Katsuta bested the Finnish Hyundai driver by 2.3 seconds, reducing Lappi’s lead in the rally to a mere 0.9 seconds. Lappi admitted to driving cautiously on the Vännäs special stage.
“All OK. I was very clean on the narrow road. I could have pushed more and used the banks but better to do it this way,” summarised Lappi.
Conditions turned upside down on Saturday morning, as this time the best starting position seemed to be with the first cars. Setting the fastest time on the Vännäs special stage was Hyundai’s Ott Tänäk, who was the first car on the route.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä returned to the event after his retirement on Friday. Rovanperä was the third fastest on the stage, 1.2 seconds behind Tänak’s leading time.
“It’s not easy to enjoy from our posititon but what we can do?”
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux moved back into third place, overtaking Oliver Solberg driving a Skoda Rally2 car. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans is in fifth, only six seconds behind Solberg. Toyota’s new Rally2 driver, Georg Linnamäe, is in sixth place ahead of Sami Pajari.
Six more special stages will be run in Rally Sweden on Saturday. The event concludes on Sunday.
Standings after SS9/18 of Rally Sweden:
1. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai 1:07:23.5 2. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +0.9 3 Adrien Fourmaux Ford +1:34.3 4. Oliver Solberg Skoda +1:40.1 5. Elfyn Evans Toyota +1:56.1 6. Georg Linnamäe Toyota +2:21.6 7. Sami Pajari Toyota +2:26.9 8. Roope Korhonen Toyota +2:40.1 9. Mikko Heikkilä Toyota +2:46.2 10. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +2:49.4
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
