With just three special stages remaining on Sunday, Lappi holds a lead of well over a minute ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux. Lappi has previously celebrated victory in a World Rally Championship event only once before, on the gravel roads of Finland in 2017.
“This last stage was enjoyable. Maybe not the best stage, but it was fun to drive. The feeling is really good. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight. The car jumped quite oddly at the stadium and triggered some errors in the hybrid system. There was no trouble, but the jump was really different,” Lappi summarised.
Fourmaux managed to shave a bit more off the gap to Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who is in third place. The French driver’s advantage is now 16.7 seconds.
Thierry Neuville of Hyundai, who had issues on Friday, has climbed to fourth place in the race, although he is now a minute behind the podium places. Oliver Solberg, leading the WRC2 class, is driving his Skoda in fifth place.
Sami Pajari, competing in a Toyota Rally2 car, is in sixth place overall and second in the WRC2 class. He is over a minute behind Solberg.
Gregoire Munster’s race for M-Sport Ford was definitively ruined when he went off into a snowbank on the day’s final stage, losing nearly 15 minutes. His teammate Fourmaux also had a close call in the same spot but escaped with just a scare.
Rally Sweden concludes on Sunday with three more special stages, covering just over 61 kilometres.
Standings after SS15/18 of Rally Sweden:
1. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai 2:03:52.0 2. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +1:06.3 3. Elfyn Evans Toyota +1:23.0 4. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +2:22.1 5. Oliver Solberg Skoda +4:01.1 6. Sami Pajari Toyota +5:15.1 7. Georg Linnamäe Toyota +5:15.3 8. Roope Korhonen Toyota +5:35.1 9. Mikko Heikkilä Toyota +5:51.2 10. Lauri Joona Skoda +6:29.3 11. Lorenzo Bertelli Toyota +6:44.5
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
