World Rally Championship points leader Oliver Solberg kicked off Rally Sweden in fine style by winning the opening stage to grab an early lead on Thursday night.
The Monte Carlo winner, spurred on by his home crowd, kicked off the championship's only dedicated snow rally by setting the benchmark in the 10.23km Umea super special stage.
Solberg, starting first on the road, seemingly faced the best of the snowy and icy conditions to beat Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by 3.8s as Toyota held the top four positions.
"The car was going left and right and going everywhere. There was nothing [no lines] to follow. It was really tricky but there was a lot of grip. First time with the car on this stage, it was not easy,” said Solberg.
Nearest rival Evans felt he was too conservative and didn’t make use of the grip that was available. The Welshman was, however, 0.6s quicker than Takamoto Katsuta and 1.2s faster than Sami Pajari, who locked out the top four positions, as the stage conditions deteriorated with every pass.
"Not so great. It was surprising, there was a lot of dust in many places. It was not perfect. This stage is always a bit special and I feel the proper rally starts tomorrow,” said Pajari.
Thierry Neuville emerged as the top Hyundai in fifth, some 6.7s slower than Solberg’s benchmark. The 2024 world champion continued to struggle for confidence behind the wheel of his i20 N Rally1 car.
"I was just following my feeling. I'm braking super, super early all the time, I just don't know if the car will stop or not. I have to take it steady in those situations,” said Neuville, who was 1.2s faster than Hyundai team-mate Adrien Fourmaux.
The third Hyundai driven by 2024 Rally Sweden winner Esapekka Lappi, making his return to the WRC this weekend, was seventh fastest – 9.1s adrift of Solberg.
"Let's see step by step what we can do. I hope we can pick up the pace little by little through the weekend. I think it is impossible to be on the pace immediately," said Lappi.
The top 10 was rounded out by M-Sport-Ford’s Josh McErlean, Martins Sesks and Rally1 privateer Lorenzo Bertelli. M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong was, however, fortunate to finish the stage after running into a snowbank, which cost the Northern Irishman 45.1s.
Rally Sweden continues on Friday with crews set to tackle seven stages.
