Snow massacre! Rally Sweden leads Lappi ahead of Fourmaux after Saturday, only four elite Rally1 cars at the front

Tens of centimetres of snow barriers in Sweden can easily catch any racer rushing past them at speeds of almost 200 km/h. Especially this year, the only purely winter event of the WRC season didn’t mince its words. With three of the four days gone, Esapekka Lappi has made excellent use of the almost home-like conditions. And he will enter Sunday with more than a minute’s lead over second-placed Adriaan Fourmaux. A significant group of Rally2 drivers are almost assured of decent championship points. In fact, only four cars in the most prestigious category were without crashes!

This weekend, the World Rally Championship will hold its second event of the season on Swedish forest roads, which are lined with very raised barriers and deep snow.

Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä enters the event after the Monaco break. On the other hand, three-time Rally Sweden winner Sébastian Ogier has decided to take a rest after his second place from Monte Carlo.

The 23-year-old Finnish superstar is unlikely to defend his championship position this year. Rovanperä messed up his start to the season in the fourth stage when he caused damage to the radiator and rear of his Toyota after hitting a snow barrier.

One of the real title contenders, Ott Tänak, had similar bad luck. He also crashed in the same super special as Rovanperä, giving his direct rivals Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville some very important points in the context of the season.

Rally Sweden spares no one

However, Rally Sweden is not going according to plan for this duo either. Evans has fought his way up to provisional third place after grip problems. While Neuvill has been relegated to fourth by a 40-second penalty.

The road to a surprisingly good result was opened up for ‘outsiders’ Esapekka Lappi, Adrien Formaux and Takamoto Katsuo. The latter even led the overall standings for a while. But he also did not forgive himself for a mistake, this time in Saturday’s tenth stage.

Lappi thus leads Formaux by more than a minute before the final day of competition. Evans and Neuville hold third and fourth positions.

The other Rally1 cars are behind the large group of Rally2 cars, led by home driver Oliver Solberg. Rovanperä, Kacuta and especially Tänak will try to score as many points as possible on Sunday thanks to the new scoring system.

Source: WRC