WRC / Rally Sweden, SS11: Katsuta's mistake. Lappi glimpses victory | FP

The illusion of the comeback

The third day of the Swedish rally began in the name of Ott Tänak, who after retiring yesterday morning due to a mistake made up for himself with the best time in SS9 ahead of Evans and the reigning champion Rovanperä, who was also involved in an impact against a snow bank that excluded him from the fight for victory. The most interesting aspect for the purposes of the general classification was all concentrated on 4th place for Takamoto Katsuta; placing himself right in front of Esapekka Lappi, the Japanese was able to significantly shorten the gap on the Hyundai driver, with the aim of regaining the leadership after yesterday's negative afternoon. The comeback attempts, however, were dashed during the course SS10.

Another retreat

The Toyota driver in fact lost control of his Yaris, also hitting a snow bank without being able to resume the route towards the finish line. Yet another twist which thus allowed Lappi, despite the sixth position and the return of Rovanperä to the top of the rankings of the tenth stage, to to be the absolute favorite to win the Rally Sweden. The demonstration is all in the lead of over a minute on Adrien Fourmaux, author of the best time in the last test of the morning. Furthermore, with the predictable decline of Rally2 after yesterday's surprising performances, Katsuta's KO has allowed Thierry Neuville to move up the rankings, with the Belgian now in fifth place behind Evans and Solberg.