Just one stage lies between Elfyn Evans and a second career World Rally Championship victory as he heads Ott Tänak and Toyota team-mate on Sébastien Ogier on Rally Sweden.
Evans led Tänak by 8.5s after Friday, and on Saturday’s exact repeat itinerary he got his head down and won three of the four stages to establish a 17.2s buffer ahead of Sunday’s powerstage.
The short, all-gravel Torsby Spint stage was won by Thierry Neuville, but otherwise it was the perfect day for Evans – who could make history on Sunday to become the first British driver ever to win Rally Sweden.
Tänak dropped another 0.3s to Evans on Torsby Spint but looks comfortable in second with an 11.6s advantage over third-placed Ogier. The reigning champion remains on course to score his first world championship points for Hyundai.
Kalle Rovanperä avoided repeating the mistake on the first corner on Torsby Sprint where he stalled his Yaris WRC and lost six seconds on Friday.
But he still lost ground and slipped back behind his team-mate Ogier by 0.5s, having usurped him on the previous Nyckelvattnet test. It remains to be seen if Rovanperä will be allowed to hunt Ogier down on Sunday’s solitary stage.
Esapekka Lappi gave up 0.4s to Thierry Neuville on Torsby Spint but his buffer in fifth place remains strong at 4.5s.
Neuville had made significant advances on Lappi and tested his resolve on Saturday morning, before Lappi hit back to keep the Hyundai at arm’s length in his M-Sport Fiesta. Lappi is also only 5.9s behind Ogier’s fourth-placed Toyota.
Craig Breen is seventh for Hyundai behind team-mate Neuville on his first WRC outing since Wales Rally GB last year. He is 10.5s behind the championship leader but is unlikely to make any inroads on Sunday’s powerstage given the pair’s respective positions within the team.
Both Teemu Suninen and Takamoto Katsuta had anonymous Saturdays, negotiating all four of the stages without drama to lie in eighth and ninth respectively. Suninen’s Fiesta heads Katsuta’s Yaris by 22.6s.
Jari Huttunen is 10th overall and leads WRC2 in his Hyundai i20 R5.
Emil Lindholm had held that position for half of Saturday’s stages but lost the lead on the final forest test, trailing by 1.7s.
Huttunen then doubled his advantage on Torsby Sprint to head Lindholm by 3.4s ahead of Sunday’s finale.
WRC2 leader Mads Ostberg is 12th overall but could still finish as the top R5 driver.
He is 5.9s adrift of Huttunen with a comfortable 15s cushion over Hyundai’s Ole Christian Veiby, who momentarily slipped into a ditch on Saturday’s final stage.
Leading positions after Saturday
1 Evans (Toyota)
2 Tänak (Hyundai) +17.2s
3 Ogier (Toyota) +28.8s
4 Rovanperä (Toyota) +29.3s
5 Lappi (M-Sport Ford) +34.7s
6 Neuville (Hyundai) +39.2s
7 Breen (Hyundai) +49.7s
8 Suninen (M-Sport Ford) +1m14.8s
9 Katsuta (Toyota) +1m37.4s
10 Huttunen (Hyundai) +3m39.1s
