Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen have maintained first and second positions for the Korean manufacturer after this afternoon’s four stages of Rally Sweden.

Neuville remains focused on fighting for victory and is 4.9 seconds ahead of his Norwegian team-mate after 140.10 kilometres of competition in the Swedish and Norwegian forests. Hayden Paddon snuck into third position in the final stage of the day, snatching the position from Citroën’s Craig Breen by five-tenths of a second.

This afternoon the crews returned for a second run through the morning stages before coming back to Torsby for the first run of what will be the Power Stage on Sunday. Heading out, Neuville had 3.7 seconds in hand and has again capitalised on his road position, albeit aware his lines were probably also benefitting those behind.

Mikkelsen admitted to being able to notch the pace up a gear if necessary, having briefly lost his second position to Esapekka Lappi earlier. He and Neuville are separated by just a handful of seconds at the end of a long and snowy day with Paddon just 7.2 seconds behind Mikkelsen, two fastest times aiding his charge from fifth to third in the final stage.

Craig Breen is a mere half a second further adrift in fourth. The Irish driver climbed from fifth to third this afternoon with two fastest times, a mistake by Lappi and a lack of confidence from Ostberg.

He lost out to Paddon in the final stage having hit a bank and nearly going off the road. Ostberg dropped from fourth to fifth in the final stage but remains in a fight for the podium just 13.2 seconds off the overall lead and six-tenths of a second behind Breen.

He was a bit hesitant, lacking confidence, and needs to make more changes to the car this evening to get back to full competitive form. Teemu Suninen is bit further adrift in only his third outing in the Fiesta WRC and a disappointed Lappi is now down in seventh having held third going into the loop.

He ran wide into a snow bank and blocked the air filter on the Yaris WRC, leaving him down on power. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala had a bit of a push later this afternoon when he had a better feeling and the Finn is eighth overnight. After losing so much time with his disadvantageous road position this morning, Ott Tänak will be pleased to re-set overnight and hopefully regain some positions.

Kris Meeke rounds off the top 10, the Northern Irishman having a couple of big moments and then taking it a bit more cautiously. He is ahead of Elfyn Evans in 11th and Sébastien Ogier in 12th, the Frenchman sweeping the roads of loose snow and enduring the worst of the conditions all day.

The FIA WRC 2 Championship category is as close-fought as ever but Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta has been the class of the field. He has won three of the day’s stages to overnight with a four second lead over reigning FIA WRC 2 Champion Pontus Tidemand, who in turn is also in a close battle with Ole Christian Veiby.

The FIA Junior and WRC 3 Championships are being led by Emil Bergkvist, the Swede just 6.7 seconds ahead of fellow countryman Dennis Rådström. 

Rally Sweden – Provisional results after Section 3

Renault Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz described his appearance at the Monte Carlo Rally as "very special" after driving a VIP course car around the final stage on Sunday.

Following in the footsteps of his father Carlos Sainz Sr., who has won the prestigious event in the south of France on three occasions, the 23-year-old navigated his way around the snowy roads in the hills overlooking Monaco in a specially built Megane R.S. ahead of the competing cars in the first rally of 2018.

When successfully at the finish line, Sainz admitted, despite choosing the open-wheel path with his racing career, participating at a rally was very much one of his goals.

"That was very special," he said. "I have dreamt about doing this a lot of times in my life and now thanks to Renault it has come true. I have always wanted to do a rally with a co-driver, pace notes and a good pace and I loved it.

"The car was really good. It had different modes of driving that I was testing to get fully comfortable," he added.

"The steering was very accurate and the suspension was stiff for the twisty sections so I was really enjoying it a lot. It was a fantastic experience - quite slippery in places to give the full Monte Carlo experience!"

Well aware of the risks and challenges the Monte Carlo rally pose, Sainz revealed his father had warned him to be "careful", but after seeing his son behind the wheel, the recent Dakar winner was thrilled for Sainz Jr.

"I'm very happy that Carlos has experienced a taste of such a legendary rally," he commented.

"Monte Carlo was, and still is, a very special race for all motorsport fans. Carlos has driven rally cars before, but experiencing the roads of this particular event is different.

"I gave him a couple of tips, but the most important one was 'enjoy'."

Thierry Neuville heads a Hyundai one-two after four stages of Rally Sweden, the Belgian taking a 3.7 second advantage over team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen.

