Neuville set the fastest time on the second pass through Kolksele, beating Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta by exactly one second. In the overall standings, Neuville remains in third place, but his gap to rally leader Elfyn Evans has shrunk to 11.5 seconds.
Another key factor for Neuville was his advantage over his closest rivals, teammate Ott Tänak and Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, who are behind him in the standings. Rovanperä, currently in fifth place, lost 4.5 seconds to Neuville on this stage, increasing his gap to the final podium spot to 14 seconds.
“I told Martijn: (co-driver Wydaeghe) ‘Finally a good stage.’Not easy to find the braking points, sometimes a bit late. I tried to control the speed and keep the rythm, it was quite okay,” Neuville explained.
Rovanperä gave everything he had but could only manage the fifth-fastest time on the stage.
“We’re pushing as hard as we can. In terms of driving, with this car and our package, there’s not much more we can improve. No mistakes, just pushing. The road is probably getting better for the drivers behind, but there’s nothing we can do about that,” Rovanperä said.
Rally leader Evans made a small mistake on the stage, briefly putting the rear of his Toyota into a snowbank, which cost him some time. However, the car stayed on the road, and the Welshman got away with just a scare.
This allowed second-placed Katsuta to close the gap to Evans to just six seconds.
“It wasn’t like a big hit into the bank, but just low grip and lost the front on the way in. The speed wasn’t wrong, the angle of the car was wrong,” Evans explained.
M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks remains sixth overall, ahead of Toyota’s Sami Pajari and his teammate Josh McErlean.
Oliver Solberg continues to lead the WRC2 category. His closest rival, Roope Korhonen, spun on the Kolksele stage and lost some time.
Rally Sweden continues with one more stage on Saturday before the event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Sweden standings after SS14/18:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 1:56:29.5 |
| 2. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +6.0 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +11.5 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +15.5 |
| 5. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +25.5 |
| 6. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +1:31.4 |
| 7. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:44.3 |
| 8. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +2:04.5 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:46.3 |
| 10. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +6:05.3 |
| 11. | Roope Korhonen | Toyota | +6:43.3 |
Rally Sweden itinerary (CET):
Thursday 13th February
09:01 Shakedown: Umeå City (3:44 km)
19:05 SS1: Umeå Sprint 1 (5:16 km)
Friday 14th February
09.18 SS2: Bygdsiljum 1 (28.27 km)
10.19 SS3: Andersvattnet 1 (20.51 km)
11.27 SS4: Bäck 1 (10.80 km)
12.55 Service (40 min)
14.48 SS5: Bygdsiljum 2 (28.27 km)
15.49 SS6: Andersvattnet 2 (20.51 km)
16.57 SS7: Bäck 2 (10.80 km)
19.05 SS8: Umeå Sprint 2 (5.16 km)
Saturday 15th February
09.10 SS9: Vännäs 1 (15.65 km)
10.05 SS10: Sarjöliden 1 (14.23 km)
11.08 SS11: Kolksele 1 (16.06 km)
12.45 Service (40 min)
14.10 SS12: Vännäs 2 (15.65 km)
15.05 SS13: Sarjöliden 2 (14.23 km)
16.08 SS14: Kolksele 2 (16.06 km)
18.05 SS15: Umeå 1 (10.08 km)
Sunday 16th February
07.27 SS16: Västervik 1 (29.35 km)
09.00 Service (15 min)
09.57 SS17: Västervik 2 (29.35 km)
12.15 SS18: Umeå 2 (10.08 km) *Power Stage
