Kalle Rovanperä has conquered the 69th edition of the Swedish Rally to add his third win in the WRC, first on snow. The Toyota driver has completed an almost perfect rally, even if in the first stage he had to open the track. With this victory, Rovanperä is the new leader of the World Cup and he has achieved the most important thing, certifying on the fast track that he is among the contenders for the title. Thierry Neuville was second, while Esapekka Lappi completed the podium. Andreas Mikkelsen’s victory in WRC2.
The Finn Kalle Rovanperä is barely 21 years old and already has three wins in the WRC. The last pearl of the suomi quarry, although it is almost worth saying the penultimate since new talents do not stop sprouting, conquered the Estonian Rally last year and a stage with as much history as the Acropolis Rally. Now, Kalle already have another notch on their butt, the one from the Swedish Rally. Harri Rovanperä’s son, who has already tripled the number of victories, already knows what it means to win on snow and leave his mark on the only winter event of the season.
He arrived with everything resolved, but he did not lift his foot in the last section either. In fact, Kalle rounded off his win with four bonus points by finishing second on the Power Stage, only behind Ott Tänak. A perfect finishing touch to a great performance that has led to finish 22 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville. The Belgian also had to grit his teeth in the last section to get the first podium for the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. Despite his final attempts, Esapekka Lappi has had to settle for third position.
Double fourth place for Takamoto Katsuta, in a great performance by the Japanese driver with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Fourth place in the rally and fourth in the Power Stage to add two more points to his private box. In both cases he has finished ahead of an M-Sport driver, although the fifth place in the last stage has been for Craig Breen and in the rally for Gus Greensmithperhaps slower than his partner, but much more regular and skillful this time to avoid problems.
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The same ones that whipped Oliver Solberg and have taken him to sixth position, far from the result that the pace would have deserved. However, the Swedish has been the last survivor within the ‘battalion’ of pilots of the queen category, as Ott Tänak exits Rally Sweden with just five points from the Power Stagewhile Craig Breen takes one and Elfyn Evans leaves the country empty. A scenario in which the ‘Rally2’ have had a greater role than could be expected, with up to four within the final ‘top 10’.
Andreas Mikkelsen has been seventh and winner in WRC2leaving no room for any kind of surprise. Ole Christian Veiby finished eighth overall and second in the silver class behind his compatriotwhile Jari Huttunen was ninth in his duel with Egon Kaur, which allowed him to climb to the WRC2 podium.
SS15 Final Classification of the 69th Rally Sweden
Photos: Toyota Gazoo Racing / Hyundai Motorsport