Finnish Driver Rovanpera Snatched the Lead of Rally Sweden

The Flying Finn holds a ten-second lead over home favorite Oliver Solberg, son of 2003 World Rally Champion, Petter Solberg. For the Swedish driver it was the best morning of his young WRC career, despite a slow start in Kamsjon and Savar.

“This morning was already quite tricky, but the last stage was the best of all. The only issue is when you are first car, there are a lot of snow blocks on the inside and outside of the corners. I thought the roads would be cleaner, but the afternoon could be even more difficult,” said Oliver Solberg.

A lot of drivers were taken by surprise because of an overnight freeze. Craig Breen had an awful day after crashing out of stage 2. The Irish driver had already span after clipping a snowbank earlier in the stage, when he brought out red flags after hitting another snowbank, ending his day too fast.

Ex-leader Esapekka Lappi stalled his Toyota GR Yaris after posting the fastest time in Kamjson, and as a result he dropped from the lead to sixth overall.

Hyundai’s cars were the best on the high-speed icy roads. The i20 N of Ott Tanak led after the opening stage even with a damaged front bumper, but in Savar the bumper fell off, so the Estonian dropped to fifth.

After struggling and feeling very annoyed with his performance this morning, Toyota driver Elfyn Evans finished on the last podium place. The driver from Wales said that “I don’t have great confidence with the car to be honest. I’m struggling with the front end so it’s hard to commit and be smooth”.

This afternoon Rally Sweden continues with a second pass of the 14,9 kilometers (9,25 miles) road full of snow and ice.