The 2018 Rally Sweden (formally known as the Rally Sweden 2018) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 15 and 18 February 2018. It marked the sixty-sixth running of Rally Sweden, and was the second round of the 2018 World Rally Championship and its support categories, the WRC-2 and WRC-3 championships. It was also the first round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The event, which was based in the town of Torsby in Värmland County, was contested over nineteen special stages totalling a competitive distance of .
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were the defending rally winners. Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were the rally winners. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. The Belgian also became only the third non-Nordic driver to win the event after the nine-time world champion, Sébastien Loeb, and the defending world champion, Sébastien Ogier. The Tommi Mäkinen Racing crew of Takamoto Katsuta and Marko Salminen won the World Rally Championship-2 category in a Ford Fiesta R5, while Swedish crew Denis Rådström and Johan Johansson won the World Rally Championship-3 and Junior World Rally Championship.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia entered the round with an eight-point lead in the World Championships for Drivers and Co-drivers. In the World Championship for Manufacturers, M-Sport Ford WRT and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a fifteen-point lead over Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT.
Entry list The following crews were entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3 and Junior World Rally Championships. The final entry list consisted of fourteen World Rally Car entries, fifteen in the World Rally Championship-2, and fifteen entries in the World Rally Championship-3, twelve of which were eligible to score points in the Junior World Rally Championship.
No. Entrant Driver Co-Driver Car Tyre World Rally Car entries 1 M-Sport Ford WRT Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 2 M-Sport Ford WRT Elfyn Evans Daniel Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC 3 M-Sport Ford WRT Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula Ford Fiesta WRC 4 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 5 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC 10 Kris Meeke Paul Nagle Citroën C3 WRC 11 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Craig Breen Scott Martin Citroën C3 WRC 12 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen 14 Henning Solberg Henning Solberg Cato Menkerud Ford Fiesta WRC 21 Yazeed Racing Yazeed Al Rajhi Michael Orr Ford Fiesta RS WRC World Rally Championship-2 entries 31 Škoda Motorsport Pontus Tidemand Jonas Andersson Škoda Fabia R5 32 Škoda Motorsport Ole Christian Veiby Škoda Fabia R5 33 Printsport Łukasz Pieniążek Przemysław Mazur Škoda Fabia R5 34 Hyundai Motorsport Jari Huttunen Antti Linnaketo Hyundai i20 R5 35 Tommi Mäkinen Racing Hiroki Arai Glenn MacNeall Ford Fiesta R5 36 Tommi Mäkinen Racing Takamoto Katsuta Marko Salminen Ford Fiesta R5 38 S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl Umberto Scandola Andrea Gaspari Škoda Fabia R5 39 TAIF Motorsport Radik Shaymiev Maxim Tsvetkov Ford Fiesta R5 40 Kevin Abbring Kevin Abbring Pieter Tsjoen Ford Fiesta R5 41 Fredrik Åhlin Fredrik Åhlin Joakim Sjöberg Škoda Fabia R5 42 Mattias Adielsson Mattias Adielsson Andreas Johansson Škoda Fabia R5 43 Toksport World Rally Team Janne Tuohino Reeta Hämäläinen Škoda Fabia R5 44 Lars Stugemo Lars Stugemo Kalle Lexe Škoda Fabia R5 45 Toksport World Rally Team Jarmo Berg Rami Suorsa Škoda Fabia R5 46 Gianluca Linari Gianluca Linari Nicola Arena Ford Fiesta R5 World Rally Championship-3 entries 61 Ola Fløene 62 63 65 Kuldar Sikk 66 Jürgen Heigl 67 Keith Moriarty 68 Jason Farmer 69 Romain Courbon 70 Manuel Fenoli 71 72 Phil Hall 73 74 Danilo Fappani 75 Pavlo Cherepin 76 Taisko Lario Taisko Lario Peugeot 208 R2 Other major entries 81 Tommi Mäkinen Racing Jarkko Nikara Sayaka Adachi Ford Fiesta R5 83 Nil Solans Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez Sotos Ford Fiesta R5 102 Kristoffersson Motorsport Johan Kristoffersson Patrik BarthŠkoda Fabia R5 Source:
Notes — Driver is eligible to score points in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship.
Route
Itenerary Date No. Stage name Distance 15 February 08:00 — Skalla [Shakedown] 6.86 km Leg 1 — 142.00 km 15 February 20:08 SS1 SSS Karlstad 1 1.90 km 16 February 06:00 Service A – Torsby — 07:55 SS2 Hof-Finnskog 1 21.26 km 09:07 SS3 Svullrya 1 24.88 km 09:54 SS4 Röjden 1 19.13 km 11:31 Service B – Torsby — 13:41 SS5 Hof-Finnskog 2 21.26 km 15:03 SS6 Svullrya 2 24.88 km 15:50 SS7 Röjden 2 19.13 km 16:56 SS8 Torsby 1 9.56 km 17:31 Flexi Service C – Torsby — Leg 2 — 120.31 km 17 February 07:05 Service D – Torsby — 07:54 SS9 Torntorp 1 19.88 km 09:12 SS10 Hagfors 1 23.40 km 10:09 SS11 Vargåsen 1 14.21 km 11:40 Service E – Torsby — 12:41 SS12 Torntorp 2 19.88 km 14:12 SS13 Hagfors 2 23.40 km 15:08 SS14 Vargåsen 2 14.21 km 17:41 SS15 SSS Karlstad 2 1.90 km 19:26 SS16 Torsby Sprint 3.43 km 19:56 Flexi Service F – Torsby — Leg 3 — 51.94 km 18 February 06:30 Service G – Torsby — 07:50 SS17 Likenäs 1 21.19 km 09:51 SS18 Likenäs 2 21.19 km 12:18 SS19 Torsby 2 [Power Stage] 9.56 km Source:
Report Thursday Ott Tänak drove a Yaris, defeated Thierry Neuville in their head-to-head heat on snow roads and stopped the clocks 0.3 second faster than Latvala, who beat Mads Østberg in their battle by 0.3 second. The Norwegian was impressive on his Citroën C3 debut to hold third as competitors headed north to Torsby for an overnight halt. Kris Meeke, driving another C3, and Hyundai i20 pilot Andreas Mikkelsen were tied in fourth, a further 0.3 second behind, while Neuville completed the top six. Toyota's Esapekka Lappi and championship leader Sébastien Ogier lost time after running wide on the same corner near the finish. They were eighth and ninth respectively but just 2.9 seconds off the pace.
