Rally Sweden – SS15: Neuville sets the fastest time, Evans leads before Sunday

If you feel like you want to take the Hyundai They didn't start the day as they would have liked, but the Korean machines managed to gain some performance as the day progressed. Lappi and Fourmaux came close to winning special stages in the afternoon and evening, and finally Thierry Neuville achieved this on the Umeå Sprint, run for the second time in the rally.

In a top 4 dominated by the Toyota In Yaris Rally1, the standings remained similar this evening to the morning loop, but after Takamoto Katsuta's late-day comeback, Elfyn Evans' overall lead is now 13,3 seconds. The Japanese driver, who struggled on the first five timed stages of the day, managed to find a good setup for the final two stages and claw back some valuable seconds from the Welshman.

Still third in the rally, Sami Pajari did more than just hold his own in the afternoon, as the Finn simply set two of the four fastest stage times on the loop. Under pressure at midday from Oliver Solberg, the 2024 WRC2 world champion responded convincingly and heads into Sunday with a 33-second lead over his successor and current world championship leader. WRCOliver Solberg. The Swede complained of the rear of his Yaris sliding out too often, and never seemed completely confident.

After a Friday marred by several punctures, no problems were reported on Saturday, apart from a water pressure issue late in the day for Mārtiņš Sesks. The Latvian, who set the fastest time on the second special stage this morning, was nevertheless able to finish without losing too much time, as the Rally Sweden has turned into a full-scale test session.

In WRC2, the Finns continue to dominate the field, with Roope Korhonen holding a 16,6-second lead over Teemu Suninen after a Saturday where the status quo prevailed, the two drivers battling by mere seconds. Korhonen gained six seconds on Suninen on the first stage of the day, extending his lead from 10 to 16 seconds, and it remained at the same level for the rest of the day.

This Sunday, the final three stages of the rally will determine whether Elfyn Evans can retain his title. The 25,45km Västervik stage will be run twice (7:33 am and 10:11 am) before the Umeå Power Stage at 12:15 pm, and all of this will of course be covered live on AUTOhebdo.fr.

WRC – Rally Sweden
The classification of SS15

WRC – Rally Sweden
The general after SS15

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