The first stage of the Swedish Rally, the second round of the 2024 WRC, restarted this morning with PS2 and PS3, carried out practically in sequence. Kalle Rovanpera, after winning the first stage last night, immediately repeated himself this morning and maintained the leadership of the general classification.
The reigning world champion set the best time in the 10.76 kilometer #42 Brattby 1, the special dedicated to Craig Breen, beating the Hyundais of Esapekka Lappi and Ott Tanak by 3″2. Slightly slower was Takamoto Katsuta with the second GR Yaris Rally1 at 3″5.
The ranking, however, was even better on SS3, the 12.36 kilometer Norrby 1, with Esapekka Lappi winning the special. The Finn gave Hyundai the first stage success in this second event of the season, preceding Kalle Rovanpera by 1″2 and 2 seconds on Takamoto Katsuta.
This led Rovanpera to have a margin of 5″7 over the first of his pursuers in the general classification, teammate Takamoto Katsuta, and 6″2 over Ott Tanak who climbed up to third place after yesterday evening's cautious start. The same goes for Esapekka Lappi, now fourth, 4 tenths behind his teammate and clearly improving after this good start to the morning.
If the top 4 already seem to be heading towards a fight for success and the podium, from fifth place on down the time differences are evident to say the least. Elfyn Evans is fifth, 18″3 from the top and was the author of a mistake at the second corner of SS3. The Welshman ended up spinning, but was good and lucky not to crash into the snow wall that delimits the stage.
This meant that he did not get stuck or damage his Yaris, thus being able to calmly resume his journey towards the rest of the test. His starting position, however, is not helping him at all and it is difficult for him to get back into the fight for a better position.
Behind him is M-Sport's first driver, Adrien Fourmaux, who continues to achieve decent times. The Frenchman is 2.9″ behind Evans and is followed by Thierry Neuville. The world championship leader is opening all the special stages due to his ranking, and this is penalizing to say the least on snow. He will only be able to avoid mistakes, trying to possibly exploit those committed by the riders in front of him to get back on top.
Gregoire Munster is in the middle of a weekend in which he is called upon to gain experience. His times are not competitive, although he has an enviable starting position. It's also a shame for the mistake made by Lorenzo Bertelli in SS3. The Toyota Italian ended up spinning, hitting a snowbank. Luckily for him he managed to get back into practice, however losing several seconds.
#WRC #Rally #Sweden #SS23 #Rovanpera #leads #Katsuta
