Rovanpera back on top as Gill shines on debut
Kalle Rovanpera is immediately the man to beat upon return to the FIA World Rally Championship, while two Aussies had their first taste of the Swedish snow.
World champion Rovanpera kicked off his part-time 2024 WRC campaign on a stunning note by going 1.4s faster than Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans in a Toyota one-two-three.
Ott Tanak was the leading Hyundai having edged out Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, while Rallye Monte Carlo winner Thierry Neuville could only manage sixth.
The 5.16km Umea Sprint was the first of 18 snow stages that lie ahead in Sweden and Rovanpera was happy to perform in the “icy” conditions.
“It is always okay when the time is on that side of the clock,” the Finn said.
“This is always tricky as it is icy, so it is tough to find the grip.”
But the Aussie focus will be further down the leaderboard with two teams driving on the big stage for the first time.
Young gun Taylor Gill and co-driver Daniel Brkic are making their Junior World Rally Championship debut in Sweden.
Gill, who won the Rally Star title last year arrived with plenty of hype and has delivered by being the second fastest JWRC car in his debut stage.
His 3:41.9 time was just 2.3s slower than leader Raul Hernandez, who has a full year of JWRC already under his belt.
To make the feat even more impressive it was Gill’s first ever stage in the snow.
They are not the only Aussies making their WRC event debut with the more experienced Peter Rullo and Ben Searcy also on show.
They were steering a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and kept out of trouble to be 44th overall out of 56 cars with a 3:54.3.
The 70th Rally Sweden continues with seven stages on Friday.
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