Jari-Matti Latvala takes early WRC Rally Sweden lead for Toyota
Toyota's Jari Matti Latvala leads Rally Sweden overnight, having won the Karlstad superspecial opener after going head to head with former Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier

Latvala - who finished on the podium on the World Rally Championship's opening round in Monte Carlo - managed a time 0.6 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville.
Belgian Hyundai driver Neuville broke his suspension while leading in Monte Carlo, but he rebounded to beat M-Sport's Ford Fiesta WRC driver Ott Tanak in his one-on-one in Sweden.
Neuville made a tactical move to start further wide than his fellow competitors, giving him a better start as his fellow Hyundai drivers struggled for launch on the ice and snow.
Team-mate Dani Sordo sits third overnight, with Tanak and Ogier - the Monte Carlo winner for his new team M-Sport - rounding out the top five.
Mads Ostberg, making his debut in a 2017-spec Fiesta WRC, had a strong run to sixth and only 1.2s behind Latvala, while Kris Meeke was the highest placed Citroen in seventh, complaining of getting bogged down at the start.
Toyota's Juho Hanninen, DMACK's Elfyn Evans (Fiesta WRC) and WRC2 leader Ole Christian 'OC' Veiby rounded out the top 10.
Skoda Fabia R5 driver Veiby, in only his fourth event in WRC2, headed off works Skoda driver and home hero Pontus Tidemand, who starts his first event of the season in WRC2 having not registered despite competing in Monte Carlo.
Veiby's fellow Norwegian and Fabia driver Henning Solberg was third quickest of the R5-class cars but isn't registered for WRC2.
The class top three was rounded out by another Norwegian, Eyvind Brynildsen.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS1:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC | Toyota | 1m34.1s |
2 | Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul | Hyundai Motorsport | Hyundai | 0.6s |
3 | Dani Sordo, M.Marti | Hyundai Motorsport | Hyundai | 0.7s |
4 | Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 0.8s |
5 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 0.9s |
6 | Mads Ostberg, O.Floene | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 1.2s |
7 | Kris Meeke, P.Nagle | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 2.0s |
8 | Juho Hanninen, K.Lindstrom | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC | Toyota | 2.1s |
8 | Elfyn Evans, D.Barritt | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 2.1s |
10 | Ole-Christian Veiby, S.R.Skjaermoen | Printsport | Skoda | 2.4s |

WRC Rally Sweden will show where Toyota stands - Latvala
WRC Rally Sweden: Toyota's Latvala grabs early lead

Latest news
Auer to miss Bathurst, Craft-Bamboo seeking replacement
Craft-Bamboo Racing is on the hunt for a driver for next week's Bathurst 12 Hour after Lucas Auer was injured in a practice crash in Daytona.
Daytona 24: Ganassi Cadillacs top final GTP practice at Daytona
Renger van der Zande produced the fastest lap for Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac in the new GTP class’s final systems check before tomorrow’s 61st Daytona 24 Hours.
Foyt changes IndyCar number amid "symbolic references" debacle
AJ Foyt Racing has changed the number of Benjamin Pedersen's 2023 IndyCar entry from #88 to #55, after finding its two cars' numbers held "certain ideological and symbolic references".
Taylor: Reset button will be "worn out" but better than limp mode in Daytona 24
Ricky Taylor has zero worries over the pace of the new Acura ARX-06, but believes the new GTP cars will encounter several sensor issues over the course of the Daytona 24 Hours.
How fired-up Ogier became the WRC's ultimate Monte master
He may only be contesting a part-time campaign in the World Rally Championship these days, but Sebastien Ogier underlined that he's lost none of his speed in the 2023 season opener. Storming to yet another victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the eight-time world champion rewrote the history books again as Toyota served notice of its intentions with a crushing 1-2
How Lancia pulled off its famous Monte Carlo giantkilling
Audi should have been invincible in the snowy conditions that typically greeted the World Rally Championship paddock in Monte Carlo. But unexpectedly warm weather for the 1983 season opener, combined with some left-field thinking from the Lancia crew turned the tables. Forty years on, team boss Cesare Fiorio reflects on a smash and grab
Why M-Sport has pinned all its efforts on a WRC reunion
M-Sport had a disastrous 2022 with its Rally1 Ford Pumas following Sebastien Loeb’s first-time-out win on the Monte. But now things are looking up with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak leading its attack, and the Cumbrian operation has optimism that it can challenge for a first title since Sebastien Ogier's departure at the end of 2018
The contenders seeking to take Rovanpera's WRC crown
As Kalle Rovanpera begins his World Rally Championship title defence in Monte Carlo, the Finn knows he has a target on his back. But who is best placed to knock the Toyota ace off his perch?
Why Rovanpera is anticipating a fight to defend his WRC title
Question: what could be harder than becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion? Answer: becoming the youngest-ever two-time World Rally champion. That's quite the challenge facing Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera in 2022, particularly against rejuvenated opposition in the second year of the WRC's hybrid regulations
From F1 to WRC: Why Hyundai's new boss could be an inspired signing
OPINION: New Hyundai WRC team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s got a lot to learn as he leads the marque's efforts to dethrone Toyota. But could his Formula 1 experience and evident strengths mean he turns out to be an inspired choice?
The ultimate rally car project the WRC is glad COVID killed
Toyota was unstoppable in the 2021 World Rally Championship, with an excellent 75% strike rate from 12 rallies. But in a scary proposition for its rivals, the Japanese marque had built a car for the final year of the previous regulations set which it believes was much faster and could feasibly have crushed the opposition completely. Here the story of its mothballed world-beater
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.