Lappi played it safe on the penultimate stage of Saturday, navigating through the stage very cleanly. Lappi finished 13.5 seconds behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who set the fastest time. Nonetheless, Lappi executed his task flawlessly, making no mistakes on the nearly 30-kilometre-long Bygdsiljum special stage.
“I just tried to come through sensibly and follow the same line as in the day. We’re taking a hit, but it’s okay. I’m not really used to this kind of caution,” Lappi mentioned, referring to his careful approach.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was the second fastest on the stage, with M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, who is driving a spectacular rally, coming in third fastest.
Kalle Rovanperä encountered problems with his brakes towards the end of the stage, and his tires were also under strain. Rovanperä clocked the fourth fastest time on the stage, beating Ott Tänak by 5.6 seconds.
“This one was definitely not easy – it’s a full gravel stage almost. You need to take care of the tires a lot. Then maybe four kilometers into the stage my brakes started to go soft,” Rovanperä recounted.
Lappi holds a very solid lead. He is leading the rally by over a minute ahead of Fourmaux. Evans is in third place, with Neuville in fourth. Oliver Solberg leads the WRC2 class and continues in fifth place overall.
The battle between Sami Pajari and Georg Linnamäe remains tight. Linnamäe, who is seventh in the overall competition, is now only 5.9 seconds behind Pajari.
Rally Sweden will continue with one more stage of just over ten kilometres on Saturday evening. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Standings after SS14/18 of Rally Sweden:
1. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai 1:57:59.1 2. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +1:02.0 3. Elfyn Evans Toyota +1:14.9 4. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +2:26.2 5. Oliver Solberg Skoda +3:48.6 6. Sami Pajari Toyota +4:45.3 7. Georg Linnamäe Toyota +4:51.2 8. Roope Korhonen Toyota +5:04.6 9. Mikko Heikkilä Toyota +5:09.8 10. Lauri Joona Skoda +5:55.1 11. Lorenzo Bertelli Toyota +6:27.2
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
