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Sweden WRC: Neuville increases lead, Meeke crashes

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville stretched his Rally Sweden advantage to over 40 seconds during the shortened Saturday afternoon loop, which saw Kris Meeke hit a snow bank.

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, Hyundai Motorsport

Red Bull Content Pool

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 WRC, Hyundai Motorsport
Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC, Toyota Racing
Ott Tänak, M-Sport
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport
Sébastien Ogier, M-Sport
Elfyn Evans, Daniel Barritt, Ford Fiesta WRC, M-Sport

The longest test of the loop, the 31.6km Knon stage, was cancelled on safety grounds, leaving just two stages in the route.

Toyota's Jari-Matti Latvala, who came under pressure from the charging Ott Tanak in the morning, responded by topping SS13, albeit just 1.1s quicker than the Estonian.

However, Latvala then lost six seconds to the M-Sport Ford driver in SS14, and is now only ahead by four seconds.

Meanwhile, Neuville was quickest in SS14, and increased his advantage over Latvala to 43.3s.

Ogier continues to hold fourth, the Frenchman now relieved from some pressure as Citroen's Meeke hit a snow bank and lost more than eight minutes while his stricken C3 WRC was recovered.

The Northern Irishman made a second mistake in as many rallies, following his crash and eventual retirement in Monte Carlo.

Hyundai's Dani Sordo, the second Citroen of Craig Breen and DMACK's Elfyn Evans all gained a spot as a result of Meeke's error to round out the top seven.

Paddon, who went from sixth to 10th due to power steering problems in the morning, took two positions back by passing Meeke and the 2016-spec Citroen of Stephane Lefebvre.

Pontus Tidemand continues to lead the WRC2 class, and now completes the top 10 overall.

Standings after SS14:

Pos. Driver Car Time/Gap
1  Thierry Neuville Hyundai 2h02m41.2s
2  Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota +43.3s
3

 Ott Tanak

Ford +47.6s 
4

 Sebastien Ogier

Ford +1m00.5s 
5  Dani Sordo Hyundai +2m23.7s 
6

 Craig Breen

Citroen +2m46.3s 
7  Elfyn Evans Ford +4m23.9s
8  Hayden Paddon Hyundai +5m42.6s
9

 Stephane Lefebvre

Citroen +6m20.5s
10  Pontus Tidemand Skoda +7m15.5s

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