At the end of the afternoon loop of the first day, Thierry Neuville is leading now Rally Sweden with Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans following him.
Thierry Neuville is in the top of the overall classification as he set the fastest time in Stage 6.
Kalle Rovanpera is in second position and lost the lead of Rally Sweden at the end of Stage 5. His stage win in SS5 put him in the chase for the lead and his gap from Neuville is at 4,3 seconds.
Elfyn Evans completes the top three and dropped two places at the end of Stage 7 due to the lack of grip. He was the fastest driver in Stage 5 while the rear bumper of his GR Yaris was missing in Stage 5.
Esapekka Lappi completes the 2-3-4 of Toyota and he reported at the end of Stage 7 that he faced some problems with the tyre wear.
Oliver Solberg completes the top five and dropped 14,3 seconds in Stage 6 due to wrong tyres. However, he was lucky as he almost ended up in a snow bank after the flying finish in Stage 4.
Takamoto Katsuta claimed one place after Tanak's problem and he is now in sixth position overall. He dropped 30 seconds in Stage 4 as he lost the line and was stuck in a ditch.
Adrien Fourmaux is seventh overall and he did not face any problem in this loop.
Gus Greensmith completes the 7-8 of M-Sport Ford and he was not happy at all with his Puma. The M-Sport mechanics had to change the gearbox on the service as Greensmith reported some problem with it in the morning. In stage 5, the rear window on co-driver's side was missing while he got caught out on a left-hander and escaped getting stuck on snow.
Ott Tanak was forced to retire at the end of Stage 5 as he said to the journalists that he lost the hybrid power in the last ten kilometers of SS5. He was in second position overall at the end of Stage 5 and was fighting with Evans for the lead of Rally Sweden. Moreover, he was the fastest driver in Stage 5. His forced retirement was due to the fact that the issue woth the hybrid kit triggered the red light and, according to FIA regulations, the driver must retire for safety precautions.
Craig Breen's car arrived at the Service Park and the M-Sport mechanics are trying to remove the snow from the engine.
Watch below the stage times:
Watch the overall classification after SS7:
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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