After starting the rally in eighth place on the first stage outside BAUHAUS on Thursday evening, Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson struck on the first stage on Friday. On SS3, Bondestad, Solberg took the lead. 

Since then, he and reigning FIA European Rally Champion Hayden Paddon have been swapping tenths of a second, with Oliver ending the day as the leader, 3.3 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon. Despite this, Oliver is not satisfied:

 “The feeling today hasn’t been perfect, I can’t say I’m very impressed with myself. But still, the times are good. I think the car suits the stages better tomorrow, so we’ll try to push then,” says Oliver Solberg.

Behind Solberg and Paddon, a close battle for third place has also unfolded. Finnish driver Mikko Heikkilä is in third, but only four seconds ahead of FIA ERC leader Mathieu Franceschi.

Strong Swedish and Norwegian Performances
Torsby native Isak Reiersen had a fantastic start on Saturday, setting the second-fastest time behind Solberg on stage two. Reiersen then chose to ease off the pace slightly, ending the day in a solid eighth place.

“I’m really happy and proud of myself, how I managed to calm down and take it at my own pace. Looking at the times, we are only a few seconds behind the fastest. I’m really pleased with the day,” summarizes Isak Reiersen.

Frank Tore Larsen is in sixth place, just ahead of Mads Østberg. Eyvind Brynildsen struggled with a troublesome damper in the afternoon and is tenth in the rally.

Swedes Dominate Junior European Championship
The top three spots in theFIA  Junior European Rally Championship are all held by Swedes. Last year’s runner-up Patrik Hallberg has built up an 11-second lead throughout the day. Championship leader Mille Johansson is in second. Mille, who lost his closest competitor Max McRae to a roll on SS2, is driving with the championship in mind.

“It feels really good, it’s been a great day,” sums up Patrik Hallberg.

“We don’t want to risk anything, we have a championship to drive for, so we took it easy in the afternoon. We’ll continue like this tomorrow, it’s been smooth without any major risks. I feel safe and comfortable at the pace we’re going now,” says Mille Johansson.

Calle Carlberg is third in his Opel, 25 seconds behind Patrik Hallberg.

Arne Rådström Best Among Legends
In the Legends class, pre-race favorite Mats Jonsson retired early in his Toyota. Arne Rådström from Torsby has been the fastest on all stages in his Volvo and leads by 1 minute and 20 seconds over Janne Westlund in an Opel Ascona.

Tomorrow, the BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia will conclude with eight stages heading east and north from Karlstad. SS Mölnbacka, outside Molkom, is the Power Stage where the rally will be decided on Saturday afternoon. The rally concludes at 6:00 PM with an award ceremony at the service park in Färjestad, followed by the Royal After Rally at Olsson Bazar in Inre hamn.