Evans stalled his car after a slight spin in a left-hand corner, losing a few seconds. As a result, his teammate Takamoto Katsuta closed the gap to just three seconds behind the rally leader.
“Just coming into the junction I lost the rear and it stalled under braking. Not ideal,” Evans said.
“Thierry has been quite quick in this one, I don’t know. I wanna finish, that’s it! I will speak with my bosses in the team. Very hungry for many things, but I have been too hungry and done crazy things. Need to be clever this time,” Katsuta commented.
The fastest driver of the day was Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who climbed to third overall. Neuville set a commanding stage-winning time on the short Umeå city stage and is now just 6.3 seconds behind Evans.
“We have to prepare well tonight and give it a try tomorrow. Happy with today to be honest. We did what we should do – had a good rhythm and managed the risk. In this one you have to have good tyres, preserved them a bit. Increased the pace stage by stage,” Neuville stated.
Neuville was the fastest by just 0.2 seconds ahead of Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, who managed to improve his pace from Friday. Rovanperä sits in fifth place overall, with Hyundai’s Ott Tänak 10.1 seconds ahead of him in fourth.
“We’re nowhere near optimal, but it was clearly a better day than yesterday. This stage will clean up a lot. There are big points up for grabs tomorrow. We need to be fast. The podium is probably too far away,” Rovanperä admitted.
M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks holds sixth place, followed by Toyota’s Sami Pajari and teammate Josh McErlean. M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster rounds out the top nine.
In WRC2, Sweden’s Oliver Solberg maintains a commanding lead. Behind him, Finland’s Roope Korhonen is second, trailing Solberg by 39 seconds. Skoda’s Robert Virves holds third in WRC2, ahead of Mikko Heikkilä and Lauri Joona.
Rally Sweden concludes on Sunday with three more stages. The five fastest drivers of the day, as well as the top performers on the final Power Stage, will earn extra championship points.
Rally Sweden standings after SS15/18:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 2:00:04.2 |
| 2. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +3.0 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +6.3 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +12.8 |
| 5. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +22.9 |
| 6. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +1:31.4 |
| 7. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:43.6 |
| 8. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +2:05.8 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:45.9 |
| 10. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +6:09.6 |
| 11. | Roope Korhonen | Toyota | +6:48.6 |
| 12. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +7:02.6 |
| 13. | Mikko Heikkilä | Skoda | +7:06.3 |
| 14. | Lauri Joona | Skoda | +7:32.0 |
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
