Elfyn Evans led, dropped back and regained top spot to win Rally Sweden in FIA WRC, ahead of Takamoto Katsuta and Thierry Neuville.
Friday –
Elfyn Evans emerged on top of a fierce Rally Sweden battle as just 8.4sec blanketed the top four drivers after a thrilling Friday morning on the ice-packed stages of Västerbotten. After kicking off the rally in style – winning Thursday evening’s super special in Umeå to seize an early 0.5sec lead in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 – Evans then extended his advantage to 3.9sec over Ott Tänak across two blisteringly fast forest tests this morning – only to come under increasing pressure from an inspired Adrien Fourmaux.
Frenchman Fourmaux, contesting just his second event for Hyundai, was in electric form. He stormed to back-to-back stage wins on Andersvattnet and Bäck, leapfrogging Tänak and slashing Evans’ lead to just 1.9sec heading into service. Tänak, who dropped behind Fourmaux by 4.3sec, struggled with understeer in his recently upgraded Hyundai. His French team-mate has now shone as Hyundai’s top performer at both rounds so far this season – arriving in Sweden fresh from a podium finish on his Monte-Carlo debut with the squad.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta quietly impressed, delivering a string of top-three stage times to hold fourth overall – just 8.4sec adrift of Evans. The Japanese driver enjoyed a 9.6sec buffer over fifth-placed team-mate Kalle Rovanperä, who was left frustrated with his speed and searching for solutions at midday service. Defending champion Thierry Neuville, running sixth, endured a challenging loop. Like Tänak, the Belgian battled understeer.
M-Sport Ford duo Josh McErlean and Mārtinš Sesks were locked in a tight scrap for seventh, with McErlean taking the spot by just 1.6sec in his Puma Rally1. Sami Pajari – another to show front-running pace – rounded out the top eight, though his charge was derailed by a tyre coming off the rim after glancing a snowbank on SS2. Grégoire Munster held ninth, while home hero Oliver Solberg dominated WRC2 and completed the overall top 10.
Saturday –
Elfyn Evans will enter Rally Sweden’s final day with victory hanging in the balance – his lead over Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta cut to just 3.0sec with Thierry Neuville also looming large in third. Evans, runner-up at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo, started today’s penultimate leg with a narrow 0.6sec advantage over Katsuta’s identical GR Yaris Rally1.
The pair were almost inseparable through the morning’s high-speed ice-laden stages near Umeå, but a commanding start to the afternoon loop saw the Welshman extend his lead to 8.6sec – helped in part by a mistake from Katsuta, who overshot a junction on SS12. Just when it seemed Evans had seized control, the momentum shifted again. Katsuta fought back on SS14, cutting the gap to 6.0sec before Evans stalled his car in the day’s closing stage – reducing his lead even further to just 3.0sec.
Katsuta, a five-time podium finisher, is still chasing his maiden WRC victory but remained measured in his approach. Neuville, who started the day in fifth, made huge strides to haul himself into the lead fight. The reigning world champion overtook Hyundai team-mate Ott Tänak, who was hampered by a coolant leak, and ended the day 6.5sec clear of the Estonian while just 6.3sec behind Evans.
Adrien Fourmaux’s podium challenge came undone after a series of misfortunes. The Frenchman, who had been firmly in the mix on Friday, lost time after stopping immediately after the start of SS10 to fasten his helmet strap. He rebounded from the oversight with a stage win on SS11, only to slide off on SS12 and bury his Hyundai in a snowbank – ending his day prematurely. Kalle Rovanperä capitalised on the chaos, climbing to fifth in his Toyota and enjoying a much stronger leg after a subdued Friday.
The two-time world champion closed to within 10.1sec of Tänak heading into Sunday’s three-stage showdown, with Mārtiņš Sesks sixth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. Sesks survived a late scare when he spun in the fading light of SS13 but managed to keep Toyota young gun Sami Pajari 12.2sec behind. Further back, Ford drivers Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster occupied eighth and ninth, while WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg rounded out the top 10.
Sunday –
Elfyn Evans fended off a determined charge from Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta on Sunday to secure victory at Rally Sweden and move into the FIA World Rally Championship lead. After four days of intense action on Umeå’s frozen stages, Evans delivered when it mattered most – shutting the door on Katsuta in a dramatic final-day shootout to claim his 10th career WRC win by 3.8sec.
Starting Sunday with a razor-thin 3.0sec advantage, the Welshman briefly lost the lead as Katsuta came out firing, producing a 7.5sec stage win on Västervik’s opening run. But Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were quick to respond. They fought back in style on the repeated run that followed, setting the benchmark time to reclaim control by 3.7sec before hammering home their advantage with a commanding drive through the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage – sealing victory as Katsuta held off Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who finished 11.9sec back from the top spot in third.
The result moved Evans to the top of the FIA World Rally Championship standings with a lead of 28 points after two of 14 rounds, building on his runner-up finish at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo last month. Neuville, the reigning champion, had to work hard to secure the final podium spot, fending off resurgent team-mate Ott Tänak by just 4.9sec. Tänak, hindered by an engine mapping issue on his i20 N Rally1 on Saturday, was back to form for Super Sunday and third only to Evans and Katsuta in outright pace across the final day.
Two-time WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä endured a frustrating weekend, struggling to find his usual rhythm. The Toyota star claimed just one stage win across the rally’s 18 tests and ultimately trailed Tänak by 16.0sec as he settled for fifth place. Mārtiņš Sesks delivered a solid performance on his WRC return, securing sixth place as M-Sport Ford’s top finisher.
The Latvian ended the rally 17.6sec ahead of Toyota’s Sami Pajari, while Josh McErlean – who had been running eighth – slid down the order after getting his Puma Rally1 stuck in a snowbank on the first stage of the day. Grégoire Munster inherited eighth from team-mate McErlean as WRC2 frontrunners Oliver Solberg and Roope Korhonen completed the top 10.
Result: https://www.wrc.com/live-timing?liveTimingMenu=overall_livetiming&stage=FINAL&championshipId=287
[The story is as per press release]
