Rovanperä significantly benefited from his starting position on the Brattby special stage, setting impressive stage times.
Rovanperä outpaced Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi and Ott Tänak by 3.2 seconds over the 10.76-kilometre first special stage of the morning.
“I don’t know why I don’t have a good flow there but let’s hope EP isn’t faster there,” Rovanperä commented at the end of the stage.
Esapekka Lappi’s performance yesterday was a disappointment, but today went quite well.
“There was one corner where I touched quite heavily and after that I maybe drove a bit too slow,” Lappi remarked.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta was also in fine form from the morning, finishing the first stage as the fourth fastest. The Japanese driver was 3.5 seconds off Rovanperä’s leading time.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville struggled significantly due to their starting positions. Evans finished as the fifth fastest and Neuville only managed the sixth fastest time.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä maintained his lead. His advantage over Takamoto Katsuta is now 4.9 seconds. Tänak is in third place, 5.3 seconds behind Rovanperä. Lappi is fourth, trailing the leader by 7.8 seconds.
In the WRC2 class, Skoda’s Oliver Solberg leads. Competing in his home event, Solberg is eighth in the overall classification, having also outpaced Rally1 driver Gregoire Munster.
However, Sami Pajari, driving Toyota’s new Rally2 car, is hot on Solberg’s heels. Pajari is currently tenth in the overall classification.
Rally Sweden will continue on Friday with six more special stages. The event concludes on Sunday.
Result after SS 2/18 of Rally Sweden:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 9:31.0 2. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +4.9 3. Ott Tänak Hyundai +5.3 4. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai +7.8 5. Elfyn Evans Toyota +8.1 6. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +13.5 7. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +13.9 8. Oliver Solberg Skoda +28.1 9. Gregoire Munster Ford +30.9 10. Sami Pajari Toyota +34.3
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
