Elfyn Evans emerged from an exhilarating Friday at Rally Sweden with a slender lead as an intense battle on the high noticed simply 9.1 seconds overlaying the main 5 drivers.
The FIA World Rally Championship’s solely pure snow rally delivered a day of fluctuating fortunes, with a number of lead adjustments throughout the seven snow and ice-laden velocity exams. Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Evans set the early tempo and led at noon service, however as situations advanced, so did the leaderboard.
Takamoto Katsuta briefly hit the entrance on SS5 earlier than Evans responded instantly to reclaim the highest spot. Then, as darkness fell over the Bäck stage, Ott Tänak edged forward – solely to lose his benefit on the ultimate Umeå Dash check as worn tyres value him helpful time. Evans seized the chance, clocking the quickest time to maneuver again into the lead as soon as extra.
Katsuta’s sturdy tempo stored him inside simply 0.6sec of his Toyota team-mate, whereas Tänak slipped to 3rd, 2.5sec off the lead.
Adrien Fourmaux was one of many standout performers within the morning, successful two levels and operating as excessive as second. His momentum slowed barely within the afternoon, however the Frenchman nonetheless ended the day a powerful fourth, simply 5.4sec behind Hyundai i20 N Rally1 colleague Tänak. A stall on SS5 – on the similar difficult nook that caught out Kalle Rovanperä and Josh McErlean – was his greatest setback.
Defending champion Thierry Neuville endured a irritating begin, scuffling with understeer, however discovered his rhythm later within the day. A stage win helped him claw again a while, and he accomplished the leg 9.1sec down on Evans in fifth total.
Two-time world champion Rovanperä had an uncharacteristically subdued day. Not helped by an overshoot on SS5, the Finn failed to interrupt into the highest three on any stage and trailed Neuville by 16.4sec at shut of play.
Mārtiņš Sesks impressed on his return to M-Sport Ford’s Puma Rally1, posting a pair of top-three stage occasions on his method to seventh. Crew-mate McErlean, in solely his second Rally1 begin, continued to construct confidence and completed the day eighth.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari confirmed flashes of sturdy tempo however was hampered by an early brush with a snowbank that dislodged a tyre from the rim and restricted him to ninth. Grégoire Munster accomplished the highest 10 in his Puma.
Scintillating Solberg supreme in WRC2
Dwelling hero Oliver Solberg picked up proper the place he left off 12 months in the past in Umeå, main WRC2 with one other commanding efficiency.
Though Solberg’s season unofficially started at Rallye Monte-Carlo final month, this occasion marks his first point-scoring outing of the 12 months – and the 23-year-old is making it rely in fashion.
Having dominated the sector final 12 months in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Solberg confirmed the identical precision behind the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, reeling off 5 stage wins to kick off the weekend. Nonetheless, his dominance was barely curtailed within the afternoon loop as he hinted at some dealing with points together with his Yaris.
This opened the door for fellow Yaris drivers Georg Linnamäe and Roope Korhonen to assert stage wins, however Solberg nonetheless maintained a 23.8sec benefit over Korhonen by the tip of the day.
Friday was notably memorable for former WRC3 champion Korhonen, who secured his maiden WRC2 stage win on the second run of Bäck 2. The younger Finn ended the day solidly in second place, 22.1sec forward of Linnamäe, placing himself firmly in rivalry for his first WRC2 podium.
Estonian Linnamäe was the most important mover of the afternoon. Beginning the loop in sixth, he charged previous Finnish trio Mikko Heikkilä, Lauri Joona, and Tuukka Kauppinen to finish the day third total, albeit simply 6.6sec away from Heikkilä.
One other Estonian making good points was reigning FIA Junior WRC champion Romet Jürgenson. Climbing from twelfth to seventh in his Ford Fiesta Rally2, he now holds a 6.5sec buffer over Isak Reierson, who finds himself locked in a good battle with fellow Swede Pontus Tidemand. Simply 3.2sec separate the compatriots, whereas Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zaldivar rounds out the in a single day high ten.
Saturday’s penultimate leg presents loads of alternative for extra twists and contains seven high-speed levels overlaying 101.96km.
Johansson units the benchmark in Junior WRC
Mille Johansson dominated Friday’s opening leg, storming to a 48.3-second lead because the 2025 FIA Junior WRC season kicked off in fashion.
The 19-year-old, chasing back-to-back victories on house soil, was nearly untouchable throughout the primary full day’s ice-laden velocity exams. Including to his quickest time on Thursday night time’s tremendous particular in Umeå, Johansson set the benchmark on 4 out of seven levels to stamp his authority on the M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 area.
Co-driven by Johan Grönvall, Johansson made his FIA Junior WRC debut at Rally Sweden final season as a one-off. This time, nevertheless, he’s in for the total five-round marketing campaign – his prize for clinching the 2024 FIA Junior ERC title.
FIA Rally Star’s Their misfortune opened the door for Türkiye’s Ali Türkkan, who vaulted from sixth to 3rd within the afternoon – solely to be overtaken by Motorsport Eire Rally Academy driver Eamonn Kelly on the ultimate stage of the day. Taylor Gill and co-driver Daniel Brkíc shortly emerged as Johansson’s closest challengers and got here out firing on all cylinders by successful Friday’s opening Bygdsiljum check, the place Johansson briefly misplaced time with an overshoot. Nonetheless, Johansson shortly recovered and pulled clear because the day progressed.
French newcomer Tristan Charpentier and Paraguay’s Diego Domínguez had been holding third and fourth locations on the noon service, however each went off the street on SS5. Charpentier misplaced nearly 12 minutes together with his mishap, whereas Domínguez was pressured into retirement with radiator injury.
