberg's pace, with whom he is battling in the overall standings. He therefore takes provisional 2nd place in the special stage, 9 seconds behind Elfyn Evans.

15h58 - Takamoto Katsuta is faster than his predecessors at the halfway point. He has a 3-second lead over Elfyn Evans' time.

15h58 - Sami Pajari is the fastest at the second intermediate time among the drivers who have started.

15:57 – ⏱️ Elfyn Evans sets a new benchmark for SS5, 10,6 seconds faster than Oliver Solberg.

15:55 – ⏱️ Oliver Solberg sets a time of 13:10.4, which is 18 seconds slower than in SS2 this morning.

15:53 PM. - Mārtiņš Sesks withdrew for the day after his difficulties in the morning.

15h50 - Night is already gently falling over Sweden. Headlights are already illuminating the rally tracks.

15h49 - Evans continues to close the gap on Solberg, recording a 4,5-second lead over Solberg at the fourth intermediate sector.

15h47 - For this fifth stage of the Rally Sweden, all drivers started with six studded tires. This should help them avoid the pitfalls of the morning, especially for the M-Sport drivers.

15h46 - The Welshman slightly increased his lead over the Swede: 1,8 seconds less than Solberg's time.

15h45 - Elfyn Evan is already 1,4 seconds ahead of Oliver Solberg at the first intermediate sector.

15h44 - The competitors will face 27,55 km of icy tracks during this SS5.

15:42 – As leader of the World Rally Championship, Oliver Solberg opens the special stage again today, the fifth of the day.

15h40 - The drivers will restart on the same route as the second special stage during SS5. However, the ice layer is a little less thick than expected for this 2026 edition, so there is a risk of some ruts forming, particularly due to ice being torn up by the studded tires fitted by all the drivers this morning.

12h59 - That's it for this morning's special stage. We'll see you again for the second part of the day at 15:40 PM for SS5.

12h58 - 📊 The overall standings of the Rally Sweden after the fourth special stage:

12h57 - 📊 The SS4 standings:

12h53 - With his brakes patched up, Lorenzo Bertelli is very far behind at the halfway point (36,8 seconds).

12h50 - Jon Armstrong falls back behind Thierry Neuville in the overall standings, to eighth position after a 15,4 second deficit during SS4.

12h48 - Jon Armstrong is 11,9 seconds behind the fastest time on the third intermediate sector.

12h47 - Esapekka Lappi is currently 7th in the provisional standings for the fourth special stage, 7,1 seconds behind Oliver Solberg's time.

12h43 - Sesks is having bad luck: the Latvian has punctured again! He finishes the special stage 15,7 seconds behind Oliver Solberg.

12h42 -📊 Driver times during SS4:

12h40 - Joshua McErlean is far behind the benchmark time, 12,4 seconds behind the leader on the penultimate intermediate sector.

12h39 - Mārtiņš Sesks did not ultimately give up but managed to put air in his tires to start SS4.

12h38 - Sami Pajari loses time on the second part of the special stage, the Finn finishes provisionally 5th in the special stage, 6,1 seconds behind the leader.

12h36 -📊 Here is the provisional classification for SS4:

12h35 - Although he started well, Takamoto Katsuta slowed down, the Japanese driver falling 4,2 seconds behind Solberg at the end of the time trial.

12h34 - Thierry Neuville was 6,9 seconds slower than Solberg at the finish of SS4, slightly hampered by the damage from the previous stage and " the balance of his car " he explains. The Belgian also got lost on the course.

12h31 - Takamoto Katsuta is ahead of the benchmark set by his Toyota teammate. He is at the second intermediate sector with a 0,5-second lead over Solberg.

12h29 - Adrien Fourmaux finished SS4 in a respectable 6:45.9, 5,2 seconds slower than provisional leader Oliver Solberg. He is currently in 3rd place in the stage.

12h27 - Adrien Fourmaux is also 3,1 seconds behind Oliver Solberg's time at the penultimate intermediate sector.

12h25 - Elfyn Evans reached the end of the special stage in second position only, 1,2 seconds behind Oliver Solberg.

12:24 – ⏱️Oliver Solberg finishes this last special stage of the morning in 6:40.7. A time that frustrates the Swede.  

12h22 - Elfyn Evans is now 0,7 seconds behind Sweden's Oliver Solberg.

