WRC / Rally Sweden, SS4: Katsuta exploits mistakes from Rovanperä and Tanak | FP

Surprise 'Final'

There was no shortage of twists and turns in the morning of the second day of the Swedish Rally, second round of the world championship after the Monte Carlo Rally dominated by Thierry Neuville. Everything seemed to go smoothly for the world champion Kalle Rovanperä, decidedly at ease on the Scandinavian snow-covered routes, at least until the damage that forced him to raise the white flag on the occasion of the last test of the morning, with the leadership now occupied by another Japanese Toyota Takamoto Katsuta.

SS1: super 'debut' by Rovanperä

Inaugural Thursday marked by great returns, protagonists both in the shakedown and in the first round of the Scandinavian rally. While in the opening test Esapekka Lappi had set the best time, the reigning world champion subsequently did the same Kalle Rovanperä in SS1. The Finn, making his debut in a season that will see him involved part-time, in fact finished at the top of the standings just ahead of his two teammates Katsuta and Evans, for a Toyota hat-trick which removed Thierry Neuville, 6th and winner of the last Monte Carlo Rally, from the top of the rankings.

SS2-SS4:

Rovanperä and Lappi who also confirmed themselves at the start of the second day of the Swedish rally in first and second position respectively in the SS2 (dedicated to the memory of Craig Breen), with the winner of the last edition, Oct Tänak, in 3rd place 3.2 seconds behind, just like Lappi. Further away, Neuville, still in sixth position and having more difficulty on the snow, as well as Evans, who spun without damage or consequences for his Yaris. A confirmation of Neuville's complexities came in the SS3, with the Belgian from Hyundai in seventh place in a race won this time by Lappi again ahead of Rovanperä. Katsuta's performance was also positive, as he placed himself behind the leader Rovanperä in the general classification thanks to his constant top-5 finishes in all the tests. It is precisely thanks to these performances that the Japanese sensationally took the lead at the end of the race fourth and final test in the morning: Tänak and Rovanperä in fact suffered damage from a collision with a snow bank. In this way, in addition to the stage victory, Katsuta became the new leader of the Swedish Rally, with an advantage of 11 seconds over Lappi and 13 seconds over Evans in the general classification. All this while waiting for SS5, scheduled for 2.30pm.

WRC | Rally Sweden, ranking after SS4 – Top 10