Good fight in Sweden with Hayden Paddon, in the end third after Mikko Heikkila. Mathieu Franceschi goes off the road in the last race, Mabellini is ninth ahead of Tempestini.
Oliver Solberg repeats last year’s success in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, round of the European Rally, after a heated battle. The 22-year-old Swede started the second day of competition with a lead of just 3.3 seconds over Hayden Paddon but immediately went on the attack. At the wheel of his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 he was the fastest in all four special stages of the morning, arriving at the Karlstad service park in the lead with a 13.7 lead. The Swede continued to push through the afternoon, adding four more test wins to his tally – including the final Power Stage – to win by 38 seconds after Paddon was slowed down by a tire problem which dropped him to third. place.
“Yesterday I wasn’t satisfied but today the feeling is better, the car adapts better to these roads and I found confidence”, Solberg said upon arrival, navigated by Britain’s Elliott Edmondson. For reigning ERC champion Paddon, third place marks his first podium of the season. And with Mathieu Franceschi crashing out on the Power Stage, the New Zealander in the BRC Racing Team’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 is now tied on 56 points with the Frenchman at the top of the standings. After retiring in Hungary in April, Mikko Heikkilä’s second place, Toyota Yaris GR Rally2, is well deserved, although an exhaust valve problem on SS15 and an exit into a junction in the final stage allowed Franceschi to come closer at 3″8. But when the Frenchman went out on SS17 (the last of the race), the Toyota Finn took second place.
A spin by Frank Tore Larsen on SS12 cost the Norwegian 18 seconds in the race in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, but he finished in 4th place ahead of Mads Østberg in the Citroën C3 Rally2, in crisis due to set-up and power problems . Mārtiņš Sesks in Toyota lost contact with the top five when his car stalled and he spun twice in quick succession near the finish line on SS10, losing 20 seconds and dropping from eighth to eighth place before move up to sixth place.
Isak Reiersen, a 20-year-old mechanic from Karlstad and last year’s Junior ERC winner, impressed with 7th place. Completing the top 10 were Miko Marczyk, Andrea Mabellini with Virgilia Lenzi and Simone Tempestini. Petter Solberg with the Polo R5 finished 15th and last in the points despite a problem with the steering column. In ERC3 and the Fiesta Rally3 Trophy, Filip Kohn scored a double after a battle with debutant Tristan Charpentier. In ERC4 and Junior ERC Mille Johansson encore after the withdrawal of leader Patrik Hallberg. Pesavento-Zanella, Nerobutto-Angeli and Zanin-De Guio, the three Italian crews with the Peugeot 208 Rally4 were forced to retire, Costenaro-Ometto sixteenth with the Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo.
