A new edition of the Rally of Sweden has opened its doors with the traditional dispute of the super special race track Karlstad, a small stretch of less than two kilometres which takes place in parallel and that have a character more focused on the spectacle for fans of the WRC to the own competition. All in all, each meter account, and Ott Tanak is the first leader of the test after marking the scratch in the first leg of the rally. Jari-Matti Latvala, in the second of the Toyota Yaris WRC, finished second, after passing by a few tenths to Mads Ostberg and Kris Meeke.
Toyota has returned to the scene of the first victory for the Toyota Yaris and by the time the start of the rally could not be better for the boys of Tommi Mäkinen. However, Ott Tanak and Jari-Matti Latvala have been the fastest on the racecourse in Karlstad, in a stroke of what may be their respective candidates to the victory. For the moment, the partner of Toyota sleeps over Mads Ostberg and Kris Meeke, who for the moment have managed to put the Citroen C3 WRC in the head in the face of what may come once the test is moved to the forests of Norway and Sweden.
In fact, the super special in Karlstad has been almost a year of order between the marks, because after the two Citroen drivers have been located all three Hyundai i20 WRC Coupe. In fact, Andreas Mikkelsen has taken the time of Meeke to fifth-place finish, while Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon have been located right on their heels. Eighth, for its part ended Esapekka Lappi, while the ninth position was for Sébastien Ogier, I lost a few tenths after suffering a small past of braking. All in all, open track during the stage of Friday is your main source of headaches.
The first ‘top 10’ of the rally has closed Craig Breen after overtaking Ford Teemu Suninen and Elfyn Evans. The two pilots of M-Sport who have preceded us to the best drivers in the class WRC2, categoría in which Pontus Tidemand has begun to the front, leaving behind the problems and the track output to the swede suffered in the shakedown. Ole-Christian Veiby and Kevin Abbring were escorted to the champion of the class. For his part, Denis Radström is the first leader in the Junior WRC after passing by a tenth of his compatriot Emil Bergkvist. Third is the Estonian Ken Torn.
Classification after SS1 the 66th Rally of Sweden
| Pos. | Pilot | Vehicle | Time / Dif. |
| 1 | Ott Tanak | Toyota Yaris WRC | 1:32.7 |
| 2nd | Jari-Matti Latvala | Toyota Yaris WRC | +0.3 |
| 3rd | Mads Ostberg | Citroen C3 WRC | +0.6 |
| 4th | Kris Meeke | Citroen C3 WRC | +0.9 |
| 5th | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai i20 WRC Coupe | +0.9 |
| 6th | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai i20 WRC Coupe | +1.0 |
| 7th | Hayden Paddon | Hyundai i20 WRC Coupe | +2.1 |
| 8th | Esapekka Lappi | Toyota Yaris WRC | +2.2 |
| 9th | Sébastien Ogier | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +2.5 |
| 10th | Craig Breen | Citroen C3 WRC | +2.9 |
The Rally of Sweden continues this Friday in the morning (07:55h) with the dispute of the first stage. The riders will face a total of seven sections divided into two loops. In total, will be played 140,1 kilometers against the clock.
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