At the end of Friday morning, Takamoto Katsuta is the new rally leader in Sweden with Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans following him.
Takamoto Katsuta grabbed the lead of Rally Sweden at the end of Stage 4 and was the fastest driver in SS4 as he took advantage over Kalle Rovanpera's retirement on the final stage of the morning.
Esapekka Lappi is now second overall and is the top Hyundai driver despite the fact that he still does not feel comfortable with the braking points. He was the fastest driver in SS3 while he slowed down his pace in SS2 when he touched heavily a snowbank.
Elfyn Evans does the 1-3 for Toyota and was very lucky in Stage 3 as he lost the rear of his Yaris resulting in having a full 360-degree spin. In addition to that, he dropped from third to fifth after SS2 as Tanak and Lappi moved ahead of him on the classification.
Adrien Fourmaux is 5,4 seconds behind Evans and had a close call with Tanak in SS4 as he had to pass the i20N in the stage.
Thierry Neuville gained two places and is now fifth, but he was not able to match the pace of his rivals as he started first on the road and had zero visibility.
Gregoire Munster dropped outside the top ten as he lost four minutes on the final morning stage due to a rear puncture.
Kalle Rovanpera was ahead of Katsuta for 5,7 seconds at the end of Stage 3 and set the fastest time in Stage 2, but he had to stop on an access road in SS4 as some reports suggested that the Finn was driving slowly with damage to the rear of his Yaris.
Ott Tanak was in third place after the end of Stage 3 and was behind Katsuta for 0,4 seconds after SS2, but he was forced to stop 18.5 Km into SS4 as he spun and came-together with a snowbank. After his moment, the engine of his i20N was overheating and he may stop due to a problem with the cooling system as the radiator was covered with snow.
Watch below the stage times:
Watch below the overall classification after SS4:
Photo Credits: Toyota
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