Friday
Elfyn Evans emerged from a thrilling Friday at Rally Sweden with a slender lead as an intense battle at the top saw just 9.1 seconds covering the leading five drivers.
The FIA World Rally Championship’s only pure snow rally delivered a day of fluctuating fortunes, with multiple lead changes across the seven snow and ice-laden speed tests. Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Evans set the early pace and led at midday service, but as conditions evolved, so did the leaderboard.
Takamoto Katsuta briefly hit the front on SS5 before Evans responded immediately to reclaim the top spot. Then, as darkness fell over the Bäck stage, Ott Tänak edged ahead – only to lose his advantage on the final Umeå Sprint test as worn tyres cost him valuable time. Evans seized the opportunity, clocking the fastest time to move back into the lead once more.
Katsuta’s strong pace kept him within just 0.6sec of his Toyota team-mate, while Tänak slipped to third, 2.5sec off the lead.
Adrien Fourmaux was one of the standout performers in the morning, winning two stages and running as high as second. His momentum slowed slightly in the afternoon, but the Frenchman still ended the day a strong fourth, just 5.4sec behind Hyundai i20 N Rally1 colleague Tänak. A stall on SS5 – at the same tricky corner that caught out Kalle Rovanperä and Josh McErlean – was his biggest setback.
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.
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.
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.
The FIA World Rally Championship heads to Africa next for the legendary Safari Rally Kenya, round three of the season, from 20 – 23 March.
