Elfyn Evans will enter Rally Sweden's final day with victory hanging in the balance - his lead over Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta sitting at just 3.0sec with Thierry Neuville also looming large in third.
Evans, runner-up at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo, started Saturday's penultimate leg with a narrow 0.6sec advantage over Katsuta's identical GR Yaris Rally1. The pair were almost inseparable through the morning's high-speed ice-laden stages near Umeå, but a commanding start to the afternoon loop saw the Welshman extend his lead to 8.6sec - helped in part by a mistake from Katsuta, who overshot a junction on SS12.
Just when it seemed Evans had seized control, the momentum shifted again. Katsuta fought back on SS14, cutting the gap to 6.0sec before Evans stalled his car on a tight left-hander in the day's closing stage - reducing his lead even further to just 3.0sec.
"Coming into the junction, I lost the rear and it just stalled under braking," he explained. "It's not ideal."
Katsuta, a five-time podium finisher, is still chasing his maiden WRC victory but remained measured in his approach.
"I want to finish the rally, that's it," he said. "Let's see. I will speak with my bosses in the team and let's see what they say. For sure, I am very hungry for many things, but I have seen myself many times being too hungry when going to places and then something happens."
Neuville, who started the day in fifth, made huge strides to haul himself into the lead fight. The reigning world champion overtook Hyundai team-mate Ott Tänak, who was hampered by a coolant leak, and ended the day 6.5sec clear of the Estonian while just 6.3sec behind Evans.
"We have to prepare well tonight and give it a try tomorrow," he said. "I am happy with today to be honest. We did what we should do - had a good rhythm and managed the risk. Hopefully we have the same feeling tomorrow."
Adrien Fourmaux's podium challenge came undone after a series of misfortunes. The Frenchman, who had been firmly in the mix on Friday, lost time after stopping immediately after the start of SS10 to fasten his helmet strap. He rebounded from the oversight with a stage win on SS11, only to slide off on SS12 and bury his Hyundai in a snowbank - ending his day prematurely.
Kalle Rovanperä capitalised on the chaos, climbing to fifth in his Toyota and enjoying a much stronger leg after a subdued Friday. The two-time world champion closed to within 10.1sec of Tänak heading into Sunday's three-stage showdown, with Mārtiņš Sesks sixth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.
Sesks survived a scare when he spun in the fading light of SS13 but managed to keep Toyota young gun Sami Pajari 12.2sec behind. Further back, Ford drivers Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster occupied eighth and ninth, while WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg rounded out the top 10.
End of day three (Saturday):
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h00m4.2s
2 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +3.0s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +6.3s
4 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +12.8s
5 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +22.9s
6 Mārtiņš Sesks/Renārs Francis (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m31.4s
7 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m43.6s
8 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m05.8s
9 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m45.9s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +6m09.6s ...
(Results as of 17:40 on Saturday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
What's next?
The final day of the rally begins with two passes over Västervik – the longest stage of the rally at 29.35 kilometres – which will be separated by final service. The rally ends with the Umeå Power Stage, where up to five bonus points are on offer alongside the overall and Super Sunday classifications.
