Kalle Rovanperä won the Swedish Rally in Toyota. The 21-year-old Finn took the lead in the World Championship in car competitions after the second event of the season.
Rovanperä defeated Hyundai factory driver Thierry Neuville of Belgium in his third triumph in the World Championship by 22 seconds. Another Finn, Esapekka Lappi and Toyota, finished third.
The winner after the race rejected the traditional celebrations on the roof of the rally special. “There is not much to celebrate, people in Ukraine are having a very difficult week now. I believe they will be strong,” said Rovanperä, who leads the series 14 points ahead of Neuvill.
His teammate Elfyn Evans fought for the triumph with the young Finn for a long time. The British were very lucky at the end of Saturday’s second stage. Although he hit the snow barrier in the last turn, he still managed to cross the target photocell in some way.
He subsequently received a ten-second penalty for beating the timekeeping device. However, British hopes ended in Sunday’s crash, after which he could no longer continue.
Unlike the inaugural Monte Carlo Rally, Ford was less successful in Sweden. While the legendary “Monte” was won by Sébastien Loeb behind his wheel, this time Gus Greensmith was in fifth place in the competition with the center in Umea. Neither Loeb nor defending champion Sébastien Ogier and Toyota will complete only selected events this year.
