World Rally Championship title contender Elfyn Evans reclaimed the lead at Rally Sweden after delivering an impressive display through Saturday morning’s stages.
The Toyota driver trailed his team-mate Takamoto Katsuta by 2.8s heading into the morning loop of snow stages, but exited the tricky tests with a 16.1s lead over his rival.
Hyundai continued to struggle for traction that again contributed to Toyota locking out the top four positions, as Sami Pajari held third, 24s ahead of Monte Carlo winner Oliver Solberg.
Evans moved into the rally lead after the first stage of the day. The Welshman posted a time that was 7.2s faster than overnight leader Katsuta, which was good enough to clinch his third stage win of the event to date.
Evans continued his fine form across the remaining two stages, ending both tests 0.9s adrift of stage winning efforts lodged by the returning M-Sport-Ford driver Martins Sesks and Solberg.
Katsuta continued to struggle for pace and was 10th and seventh fastest of the Rally1 crews. The Japanese driver was at a loss to understand the lack of speed compared to his pace on Friday.
“I have no idea. I’m driving the same as yesterday and maybe in some places I push a bit. It is so strange. No changes [to the car overnight], only tyres,” said Katsuta.
Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
The drop off in performance from Katsuta helped Pajari close in on his team-mate, ending the loop, 12.9s behind second. However, the Finn is now in the sights of Solberg, eager to make up the lost time from his stage three off on Friday.
Solberg overhauled the struggling Hyundais of Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi to move from sixth to fourth overall after stage nine. Solberg claimed a win in stage 11 to outline his pace as he took aim at the podium positions.
“He [Sami Pajari] is the target now definitely. It is a long shot but I will do my very best. It is tricky to push 100% as the snowbanks are not high,” said Solberg.
Lappi completed the loop as the top Hyundai in fifth, 9.3s ahead of team-mate Fourmaux. Hyundai made changes to the suspension on Lappi’s car overnight in a bid to find a solution to their struggles for traction. The Finn admitted it was going to take time to adjust to the set-up change, but was the quickest of the Hyundais.
Fourmaux again was frustrated by his inability to challenge the front runners, but believes the crux of Hyundai’s issues can be traced to the i20 N’s suspension.
“I think I have understood something in this one [stage 10]. The conditions are similar to last year and we are just floating all the time over the surface,” said Fourmaux, 1m12.3s adrift of leader Evans.
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
“We are not biting at all, so for me it can only be an issue with the dampers. We will not sort it today and not tomorrow, but we really need to work on it.”
Given Hyundai’s struggles, Thierry Neuville’s focus was solely on enjoying the stages knowing any hopes of a strong result are faint. The 2024 world champion headed to the midday service two minutes away from the lead.
There was some joy for M-Sport-Ford as Sesks claimed the fastest time in stage 10, despite being first on the road. The Latvian, who retired on Friday after suffering three punctures, posted a time that held firm as the road conditions deteriorated for the crews following behind.
Jon Armstrong continued to be the best placed of the M-Sport drivers in eighth, 51.4sec ahead of team-mate Josh McErlean.
WRC2 leader Roope Korhonen rounded out the top 10, ahead of this afternoon’s four stages.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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