No risks for Lappi
The Swedish Rally has so far experienced several upheavals that have revolutionized the general classification: the withdrawals of Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak, the surprising performance of Rally2 during the second day and another knockout of a potential winner like Takamoto Katsuta, also involved in an impact with a snow bank this morning. Today's afternoon did not experience any type of twist, and if no other unforeseen events occur at the top of the rankings, it is presumable to think that the second round of the world championship is now in the hands of Esapekka Lappi. The Finnish driver from Hyundai, who found himself in the lead with a discreet advantage over Adrien Fourmaux, managed his advantage of over a minute over the Frenchman from Ford, maintaining the same gap on the eve of the fourth and final day, which was decisive for the assignment of the victory the final.
Neuville is back in shape
While Lappi thus maintained his leadership without pushing too hard on the accelerator on the Swedish snowy routes, already from SS12 we saw the redemption of those who had not particularly shone in the previous days, starting with Elfyn Evans. The Welshman in fact finished ahead of Adrien Fourmaux, once again the protagonist of a positive performance that consolidated his second position in the general classification, without however catching up on Lappi, who arrived immediately behind him. However, the Toyota driver was unable to reaffirm himself in SS13, thanks to his better performance Thierry Neuville. The winner of the Monte Carlo Rally in fact finished at the top for the first time in this edition, overtaking Solberg to 4th place in the general classification with Evans and Fourmaux in second and third place respectively. A top-3 practically identical to that of the SS14, with Lappi just outside the top five and with Neuville also winning in the 15th and final stage of the day, this time ahead of Tänak and Rovanperä. Thanks to 4th place, Lappi increased his lead in the standings over Fourmaux, now 1 minute and 6 seconds away.
WRC | Rally Sweden, ranking after SS15 – Top 10
POS. | PILOT | CAR | TIME/GAP |
1 | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | 2:03:52.0 |
2 | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:06.3 |
3 | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:23.0 |
4 | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:22.1 |
5 | Oliver Solberg | Skoda (Rally2) | +4:01.1 |
6 | Sami Pajari | Toyota (Rally2) | +5:15.1 |
7 | Georg Linnamae | Toyota (Rally2) | +5:15.3 |
8 | Roope Korhonen | Toyota (Rally2) | +5:35.1 |
9 | Mikko Heikilla | Toyota (Rally2) | +5:51.2 |
10 | Lauri Joona | Skoda (Rally2) | +6:29.3 |
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