At the end of Friday afternoon, Takamoto Katsuta becomes the new rally leader in Sweden with Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari following him.
Takamoto Katsuta takes the lead from Elfyn Evans at the end of Stage 7 by setting the fastest time on the first two stages of Friday afternoon. Their gap was at 0,1 seconds at the end of Stage 7, but Katsuta managed to increase his lead to 2,8 seconds at the end of Stage 8.
Elfyn Evans drops behind his teammate as he lost his momentum in Stage 7 due to a half spin.
Sami Pajari still holds the third place of Rally Sweden and kept Esapekka Lappi behind for 23,7 seconds.
Adrien Fourmaux stole the fifth place from Oliver Solberg at the end of Stage 5 and their gap is at 0,7 seconds in favor of the first one.
However, Solberg was the fastest driver in Stage 8 and managed to decrease his gap from Fourmaux to 0,7 seconds.
Thierry Neuville is still seventh overall and claimed the first stage win for Hyundai in SS7.
Jon Armstrong managed to hold his eighth position over his teammate Josh McErlean as the first one got a front left puncture in Stage 7. Moreover, Armstrong faced intercom issues in Stage 5.
McErlean was the fastest driver on the first split of Stage 7 showing an encouraging pace for M-Sport Ford. However, he forgot to remove the radiator cover and ran on road mode in Stage 8.
Martins Sesks was forced to retire at the service park due to the punctures he faced on Friday morning.
Watch below the stage times:
Watch below the overall classification after Stage 8:
Photo Credits: Toyota
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