Lappi dominates the day in Rally Sweden

Esa-Pekka Lappi Secures Lead in Rally Sweden. Heading into Sunday's finale, the Hyundai driver holds a comfortable lead over Adrien Fourmaux and Elfyn Evans by over a minute. FOTO: ROBERT EKBLOM

It was set for a tough duel between Esa-Pekka Lappi and Takamoto Katsuta when Rally Sweden ran seven stages on Saturday. But already on SS8, the Japanese drove into the snow embankment on Sarsjöliden SS10, and suddenly 0.9 seconds became over ten minutes when Katsuta had to dig himself out of the snow embankment.

That paves the way for a Finnish victory when Rally Sweden finishes Sunday afternoon. Esa-Pekka Lappi has more than a minute to spare on chasing Adrien Fourmaux and Elfyn Evans before the finish.
- This was nice. I really liked the last stretch, and now I'm going to have a good night's sleep and get ready for tomorrow, he said.

Friday's consistent snowfall took its toll. Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak drove into the snowbanks, where both repaired their injuries and thus the chances of victory for this year.
Today, the duo was back and had to settle for chasing the WC points that remain to be distributed in the total. In the top battle, it feels set for a Hyundai victory where Esa-Pekka Lappi - just like Ott Tänak did last year - drove the most evenly over the 15 special stages so far. Katuta's mistake caused the seasoned Finn to reduce the aggressiveness in driving in the closing Saturday distances where he never lined up the positions 6-5-3-4 and six on the respective legs.
Ahead of Sunday, Lappi has every opportunity to celebrate and step on the podium. The last leg, Umeå SS15, was dramatic. Gregoire Munster drove into the snow embankment at 7.2 kilometers. Only as a third car, it was there for a long time. Fourmaux drove into the snowbank right after and was incredibly close to getting stuck with him, but he managed to get out. Then Muster could leave the snow pile just before Lappi.
In the WRC2 class, home rider Oliver Solberg continues to drive with incredible confidence and masters the snow surface impressively. The Skoda driver had a Saturday that included two stage wins at Vännäs SS9 and Bygdsiljum SS11, but was in the top three on the four remaining Saturday stages.
Solberg now has one minute and 14 seconds to credit on the chasing Finn Sami Pajari. Two tenths behind Pajari is shadowing the third in the form of the Estonian Georg Linnamäe.
- Despite a whole day's driving, the grip wasn't too bad. I took it easy and drove safely. I don't want to take any risks, said Solberg, who, despite the "calmness", extended the lead by almost 18 (!) seconds on the final stretch towards The Red Barn Arena.