The 2023 World Rally Championship season continues this weekend with Rally Sweden. Find out everything you need to know below.
Championship Standings
Championship leader Sebastien Ogier unfortunately will not be at Rally Sweden. Thus opening the door for his Toyota teammate and reigning World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä to take the lead. Rovanperä won’t just be handed the lead, however. As Thierry Neuville, Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak will all also be looking to take the lead this weekend. Neuville sits just six points back from Rovanperä heading into the event. While Evans sits eight points behind and Tänak sits nine points behind. It’ll be anybody’s game heading into this event as one wrong move could spell disaster for any of the top five.
Championship Points Before Rally Sweden
- S. Ogier 26
- K. Rovanperä 23
- T. Neuville 17
- E. Evans 15
- O. Tänak 14
No Pre-Event Test For Neuville
If Thierry Neuville wants to challenge for the championship lead this weekend he’s going to have to learn quickly and get up to pace fast. As Neuville missed the pre-event test due to an illness. Thus meaning he is going into the weekend not knowing what to fully expect from the car, nor what setup is needed for the car.
Team Previews
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Ott Tänak and Pierre-Louis Loubet will lead the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team into action this weekend. As both drivers will look to have better results than what they got at Rallye Monte-Carlo last month. Tänak is expected to be on the podium this weekend. While Loubet will be looking to get into the top 10 of the rally.
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi will lead the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team into action this weekend. Neuville and Lappi will be joined by Craig Breen who will be making his first appearance with Hyundai after rejoining the team this off-season. As previously mentioned Neuville didn’t have a pre-event test so Esapekka Lappi is expected to be the fastest Hyundai driver for the first portion of the rally. From there it’s anybody’s game.
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä will once again lead the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team into action as they do every other event. Joining Evans and Rovanperä will be the freshly promoted Takamoto Katsuta who will be taking Sebastien Ogier’s seat this weekend. Kalle Rovanperä will be looking to take his second straight Rally Sweden win this weekend.
My name is Joe Moore. I am a writer for Belly Up Hockey, Belly Up Racing, and Belly Up Sports. You can find me on Twitter.