After a slow start, Esapekka Lappi has climbed to third for Toyota and the Finn is just 5.3 seconds off the overall lead.
 
Rally Sweden got underway last night with the traditional super special stage in Karlstad, but today the crews headed into the Swedish and Norwegian forests for 140 kilometres of competition over seven stages.

The predicted overnight snow fell and, for the early runners, they spent much of the morning ploughing the stages of loose snow for those behind.
 
Early leader from last night Ott Tänak maintained his advantage with another stage win on the day’s opener, but the Estonian then plummeted down the leaderboard, struggling running second on the road.

He was seventh at the mid-leg service, those behind him capitalising on their road positions. Neuville, running fifth, has the i20 Coupe WRC in the sweet spot and he won the second stage to overhaul Tänak.

Fastest time for Mikkelsen in the final stage of the loop also saw him climb from fourth to second, taking full advantage of running eighth on the road.

Lappi confessed to not having a great start this morning but got back in the rhythm in the second stage only to lose it again in the third after hitting something in the middle of the road and slowing fearing damage. 
 
WRC returnee Mads Ostberg is running well in the Citroën C3 WRC and the Norwegian is just 2.1 seconds behind Lappi despite struggling with braking and traction.

Craig Breen is fifth after a couple of scary moments and he heads last year’s winner, Jari-Matti Latvala. Behind the disappointed Tänak in seventh is Hayden Paddon, who makes his first outing with Hyundai this season.

Teemu Suninen, also in his  outing this season in the Fiesta WRC, is ninth with Kris Meeke rounding off the top 10 after starting a bit cautiously and hitting the same rock as Lappi.

Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier is struggling the most running first on the road and the Frenchman is just outside the top 10 but nearly 50 seconds adrift of the lead.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia notched up their fifth consecutive Rallye Monte-Carlo victory this afternoon, their sixth overall win on home soil..

The French reigning FIA World Rally Champions arrived back in the Principality 58.3 seconds ahead of Toyota newcomers Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja who finished a career-best on the event. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila rounded out the podium on what has been one of the trickiest and incident packed ‘Montes’ in years.

After the season-opener Ogier takes an eight point lead over former team-mate Tänak in the Drivers’ Championship with Latvala and Kris Meeke on equal points, one point further behind.

M-Sport Ford and Toyota are also on equal points at the head of the Manufacturers’ Championship, 15 points ahead of Citroën who are in turn four points ahead of Hyundai, the team having a disappointing start to their Championship campaign.

With just the final two stages to run, Ogier was able to control the pace and the Frenchman was also aware he didn’t have the optimum tyres to fight for victory in the Power Stage.

“It’s been a difficult weekend,” he said. “Often in Monte-Carlo you have to face hard conditions but this was extremely hard. I’ve never struggled so much with tyre choices, but in the end we win and I’m super happy with that. Every driver did mistakes this weekend; I did too – just a few less.”

Tänak was delighted with his performance on his debut outing with the Japanese manufacturer. Not prepared to risk his best finish in Monte-Carlo, the Estonian was relieved to start the season with a top result having had a really good feeling with the car and an almost faultless rally. Latvala was also cautious, determined to start the season on a high and kick start his campaign with important points. 

Behind the leading trio, drama unfolded in the closing two stages. Kris Meeke was able to hold off a charging Thierry Neuville, who won the pair of stages and ultimately came to within 10.7 seconds of overhauling the Briton. Both were set to finish fifth and seventh respectively, until Esapekka Lappi dropped time in the first stage with an off into a snow bank, and then crucially threw away fourth in the Power Stage when he went off the road and plummeted to seventh.

Both Meeke and Neuville moved up a position and, with the pace Neuville was setting, he also overhauled Elfyn Evans in the Power Stage to take fifth overall by one second. Bryan Bouffier also had an off-road excursion; he finished eighth with Craig Breen ninth for Citroën. 

Jan Kopecky claimed 10th overall and maximum points in the FIA WRC 2 Championship category, and Enrico Brazzoli won the FIA WRC 3 Championship for two-wheel drive cars.

The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now head to more snow in the Scandinavian forests for Rally Sweden (15-18 February).  

Rallye Monte-Carlo – Final Provisional Classification (subject to scrutineering)