Kalle Rovanperä sort winner of this 2nd round of the WRC 2022 in Sweden and won the 3rd Rally of his career. The Finn takes advantage of theerror of Elfyn Evans, which violently crashed into the roadside snow embankment of the last special stage on Saturday. The Welshman was unfortunately forced to quit following this error. He therefore lets the other Toyota crew slip away quietly in the lead in front Thierry Neuville.
⛷ Sliding into Sunday like @KalleRovanpera @RallySweden Wolf Powerstage ? https://t.co/twccZ00g6H #WRCLive | #WRC | #RallySweden pic.twitter.com/LIAmlaVQzV
— WRC – FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) February 27, 2022
The Belgian achieved new feats, with time key scratch during the 18th special. Despite some problems encountered with its i20especially in terms of grip with the tyres, it achieves an excellent Sweden Rally and away from trouble. The pilot Hyundai ends up climbing on the second step of the podium and the classification of drivers in the championship.
Then comes the very nice surprise of the name of Esapekka Lapland. For his return, the Finn had an excellent Rally aboard the Yaris. With the little rolling and experience he has with these new Rally1 hybrid. He demonstrates all his talent by reaching the finish each time with a good rhythm. It therefore ends in 3rd place Rally Swedento potentially convince brand executives to give him more opportunities.
It is important to note the astonishing number of dropouts of this WRC weekend. In total, half of the cars in the Rally1 category have experienced a mechanical or other problem. Unreliability seems particularly affected by Ford. The two Pumas of Adrien Fourmaux and Craig Breen experienced mishaps, with sudden power cuts. The Hyundai also are not spared. Only Thierry Neuville’s i20 was able to cover the 19 stages around the Umeå region without a hitch.
Ranking
- Kalle Rovanperä – Toyota: 2: 10: 44.9
- Thierry Neuville – Hyundai: +22.0s
- Esapekka Lapland – Toyota: +30.6 s
- Takamoto Katsuta – Toyota: +2: 19.4 s
- Gus Greensmith – Ford : +3:20.4 s
- Oliver Solberg – Hyundai : +5:39.4 s
- Ott Tänak – Hyundai: +21: 58.4 s
- Craig Breen – Ford : +1:21:56.3 s
- Adrien Fourmaux – Ford : OUT
- Elfyn Evans – Toyota: OUT
At 21, Kalle Rovanperä takes the lead in the drivers’ classification with 46 points ahead of Thierry Neuville (32 points) and the surprising Gus Greensmith (20 points). Among the great absentees, Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak do not achieve the desired start to the season. Both pilots suffer from pilot errors and mechanical problems. What about the rest of the season?
See you in Croatia, for the 3rd round of the WRC 2022 from April 21 to 24.
