Snow king Neuville wins Rally of Sweden
Belgian Thierry Neuville of Hyundai showed relentless focus to win the atypical "ice and snow" Rally of Sweden on Sunday having led the field since Friday. Ireland's Craig Breen in a Citroen was second at 19.8sec and Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen, also of Citroen, was third at 28.3sec while world champion Sebastien Ogier finished way down the rankings complaining of having to go first and clear the route in the snow. Ogier, who won the season-opener in Monte Carlo in January, finished 10th a massive 8min 45sec behind Neuville as his M-Sport Ford Focus failed to overcome having to "sweep" the deep drifts. Neuville took the lead on Friday morning and was run close for three days before extending his lead with an attack on a special speed stage run on gravel. "We were not expecting to be so fast this year. The team and the car made it possible for us to fight for this win," said Neuville. But the Belgian clearly enjoyed cornering on the ice and snow and was largely faultless over the four days. After two rallies Neuville tops the leaderboard on 41 points with Ogier second on 30 and Jari-Matti Latvala, seventh in Sweden, third with 23. Results: 1. Thierry Neuville-Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL/Hyundai i20) 2hrs 52mins 13.1sec, 2. Craig Breen-Scott Martin (IRL-GBR/Citroen C3) at 19.8sec, 3. Andreas Mikkelsen-Anders Jaeger (NOR/Hyundai i20) 28.3, 4. Esapekka Lappi-Janne Ferm (FIN/Toyota Yaris) 45.8, 5. Hayden Paddon-Sebastian Marshall (NZL-GBR/Hyundai i20) 54.4, 6. Mads Ostberg-Torstein Eriksson (NOR/Citroen C3) 1min 15.3sec, 7. Jari-Matti Latvala-Miikka Anttila (FIN/Toyota Yaris) 2:04.9, 8. Teemu Suninen-Mikko Markkula (FIN/Ford Fiesta) 2:52.2, 9. Ott Tänak-Martin Jarveoja (EST/Toyota Yaris) 3:44.4, 10. Sebastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (FRA/Ford Fiesta) 8:45.4 Power Stage (SS19): 1. Esapekka Lappi (FIN/Toyota Yaris) 5pts, 2. Sebastien Ogier (FRA/Ford Fiesta) 4, 3. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR/Hyundai i20) 3, 4. Thierry Neuville (BEL/Hyundai i20) 2, 5. Ott Tanak (EST/Toyota Yaris) 1
