Umeå, Sweden: Two-time defending world champion Kalle Rovanpera is out of the Rally of Sweden after the race leader failed to finish the fourth special stage on Friday. The 23-year-old Finn is not competing in all the races this season and had by-passed the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally. The Toyota driver was not the only high-profile withdrawal on Friday, two-time Rally of Sweden winner Ott Tanak's hopes of victory coming to an end in the fourth special stage as well.
The Estonian -- winner in 2019 and 2023 -- damaged the front of his Hyundai when it hit a wall of snow after an error. He was able to carry on but at a reduced speed and came close to colliding with French driver Adrien Fourmaux, before he called it a day. "We came very close... at a corner where I had my foot down at almost 180 kilometres an hour," said Fourmaux after he had finished the stage. Rovanpera's premature departure leaves another Toyota pilot Takamoto Katsuta in the lead halfway through the day's stages, in front of Finland's Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) and Britain's Elfyn Evans (Toyota). Belgium's Monte Carlo winner Thierry Neuville is in fifth spot, 40 seconds adrift of Katsuta.
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