Tänak wins the opening stage of Rally Sweden – DirtFish
“This was a big shock, the road is broken and a lot of snow so it was hard work,” commented Tänak.
Only Tänak managed to trap Rovanperä, but his Hyundai teammate Oliver Solberg – the last Rally1 car on the road – was only one second smaller than the race leader.
“I did not do a good stage, I had many problems with the change,” said Solberg, who competed at his home event in a top car for the first time.
“I thought I lost a lot of time but I pushed really hard in other places. It will be a straight race.”
Neuville made it a Hyundai 1-2-4, 1.8s behind Tänak and 0.1s ahead of Toyota’s returnee Esapekka Lappi.
“Tricky, really tricky!” in Lappi. – The road just digs so much that you have no idea that you have the grip and it feels like from the beginning that the lines are completely in the wrong places. Entering the corner is almost always a meter late – it’s challenging! ”
Good time from @ElfynEvans through the initial stages of the rally, but will this rear left injury cause him any problems through the ultra-fast SS2? pic.twitter.com/JxiCD1XuY4
– DirtFish (@DirtFishRally) February 25, 2022
Elfyn Evans started sixth on the road and ends up as a somewhat subdued sixth overall after the first stage, but still steady in the hunt with only 3.9s at a disadvantage.
His Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 was missing a significant part of his rear left body when he reached the end of the stage, but that was a minor problem.
“Very difficult with the lines, they are a bit everywhere, the snow is very thick so it is a bit messy in there,” he said.
Breens Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid is seventh, 1.3s up on Takamoto Katsuta while his two teammates Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux are fighting to even be in the top ten.
Greensmith unlocked and exceeded a square-right cross but still beat Fourmaux with 1.9 s. The M-Sport duo is behind the leader with 21.2s and 23.1s respectively in 10th and 12th place.
“I just braked in and could not get the car to stop, but it tried to stop so I tried to keep my foot on the clutch to stop it,” Greensmith said.