Sweden’s World Cup Rally ended in Estonia Ott Tänak too to the celebration when the M-Sport driver defeated the Hyundai by Craig Breen and by Thierry Neuville. In this story, we go through the most interesting topics of conversation in Sweden.
If you wish, you can also listen to Henri Haapamäki’s analyzes in audio format below!
1. Kalle Rovanperä could not drive for victory
Kalle Rovanperä had to fight against artificial opponents in addition to other drivers in Sweden.
Brattby, which was raced as the first stage of the morning and afternoon on Friday, was the biggest, insurmountable obstacle for Rovanperä’s dreams of victory.
Rovanperä had driven as the first car on Fridays since Sweden last year. There is nothing new in the role of plow driver in the World Rally Championship. The artificial leveling mechanism of the World Championship hindered the Finn as expected in the morning in Brattby, where there was more loose snow and fluff than in other sections of the Swedish rally.
However, one decision of the organizers of the Swedish rally multiplied the benefit of the handicapping system for others. On the already bad track, the competitors of the historic rally also drove between the World Championship competitors. Rovanperä was faced with a completely hopeless task.
– The results book tells it quite well, because the differences in other sections were not really that big. The roads were in shocking condition and there were even Rally2 cars ahead of Rovanperä, Urheilu’s expert Henri Haapamäki comment.
The Finn who clocked the most bottom times in the rally lost the lead by a total of more than half a minute with these two moves. In the end, the difference to the winner was 25.1 seconds.
Haapamäki reminds that, for example, in the Kuopio SM Rally, the Rally2 cars were twenty seconds behind the Rally1 cars in the same length of sections Esapekka from Lapland and Takamoto from Katsuta.
– Yes, it tells about the circumstances, because Rovanperä had no real mistakes. Before, we had just driven different cars and the ruts were absolutely full of snow and ice. The road was a jumbled mess, where the first driver was faced with an absolutely shocking plowing.
Haapamäki sees that the organizers’ decision certainly partially watered down Rovanperä’s chances of the top places. According to the expert, it would have been wiser not to drive the entire section.
– Such decisions have been made in rallies before, if the conditions are too bad or there are other problems regarding the special test.
– I don’t mean that you should always dodge when there is a rock, but if due to some other issue the conditions are not suitable for all the competitors. Now it was quite clear that the ruts are full of snow.
2. Will Toyota crash into Elfyn Evans?
When Rovanperä has to struggle as a ploughman, he has to get help from other drivers in order to drive Toyota’s brand championship in the future as well.
Esapekka Lap’s move to Hyundai seems to have hit Toyota even worse than expected. Races where Sebastien Ogier don’t drive a Toyota, are really challenging for the team.
The reason is not only Takamoto Katsuta, who drove from the team points for the first time in Sweden. The Japanese had to try to finish well in the race, which for him is one of the strongest of the season. At that time, mistakes can happen, as Katsuta also fell into on special test five on Friday – after driving just before the cutoff before the bottom time.
Instead Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota has reason to worry by Elfyn Evans regarding. The second drivers had great difficulty driving at the level demanded by the top drivers. The driving error was ultimately a natural consequence of this.
– At the moment, he doesn’t have anything to do with the sharpest point, other than by absolutely terrible over-attempting. His situation is not very good at the moment.
– If Tänak got free in this rally, then Evans goes deeper and deeper all the time, when he just doesn’t get successes.
Unfortunately, the Welshman is still not up to speed with the new Rally1 cars. The two-time World Cup silver medalist has been able to win the previous World Cup rally in the fall of 2021. It is precisely victories that Evans has been hired to drive for Toyota.
– Evans has been overshadowed, but is actually a really fast driver. Now we need proof from him that he really has the know-how and drive.
3. Hyundai showed its striking ability despite Lapland’s misfortune
The Swedish rally showed that Hyundai will be a thorn in Toyota’s side in the new season. Craig Breen was able to drive to victory right away in his comeback race.
Esapekka Lappi was not quite able to match the speed of the Irishman, but in the struggle against Toyota’s second driver, i.e. Evans, Lappi was on a completely different level. Despite minor mistakes, he was able to drive at the top pace.
– He was very fast throughout the rally. These unfortunate tire issues ruined his race, Haapamäki said.
The tires of the tire manufacturer Pirelli also messed up the battle for victory in the rally. Pirelli explained that the drivers would have driven with too low tire pressures. Haapamäki does not buy this explanation.
– Yes, it is completely incomprehensible that the tires did not last. The sides of the world and on frozen gravel have been driven with low pressure. It’s certainly not about that.
Haapamäki states that the new hybrid model cars are heavier and more efficient than before. However, he emphasizes that pieces cannot come off the tires of million-euro cars in the middle of the race.
– This is a security issue. If you drive 180 through a gentle bend in the glass and suddenly the surface comes off the tire, a truly fatal spinout can occur. The car can drift into the audience or the tire surface can fly into the audience. Anything can happen, says Haapamäki.
Many drivers suffered from tire problems, including Tänak. However, the Estonian survived with a scare and took the World Rally Championship victory with his driving skills, even though he only drove one bottom time.
Tänak leads the World Series for the first time since his championship season in 2019.
– This was a very important victory for Tänak, if you think about the pressures placed on him. It has been said that he has been bought to drive for Ford with a lot of money and now he showed that he can do well at Ford.
– He was by no means the fastest driver in the competition. Others had more problems and made bigger mistakes.