Rally Sweden – Duel Esapekka Lappi-Takamoto Katsuta in the lead but huge performance from Oliver Solberg

Ranking Rally of Sweden 2024 – Stage 1:

• Who could have predicted such a ranking on the evening of Friday's stage at the Swedish Rally? No favorite cited by the specialists appears on the provisional podium. Even more surprising, a car meeting Rally2 regulations occupies third position, ahead of more powerful and technologically advanced hybrid Rally1s!
• The battle for first place involved two drivers: Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) and Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai). The Japanese held the advantage for a long time over the stages fought in a muddled way, then at night. The snowfall (10 cm on the afternoon loop) caused huge gaps, but not between the two men. Finally, the Finn (on a partial program in 2024), overtook Katsuta in SS6. They are only 3″2 apart!

Incredible winter conditions for the drivers this afternoon! 🥶#ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris #WRC #RallySweden 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/Ckwbvd2e5q

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) February 16, 2024

• “Of course we had to regain confidence today and stay focused for the rest of the rally,” said said Esapekka Lappi. I wasn't too slow against Kalle (Rovanperä) at the start so I'm quite happy with that and in the afternoon we used our road position as we should with a nice advantage. »
• Lappi cites Rovanperä, but the double champion WRC in title is conspicuous by its absence from the rankings this evening. For the simple reason that he made a mistake in the morning and was unable to continue his journey! The son of Harri Rovanperä will start again on Saturday with a time penalty.
• Ott Tänak (Hyundai) experienced a similar mishap. The Estonian hit a wall of snow and damaged his car. He will return on Saturday but he and Rovanperä can no longer hope to score many points.
• The maximum performance of the day goes to Oliver Solberg (Skoda). The son of Petter Solberg dominated the WRC2 class, but was also more comfortable than many of his competitors in Rally1. So much so that he rose to 3rd place, ahead of an excellent Adrien fourmaux (M-Sport Ford, 4th)! The Frenchman has not been to Sweden since 2022.
• « It's pretty cool, commented Oliver Solberg. Third is of course incredible, especially since I play at home. The atmosphere is great, it's like a dream. But the main thing is to lead WRC2, and on that, we widened the gap. »
• Among the contenders for the coronation, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) is only 5th, but this remains more satisfactory than the 9th place occupied by Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Already slowed down by his role as opener imposed by his victory in Monte-Carlo, the Belgian was penalized by 40 seconds for having arrived late at the stop point of SS6, following a fuel pressure failure. Then, the front hood, poorly secured, came off in the middle of the special, which caused him to break out in more cold sweats.
• Saturday's stage will start at 7:45 a.m., and can be followed in full in live text on AUTOhebdo.fr.

ALSO READ > The program for the 2024 Rally Sweden