WRC – Rovanperä seals the third WRC victory in his career in Rally Sweden
2022 Rally Sweden – Sunday report
Kalle Rovanperä secured an emphatic victory in Rally Sweden on Sunday afternoon – 21 years after father Harri took his only victory in the FIA World Rally Championship at the event.
The Finn, navigated by Jonne Halttunen, made his third career success with 22.0 seconds after Toyota GR Yaris teammate Elfyn Evans crashed into a snow bank last morning. Rovanperä leads the series with 14 points after round two of 13.
Rovanperä was only four months old when his father triumphed at the WRC’s only clean winter match in 2001 in a Peugeot 206 World Rally Car.
Five different drivers led during a fast and furious opening day near Umeå in the northernmost rally Sweden ever. Rovanperä regained the initiative early in the second leg, but Evans remained warm on his heels before his premature exit.
“I did not think we could be this good, especially when we first started on the road on Friday,” enthused Rovanperä. “It was a pretty big job but the team did a great job too and the car was great all the time. I feel so much more confident now.”
“I did not feel like celebrating too much now. It has been a really difficult weekend for the people of Ukraine and I really hope they have the strength and hope in these difficult times, he added.
Following Rovanperä’s thoughts, the closing podium ceremony began in central Umeå with an invitation to the audience to pause for a short period of solidarity with the people of Ukraine in these difficult times and to stand for global peace.
Evans struggled to overcome a 10-second penalty that was handed down late Saturday night when he drove into a snowdrift in Sunday’s opening speed test. The Welshman tried to make repairs but the front of his car was damaged too much to continue.
After a disappointing opening round last month, second place for Thierry Neuville gave a quick boost to Hyundai Motorsport. The Belgian survived a couple of brushes with the snowdrifts in his i20 N and he kept a chasing Esapekka Lappi at a distance.
Lappi, back in the Toyota Gazoo Racing lineup after a three-year absence, eventually finished 8.6 seconds behind Neuville to promote the Japanese brand to the top spot in the manufacturers’ championship, 24 points ahead of M-Sport Ford.
Takamoto Katsuta made it to three GR Yaris cars in the top four, another 1 min 48.8 sec after. Gus Greensmith overcame a difficult opening leg, when a trip in the snow and problems with the gearbox delayed him, and finished fifth in a Ford Puma.
Oliver Solberg was in the middle of the top battle on the opening day, but gas problems on his i20 N cost time on Saturday and he dropped to six.
FIA WRC2 winner Andreas Mikkelsen was seventh in a Toksport-registered Škoda Fabia Evo ahead of other support category drivers Ole Christian Veiby, at the wheel of a Volkswagen Polo GTI, Jari Huttunen (M-Sport Ford Fiesta Mk II) and Egon Kaur, in another Polo .
It was a glittering battle between the two Norwegian friends as they changed times from start to finish.
Veiby set the initial pace and built a small lead until Friday but handed over the position to Mikkelsen after losing around 20 seconds with a stable on SS7.
The Toksport driver took out a small buffer on Saturday afternoon and carried a lead of 10.9 seconds into the last day, but Veiby more than halved that deficit on Sunday’s initial stage pair.
Just as the scrap hit the height of the fever, Veiby’s comeback fell to pieces when he spun his Volkswagen Polo GTI on Vindeln 2.
The accident cost 17.3 seconds, which made it possible for Mikkelsen to cross the Wolf Power Stage and win his second straight win after Rally Monte-Carlo and seventh overall. The difference at the finish was 23.2 sec.
In the FIA Junior WRC class, Jon Armstrong’s campaign started strongly when he fended off Lauri Joona to take the victory on Sunday.
The pursuit of honor at the championship opening quickly became a two-horse race when early leaders Sami Pajari and Robert Virves retired on Friday.
Joona took up the mantle to lead the M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 field after the opening day, but Armstrong took the lead in Saturday’s Brattby speed test. The pair switched positions three times during day two, but it was Armstrong who had an advantage of 3.5 seconds on the way into the final stretch.
A charge early in the morning brought Joona back to first place, but he was relegated once again on the penultimate blow.
A stage win at Sarsjöliden confirmed Armstrong’s victory by just 2.7 seconds at the end of one of the closest battles in Junior WRC history.
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy star William Creighton finished 2 min 19.8 seconds behind Joona to take his first Junior WRC podium ever, while the East African hotshot Mcrae Kimathi finished fourth.
After Friday’s disappointment, defending champion Pajari made several stage victories to finish 49 minutes 28.4 seconds behind the winner, while Virves completed the scoreboard another 11 minutes 05.9 seconds behind.
The series pauses for a break at the beginning of the season before returning to the Croatia Rally on April 21-24. The asphalt event is based in the capital Zagreb.
The final unofficial results can be consulted here.