12h21 - Elfyn Evans is 0,1 seconds behind Oliver Solberg's time at the first intermediate sector.

12h20 - This third special stage of the morning will be shorter than the previous two, with only 11,53 km to cover.

12:17 – Oliver Solberg is the first driver to start SS4, under the overcast skies of Sweden.

12h01 - Just a few minutes to go before SS4, scheduled for 12:16.

11h54 - Lorenzo Bertelli no longer has any brakes. The Italian is therefore 3min42 behind SS3 leader Elfyn Evans.

11h50 -📊 Here is the overall standings for the Rally Sweden after SS3:

11h49 - 📊 Here are the ES3 standings:

11:47 p.m. – ​💭Lappi shares the opinion of his compatriot Pajari: “ It's awful. The grip is practically zero; you can't get any traction at all, it just slides everywhere. We're in the wrong sport; we should be drifting, that's what it's like. Unfortunately, we don't have many tools to fix it right now. »

11h45 - 💭 Fifth in SS3, Sami Pajari complains about the grip: The grip was so poor in some places, it was difficult to push any harder. It's clean, but it should be faster. We need to do better on the next stage. »

11h41 - With only 6,7 seconds behind at the penultimate intermediate sector, Esapekka Lappi is chasing Adrien Fourmaux for third place.

11h39 - 📊 Here are the gaps during SS3:

11:38 – 💥Mārtiņš Sesks is forced to abandon for the day following the third puncture of the morning. 

11h34 - Mārtiņš Sesks has suffered another puncture on the front left tire. He will not be able to run the next stage.

11h33 - Joshua McErlean punctures both rear tires. Yet another tire problem for the M-Sport Fords.

11h32 - 📊 Here are the first times of ES3:

11h31 - Takamoto Katsuta loses grip at the same corner as Neuville but recovers better. His time still puts him second in the stage.

11h31 - Thierry Neuville is 1 minute 20 seconds behind at the finish of SS3.

11h30 - The Belgian loses a minute due to his mistake. He resumes the course with poor visibility, his windshield fogged up.

11:27 – Thierry Neuville is going too fast, he gets lost and gets stuck in a wall of snow at kilometer 18,3.

11h27 - Takamoto Katsuta is in good form. He is only 1,2 seconds behind the leader at the halfway point.

11h26 - Adrien Fourmaux was faster in SS3 than in the previous stage. He was quicker than his teammate Neuville and only 7,8 seconds behind Evans, who led the stage.

11:24 AM – 💭 Elfyn Evans has a significant lead, 31,9 seconds ahead of Oliver Solberg. It was a difficult test. There was absolutely no grip on the edges. We'll probably clean it. »

11h23 - Thierry Neuville concedes 6 seconds to the stage leader at the third intermediate sector.

11h22 - Elfyn Evans is 15 seconds ahead of Oliver Solberg, who made two mistakes.

11h20 - Solberg reaches the finish line with a lot of front-end damage after two off-road excursions in 11:05.

11:08 PM. – The Swede makes another mistake in the powder at kilometer 17. His lucky star seems to be watching over him because he manages to get out of it again, without even hitting a tree.

11h16 - Oliver Solberg miraculously stays on the road at kilometer 16! The Swede punctured his front left tire before the last intermediate sector.

11h15 - Adrien Fourmaux has left, hopefully with adjusted settings, after a slow SS2 for Hyundai.

11h13 - This third special stage is also long: 20,51 km to cover.

111:08 – The Rally Sweden is back underway with SS3! Oliver Solberg has started. 

11:01 p.m. – ​ES3 will start at 11:08! Don't leave us.

10:55 p.m. – ​📊 Here is the overall rally standings after SS2:

10h53 - 📊Here is the ranking for the special stage:

10:52 p.m. – ​💭Mārtiņš Sesks bewildered after his double puncture: “ I don't know. I don't understand how you can have two punctures on the front tires; how is that even possible on roads like these? One of the tires simply exploded on the straight. I really don't understand it. There was no impact; it just exploded. The other front tire was also losing pressure. I don't understand it. Then, we couldn't see anything for half the stage because of the damp conditions. »

10h48 - Jon Armstrong suffered a puncture in his right rear tire. The Irishman had two spare tires in his vehicle. I noticed something strange with the right rear tire 6km from the finish. It was difficult to keep the rear clean in the final section. It looks like Martins also had a puncture, so it's time to rethink our strategy. We'll try to clean things up for the next one. »

10h46 - 📊Here is the standings for the special stage now that most of the drivers have arrived:

10h44 - Esapekka Lappi is 12,8 seconds behind the best time in the last intermediate sector.

