Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen lead the Toyota double at the end of Stage 2 of the Rally of Sweden, the second round of the FIA WRC of the season.
The two Finns also won the SS15 “Umeå 2” (11.17 km) consolidating their leadership at the wheel of their GR Yaris and repelling the assaults brought by their teammates Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin, who are now chasing at 8 “3.
Among other things, the British – who lost another 2 “6 in this section – risked very big at the last corner; crossing the finish line (placed on the turning point), Evans lost control of the car and ended up against the snow bank. and centering the power supply, causing a black-out in the arena where the fans were crowded.
In third place finished Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe, the best of Hyundai drivers. The Belgians are currently 21.7 behind the top and it seems that the i20 N cannot do much to attack the two Toyotas.
If anything, tomorrow they will have to watch their backs from the third GR Yaris, in the hands of Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm, who are fourth at 4 “2 from the podium after a not exciting afternoon that made them slip behind the rivals of the Korean manufacturer.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport
They didn’t seem to be able to do more than fifth Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson, but just before the start of the test their Hyundai started having trouble. The couple started late and finished more than 1 ‘behind the leaders, finding themselves in seventh place in the general classification.
This allows Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston to finish the day in the Top5 with the fourth Toyota; the Japanese mainly thought about gaining experience, trying to improve performance on a background that was not very congenial to him, also taking advantage of the fact that the Fords never bothered him behind his back.
Sixth and very far from the GR Yaris are Gus Greensmith / Jonas Andersson with the first of the only two Pumas left in the race (after the KO of Craig Breen / Paul Nagle). The second, that of Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria, accused an engine problem (suspected ‘misfire’) right in the final test, making the two Frenchmen fall overall eleventh, who were practically fighting against their teammates from the beginning of the day.
In Top10 there are thus the three fighting for the victory in the WRC2 Class. The record goes to Andreas Mikkelsen / Torstein Eriksen’s Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo (Toksport WRT), 10 “9 ahead of Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjærmoen’s Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, while Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov are third half a minute behind the leaders with the other Škoda from Toksport WRT.
Sunday opens at 7.00 am with the first of the two sections that the competitors will face twice, completing the Scandinavian race.
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