The first day of Rally Sweden has come to an end. Kalle Rovanperä leads after the days lone stage.
Rally Sweden Shakedown
Esapekka Lappi was right back into form. As the Finnish drivers topped the Rally Sweden shakedown. Lappi posted a time 0.6 seconds faster than Adrien Fourmaux. Ott Tänak finished third fastest, 0.2 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä set the fourth fastest time, 0.5 seconds slower than Tänak. Championship leader Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five on the shakedown, finishing 1.6 seconds slower than Rovanperä.
SSS1, Umeá Sprint 1
Kalle Rovanperä was right back to his winning ways on the Rally Sweden opener. As Rovanperä set a time 1.4 seconds faster than Takamoto Katsuta to top the SuperSpecial stage. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest, 0.6 seconds slower than Katsuta. Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux tied for fourth fastest on the stage. With both drivers posting a time 0.1 seconds slower than Fourmaux, despite some difficulties for Tänak. Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Tänak and Fourmaux.
What To Expect From Rally Sweden Day Two
The second day of Rally Sweden will see drivers contest 107.9 km across 7 special stages. Drivers will look to make the most of the less-than-favorable conditions. As the snow and ice aren’t as good as usual for the event. This will have an effect on how the drivers attack the stages. It will also slightly favor the later-running cars, including Kalle Rovanperä. Thierry Neuville will have the worst conditions on the first pass as he’s on sweeping duty. Elfyn Evans is second on the road while 2023 Rally Sweden winner Ott Tänak is third. Kalle Rovanperä starts seventh on the road.