10h42 - With his best time, Elfyn Evans regains the lead in the overall standings of the Rally Sweden by 5,6 seconds.

10h40 - The Fords have already experienced tire pressure problems, hence the two spare wheels, which proved very useful for Mārtiņš Sesks.

10h37 - 💭Sami Pajari believes he could have done better. The Finn is 6,9 seconds behind Elfyn Evans. I should have done better. Perhaps I was simply too cautious. Some sections were difficult to judge, with many messy tracks in the snowbanks. It's not bad. »

10:36 AM – Both of Mārtiņš Sesks' front tires are flat! The M-Sport crew avoids retiring, having taken two wheels with them. They are stopped at kilometer 9,1.

10h35 - Sami Pajari is keeping pace with Takamoto Katsuta!

10h35 - Mārtiņš Sesks suffered a front right tire puncture. Fortunately, the Latvian driver took two wheels with him, as there are two more stages this morning.

10h33 - 📊Here are the differences after the first passes:

10h30 - Thierry Neuville is ahead of his teammate Adrien Fourmaux. The Belgian is currently in third place in the special stage.

10h28 - 💭Adrien Fourmaux says " quite happy "of his special stage despite a surprisingly slow time: the Northerner is 20,5 seconds behind Elfyn Evans.

10h26 - Adrien Fourmaux is behind the time of the special stage leader, conceding 18,6 seconds to the Welshman, who is usually at the front of the pack in this event.

10:24 – ⏱️Elfyn Evans starts strong and beats Oliver Solberg's time by 5,4 seconds.

10h23 - Takamoto Katsuta is at the start of the second special stage.

10h23 - Oliver Solberg after his spin: The start wasn't too bad, but then there was so much loose snow off the line, it wasn't easy. The engine stalled for five seconds. »

10h22 - Elfyn Evans is ahead of Solberg at the last checkpoint, frustrated by his mistake at the finish.

10h19 - Thierry Neuville has started SS2. 

10h16 - Elfyn Evans is closing the gap on Oliver Solberg. The Swede is struggling and makes a braking error. Before his spin, the Welshman already had a 5-second lead over the championship leader.

10h14 - Adrien Fourmaux is now taking his turn. The Frenchman struggled at the start, just like yesterday. 

10h12 - Current championship leader Oliver Solberg opened the proceedings, followed by his teammate Elfyn Evans starting three minutes behind.

10:07 AM – 🟢 SS02 of the Rally Sweden is underway, the longest stage of the rally! This second stage is predicted to be very, very fast. Thrills guaranteed.

10h06 - 💭Adrien Fourmaux confident on the snow after SS1: "The grip was noticeably different from what we experienced in testing. The conditions are different. It was a very enjoyable drive, to be honest. I really hope we have more of that feeling tomorrow, because it was truly enjoyable."

10h04 - 💭Elfyn Evans reflects on his performance during SS1 in an interview with AUTOhebdo: We had a cautious start and the grip was a bit better than usual. We'll need to do better tomorrow. »

10h02 -💭Oliver Solberg on the conditions, speaking to AUTOhebdo after the first special stage: The car was all over the place. There was nothing to follow. It was really tricky and required a lot of grip. It was the first time I'd driven this car on this stage, and it wasn't easy. »

10h00 - The drivers will have to face negative temperatures, reaching nearly -30°C this morning in some parts of the course.

9h55 - On the first special stage, Oliver Solberg set the fastest time on a very short (10km) but tricky opening leg, leading a Toyota 1-2-3-4 finish. Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux followed the Japanese manufacturer's cars in fifth and sixth place respectively.

9h50 - The overall standings after the first stage:

9h45 - All the drivers are obviously starting on studded tires for these three morning stages. Mārtiņš Sesks, Lorenzo Bertelli, Jon Armstrong, and Josh McErlean have six wheels, while the others have five. While they carry more weight, their competitors will only have one spare tire for the morning in case of a puncture. A risky gamble!

9:40 AM – 👋Good morning everyone and welcome! The first real day of driving at Rally Sweden begins with SS2. The longest stage of the rally, at 27,55 km, starts in Bygdsiljum. The scheduled start time is 10:07.