The second day of Rally Sweden 2025 has come to an end. Elfyn Evans narrowly leads after the days seven stages.
Morning Loop (SS2-SS4)
Elfyn Evans held onto the event lead after the first three stages of the day. The Welshman expanded his lead to 1.9 seconds over Adrien Fourmaux on the stages of the loop. Fourmaux won two of the three stages during the loop, whilst Evans only won a single stage. Ott Tänak sat third overall, 6.2 seconds down on Evans heading into the afternoon loop of stages. The loop went by with relatively little drama. As only Sami Pajari seemed to have any major issues on the loop. Pajari would push his tire off the rim on SS2. Other than that no major issues to report.
Afternoon Loop (SS5-SS8)
The afternoon loop of Rally Sweden 2025’s second day was rather interesting. As the lead changed multiple times. However, Elfyn Evans managed to retake the event lead by the day’s end. Unfortunately for Evans, he now only sits 0.6 seconds ahead of his teammate Takamoto Katsuta. Ott Tänak remains third, now 2.5 seconds off the event lead. Katsuta, Tänak, Neuville and Evans each took home a stage win during the afternoon loop. While no major issues worth reporting took place.
Driver Quotes
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“It’s been a very exciting day. I was a bit worried this afternoon on the second pass that Elfyn might suffer opening the road and lose the chance to fight for the victory, but he’s been driving really superbly to be the first car and to finish the day on top. Taka has also been doing a really good performance, which we know that he can do on this surface. The new tyre is very different and they are both adapting well to it. For Kalle it’s maybe taking a bit more time, but I’m sure that it will come. To have a one-two after the first day means it’s been a really good day, but the fight is tight. When there are so many drivers covered by so few seconds, we need to push and I’m sure tomorrow will be another exciting day.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s been very close out there today. Sometimes it’s suited us to be running at the front and sometimes it hasn’t. This morning it was pretty good for us but the grip was still quite changeable and difficult to read. The afternoon was not so kind for us and even the last stage felt quite messy but still the time was good. Compared to how it’s been when we’ve opened the road here in the past, we should probably be quite happy to be in the lead after Friday, but the gaps are very tight so let’s see how tomorrow plays out.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“It hasn’t been the best day for us. I was struggling more than I was expecting with my feeling in the car and how my driving style is working together with the tyre. We tried many small things during the day and made some steps, so we had a slightly better feeling this afternoon, but we’re still not in the place we want to be. If we can find something more for tomorrow then hopefully it will be a better day and we can be more among the top times.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“Today has been very good. It has felt very comfortable: we have not been pushing crazy hard but still the times have been coming. I’m enjoying it a lot so it’s going well so far but there’s still some way to go. At the moment it’s very tight in the top five; one mistake could cost a lot, so I will try to continue in the same way and have another clean day tomorrow. The starting positions should be more equal and the conditions should be good so I’m looking forward to it.”
Sami Pajari
“The feeling was really good in the first stage this morning: it felt quite clean with a nice flow and I didn’t feel I was pushing that much. In one place we hit the snowbank, which is quite normal on a snow rally, but for some reason the tyre came off the rim. It was disappointing to lose so much time, and without that it could have been a really good day. But it’s all about the learning, and there’s still two more days to drive and enjoy.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
Ott Tänak
“We tried to put a consistent run together but it was not so much fun in the car today, so we are for sure looking forward to tomorrow. We need to use the used tyres in the right moment and make sure you finish them, but the last two stages were more icy and the fresh tyre was probably more needed there. Normally when it’s icy it’s very good for the first car on the road and then normally the ice breaks down more and more, the layer seems to be a bit thicker so maybe it will last a bit more tomorrow, but we will see.
Adrien Fourmaux
“It was a really positive day; I think everybody enjoyed the conditions, it was really nice this morning with a lot of ice. This afternoon, as expected, we saw the gravel in the ruts and we had to manage our tyres a bit more to try our best to not be lose too much to the others with better road positions. I don’t have too much experience on snow but I am enjoying it, trying to do my best and use my experience from last year. It seems to be working really well and we want it to continue like this tomorrow. It will be more icy and the loop is shorter than today so it’s going to be easier for the tyres. Tomorrow will be full attack for everybody. ”
Thierry Neuville
“We knew this morning that we had to keep calm and accept that we were losing time, but we also knew that the afternoon would be to our advantage. I think we made the best out of it and I’m pretty satisfied with how the second loop went – the feeling was better. We are missing experience on the tyres and with the setup as well; the amount of understeer left me a bit surprised. It’s going to be a big push out there tomorrow, but if the feeling is like it was this afternoon then we will definitely be in the game.”
Pablo Marcos – Hyundai Team Manager
“Today was a positive day for the team with three cars in the top five and a minimal difference in the fight for the win. All three drivers were on the pace today and it’s nice to see Thierry back fighting for stage wins in the afternoon. Adrien made the most of his undesirable position to bring home some very good times, and Ott was fighting for the win from the very beginning. On the final stage, he was taking care with the car to keep the position for tomorrow to continue in the fight. Tomorrow should be easier because the road conditions look icier, demanding less from the tyres than today. We are in a good position for the remainder of the weekend. ”