By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 1 minute ago, Updated now
Esapekka Lappi aux commandes en Suède. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP
The second day of the Swedish Rally was marked by many twists and turns…
A day full of surprises at the Swedish Rally! After the mid-day retirements of Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) and Ott Tänak (Hyundai), it was the Finn Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) who took the lead after the second ¨th day Friday.
Rovanperä, the two-time reigning world champion from Finland, who was the big favorite in the rally, was leading the race after the first three stages but was unable to finish the fourth after having made a mistake. However, he should be able to leave on Saturday and hope to pick up a few points on Sunday. The 23-year-old driver, who decided this season to take a break from rallying and only compete in certain events, is making his return after skipping the Monte-Carlo, the inaugural round of the year.
Tänak, who was aiming for the third place in Sweden after winning in 2019 and 2023, also said goodbye to victory during SS4. The Estonian made a mistake and hit a wall of snow which damaged the front of his car. After the withdrawal of the two main favorites, the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) took control of the rally at midday, but could not resist the return of Lappi who is now ahead of him of 3.2 seconds.
Solberg on the podium
The other big surprise of the day was the third place occupied by the Swede Oliver Solberg (Skoda), who is playing in a lower category (WRC2) but who was showed very lively in front of his audience. The Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport/Ford) occupies fourth place after having a big scare at midday by narrowly avoiding Tänak, who was traveling at speed reduced after leaving the road. He is ahead of British world vice-champion Elfyn Evans (Toyota).
The Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), leader of the world championship after his success in Monte-Carlo at the end of January, had to open the road and paid dearly on the Swedish snow since he points only in 11th place, almost three minutes behind the leader, after receiving a 40-second penalty for showing up late at the start of SS6. “I was just trying to get through this day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow (Saturday) hoping for a problem-free day. We’ll have a little more fun.”, he explained. Seven special stages representing a total of 126.74 km are on the program for Saturday on the third day of the Swedish Rally, the only round of the season contested on snow.
