2024-02-16 18:56:15
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HIGHLIGHTS
Before a well-deserved rest this evening, the last five kilometers of this stage appeared like a formality following a pair of very demanding special stages.
And in this time, Esapekka Lappi was once once more the fastest, signing a new scratch to increase his lead to 3s2 over Takamoto Katsuta in the general. Behind them, the gaps are enormous and we find a surprising Oliver Solberg in third place in the scratch. The Swede is slightly ahead of Adrien Fourmaux, also unexpectedly 4th overall.
After having opened for almost half of this day, Elfyn Evans nevertheless remains in contention for the podium, almost a minute ahead of Thierry Neuville.
In WRC2, Oliver Solberg is very dominant despite the good performances of the Estonian Georg Linnamäe, best Toyota driver ahead of a disappointing Sami Pajari. There are four Yaris Rally2s in the top 5, including three Finnish drivers.
Tomorrow, Ott Tänak should open the road (his return has not yet been made official), ahead of Kalle Rovanperä and Grégoire Munster.
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PILOT REACTIONS
E.Evans
3:32.4“The grip was really very, very weak, it was very different from last night. It will be the same story as this followingnoon, it will be better following each car, but that’s how it is.”T. Neuville
3:29.5“I just tried to finish this day and on a good note. It was a good stage and now I’m looking forward to tomorrow for a different day. I hope we won’t have any problems and can have more fun.”A.Fourmaux
3:30.6“I expected better conditions in this special. The grip was quite weak and I missed two intersections.”T.Katsuta
3:28.7“Of course I tried to attack, but a little too much. I made mistakes and missed some intersections. There are still two days to go. Let’s focus on tomorrow now. I’m going to attack.”G.Munster
3:37.3“There was no grip at all. At the first intersection, I pulled straight ahead. I pulled the handbrake and lost a lot of time. It wasn’t really effective! It was a crazy day and I’m glad to be over it. The weather guys told me it was like flying in Star Wars. I’ve never seen this movie, but now I know.”E. Lapland
3:27.3“Of course we had to regain confidence today and stay focused for the rest of the rally. I wasn’t too slow once morest Kalle at the start so I’m quite happy with that and in the followingnoon we used our road position as we should with a nice advantage.”L.Bertelli
3:35.5“I came to have beautiful snow, good weather and compact snow. Ultimately, it looks more like a Monte Carlo. I tried to manage to get through this whole day. Tomorrow I will try to attack more.”N.Gryazin“The road was cleaned, so it was not a disaster like in the other stages. There were still some slippery spots because of the snow that continued to fall. The car took the jump very well, I think it’s the best car for jumping!”O.Solberg“It’s pretty cool. It wasn’t really a clean stage but I still attacked. Third place in a WRC2 car is incredible, and here at my home rally there is such a spectacular atmosphere. It’s a bit of a dream and I’m very happy, but the main goal is WRC2 and we’re leading with a nice lead, so I’m very happy with this day.”S.Pajari“I lost bits of the car in almost all the special stages.”
NEXT SPECIAL : ES9- Vännäs 1 (15.65 km) à partir de 07h45 (Saturday 17 February 2024)
Classification SS8 / After SS8 (5.16 km)
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#Classification #ES8 #Rally #Sweden
