The penultimate day of the Rally of Sweden, the second round of the 2023 WRC, ended with Special Stage 15, the 10.08-kilometre Umea 1, which saw Thierry Neuville take another scratch.
However, let’s start from the amazing fight for the top of the event, with Ott Tanak and Craig Breen who competed to see who was more in difficulty in today’s final timed kilometres.
The Estonian from M-Sport found himself entering practice with a finished tire after having delaminated one in the previous stage. This led him to close with the fifth fastest time, 4″ behind Neuville.
Breen, on the other hand, was the author of an error during the first, long sector in which he first collided with the rear and then with the front of his i20 N Rally1 against a snow bank. This led him to lose several seconds and close 10″3 behind his team mate.
Despite the difficulties, the situation smiled at Tanak, who completed today’s day as leader and with an advantage of 8″6 over the Irishman of Hyundai Motorsport. The fight, which involves the drivers who this year swapped seats, he will continue in the three special stages that will conclude the event tomorrow.
The special stage victory obtained in SS15 allowed Thierry Neuville to complete the comeback and finish in third place alone. Kalle Rovanpera, fourth in qualifying, lost 3″8 from his rival and tomorrow he will have to try to change his pace, if he wants to try and grab the lowest step of the podium again.
An excellent day for Neuville, which saw him recover from sixth to third place. The Hyundais have turned out to be in good shape, at least up to now, even if Esapekka Lappi’s inconvenience this afternoon deprived the team of important points for the Constructors’ Championship.
Elfyn Evans finished fifth, now more than 30 seconds away from the fight for the podium and with a margin of 1 minute and a half on the first of his pursuers: Pierre-Louis Loubet. The Frenchman from the M-Sport Ford team continues to gain experience and even managed to set some noteworthy times this afternoon.
As for Lorenzo Bertelli, this afternoon he significantly improved on the times set in the morning. A good day for him, who has no ambitions for the classification but only the will to drive at his best and have fun with the GR Yaris Rally1 rented for the occasion.
A fight that seems to be coming to an end in WRC2, with Oliver Solberg and his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 increasingly launched towards success. The Swede’s race was splendid, inflicting almost a minute on Ole-Christian Veiby, first of his pursuers.
The fight for third place heats up, with Sami Pajari – TokSport Skoda team driver – who will have to be careful of the return of his teammate Nikolay Gryazin. The Russian moved to 11″1 from the young Finn.
The penultimate day of the Rally of Sweden ends here. The event will resume tomorrow with Special Stage 16, the 26.48 km long Vastervik 1. The first car will enter the test at 07:05 Italian time.
WRC 2023 – Rally Sweden – General classification after SS15
pos. | Pilot/navigator | Car | Time/detachment | Class |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tanak/Jarveoja | Ford Puma Rally1 | 1h54’45”4 | WRC extension |
2 | Breen/Fulton | Hyundai i20N Rally1 | +8″6 | WRC extension |
3 | Neuville/Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20N Rally1 | +23″7 | WRC extension |
4 | Rovanpera/Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +27″5 | WRC extension |
5 | Evans/Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +57″7 | WRC extension |
6 | Loubet/Gilsoul | Ford Puma Rally1 | +2’28″1 | WRC extension |
7 | Solberg/Edmondson | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +5’55″0 | WRC2 |
8 | Veiby/Eriksen | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 | +6’46″6 | WRC2 |
9 | Huttunen/Linnaketo | Skoda Fabia R5 | +7’08″9 | WRC2 |
10 | Gryazin/Aleksandrov | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +7’20″0 | WRC2 |
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