Lappi beat Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta by five seconds and moved to within just three-tenths of the leading Japanese driver. Lappi remarked that he had played it safe given the challenging conditions.
“It is tough to understand what kind of speed you should do. You go a couple of centimeters wrong and you’re done because you cannot control anything. It’s not aquaplaning – it’s snowplaning. Even if you are safe you can still lose it. But it feels pretty safe for the moment,” Lappi stated.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who leads the World Championship, incurred a 40-second penalty for being four minutes late to the start of the sixth stage. Toyota’s Welsh star, Elfyn Evans, speculated that it was a tactical move, as the harsh conditions make the first car’s starting position difficult.
“I guess the spirit of competition has gone out the window. So there you go. I don’t know. Let’s wait to cast judgment on that before we say something we regret,” Evans wondered.
“We had an issue, the engine was not running. It’s something we had at refuel before. We had to check but obviously, the bonnet wasn’t closed properly. Elfyn was at the refuel earlier when our car didn’t fire up, so he should know,” Neuville responded to the Welshman’s comment.
Evans fell to fourth in the race, behind M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux. Driving a Skoda, Oliver Solberg impressively holds fifth place. Estonian driver Georg Linnamäe was again in top form in his Toyota Rally2 car, clocking the second-fastest time and losing to Lappi by just 2.6 seconds. Overall, Linnamäe is in sixth position.
Neuville, on the other hand, suffered visibility problems with the bonnet not being properly secured. The Belgian is currently in 14th place due to his time penalty and other issues.
Two more special stages are scheduled for Friday in Rally Sweden. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Rally Sweden standings after SS6/18:
1. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota 41:24.9 2. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai +0.3 3. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +53.2 3. Elfyn Evans Toyota +1:00.3 5. Oliver Solberg Skoda +1:03.1 6. Georg Linnamäe Toyota +1:15.7 7. Sami Pajari Toyota +1:28.3 8. Roope Korhonen Toyota +1:33.6 9. Mikko Heikkilä Toyota +1:47.3 10. Emil Lindholm Hyundai +1:52.7 11. Lauri Joona Skoda +1:55.3 12. F. Zaldivar Skoda +2:04.1 13. Nikolay Gryazin Citroen +2:05.1 14. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +2:20.1
Itinerary (CET)
Thursday, February 15th 09:01 Shakedown: Håkmark (5.42 km) 19:05 SS1: Umeå Sprint 1 (5.16 km) Friday, February 16th 08:58 SS2: #42 Brattby 1 (10.76 km) 09:52 SS3: Norrby 1 (12.36 km) 10:55 SS4: Floda 1 (28.25 km) 13:28 Service (30 min) 14:36 SS5: #42 Brattby 2 (10.76 km) 15:30 SS6: Norrby 2 (12.36 km) 16:33 SS7: Floda 2 (28.25 km) 19:05 SS8: Umeå Sprint 2 (5.16 km) Saturday, February 17th 07:45 SS9: Vännäs 1 (15.65 km) 08:35 SS10: Sarsjöliden 1 (14.23 km) 10:08 SS11: Bygdsiljum 1 (28.06 km) 13:00 Service (30 min) 14:15 SS12: Vännäs 2 (15.65 km) 15:05 SS13: Sarsjöliden 2 (14.23 km) 16:38 SS14: Bygdsiljum 2 (28.06 km) 19:05 SS15: Umeå 1 (10.08 km) Sunday, February 18th 07:27 SS16: Västervik 1 (25.50 km) 09:06 Service (15 min) 10:03 SS17: Västervik 2 (25.50 km) 12:15 SS18: Umeå 2 (10.08 km) *Power Stage