Friday The early starters lost time ploughing a clean route through fresh snow. Championship leader Sébastien Ogier was the first on the road. He was struggle with the grip all day and conceded almost three minutes en route to twelfth. So were Ott Tänak and Jari-Matti Latvala. The Toyota teammates separated by eighth and ninth. Craig Breen was third on the board, and the Irishman was delighted with his form with two afternoon stages wins. Teammate Mads Østberg was 0.5 second further back. Lying sixth after last night's curtain-raising speed test, Thierry Neuville moved his i20 to the front on this morning's second stage and held off a chasing pack which had the advantage of better conditions. Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, who started further behind, had a trouble-free day while Hayden Paddon running out of the top three to make Hyundai 1-2-3.
Saturday
Thierry Neuville was the rally leader, but the gap between him and his main opponent was not big enough, especially for the Citroën driver, Craig Breen, who was eager to claim his first WRC victory. The Irish driver have once narrowed the gap to less than five seconds. However, the Hyundai star set four fastest stage times to build a 22.7-second lead, though he suffered a paddle shift gearchange system issue at the opening stage. Teammate Andreas Mikkelsen finished third after a spin today which made him dropped from second to fourth place, 9.3 seconds behind Breen. Hayden Paddon's car set-up was unsuited to this morning's forest roads. The New Zealander stuck on the inside of a hairpin in the final stage, which made him lost some time. He ended the day 16.6 seconds behind Mikkelsen. Mads Østberg changed his C3's settings to improve his car's balance but the switches affected his confidence and he reversed the adjustments. There was also an accident in SS13. Kris Meeke nosed into a snow bank but lost engine power when he regained the road. He stopped to clean snow from his Citroën's cooling system and as Ott Tänak tried to overtake in a narrow section, the two cars collided and the Estonian's Toyota Yaris bounced into a ditch. That ended with the Briton's retirement and made five-time world champion Sébastien Ogier finally get into the top ten.
Sunday With a comfortable lead, Thierry Neuville finally eased through Sunday's final three speed tests to head Ireland's Craig Breen, driving a Citroën C3, for whom second was a career-best result. Andreas Mikkelsen finished third after a spun at exactly the same point as Neuville. Esapekka Lappi fought back and gained two places in the final three stages to finish fourth, 17.5 seconds adrift of Mikkelsen, after he plunged down the order after burying his Toyota Yaris in a snow bank. A final stage mistake from Hayden Paddon cost him a place. The Kiwi stalled his i20 a couple of kilometres from the finish and trailed the Finn by 8.6 seconds. After only a day's pre-event testing, Mads Østberg was sixth on his debut drive in a C3. Jari-Matti Latvala finished seventh after being delayed by a troublesome front differential and adverse road conditions. Fellow Finn Teemu Suninen was eighth in a Ford Fiesta, the highest place among M-Sport World Rally Team drivers. Ott Tänak and Monte-Carlo winner Sébastien Ogier dropped lot of time in Friday's opening leg as they ploughed a path through deep snow. They were unable to regain lost ground and finished ninth and tenth respectively.
Results World Rally Championship Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Class Stage 1 1 5 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:52:13.1 0.0 25 2 2 2 11 Craig Breen Scott Martin Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën C3 WRC 2:52:32.9 +19.8 18 0 3 3 4 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Synnevaag Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:52:41.4 +28.3 15 3 4 4 9 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:52:58.9 +45.8 12 5 5 5 6 Hayden Paddon Sebastian Marshall Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:53:07.5 +54.4 10 0 6 6 12 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën C3 WRC 2:53:28.4 +1:15.3 8 0 7 7 7 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:54:18.0 +2:04.9 6 0 8 8 3 Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 2:55:05.3 +2:52.2 4 0 9 98 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:55:57.5 +3:44.4 2 1 10 10 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:00:58.5 +8:45.4 1 4 14 11 2 Elfyn Evans Daniel Barritt M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:02:00.5 +9:47.4 0 0 19 12 14 Henning Solberg Cato Menkerud Henning Solberg Ford Fiesta WRC 3:08:51.6 +16:38.5 0 0 Retired SS19 10 Kris Meeke Paul Nagle Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën C3 WRC Withdrawn 0 0 Retired SS19 21 Yazeed Al Rajhi Michael Orr Yazeed Racing Ford Fiesta RS WRC Withdrawn 0 0 Source:
Special stages