Championship standings prior to the event

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia entered the round with an eight-point lead in the World Championships for Drivers and Co-drivers. In the World Championship for Manufacturers, M-Sport Ford WRT and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a fifteen-point lead over Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT.

Entry list

The following crews were entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3 and Junior World Rally Championships. The final entry list consisted of fourteen World Rally Car entries, fifteen in the World Rally Championship-2, and fifteen entries in the World Rally Championship-3, twelve of which were eligible to score points in the Junior World Rally Championship.

No.	Entrant	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Tyre
World Rally Car entries
1	M-Sport Ford WRT	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
2	M-Sport Ford WRT	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
3	M-Sport Ford WRT	Teemu Suninen	Mikko Markkula	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
4	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger-Synnevaag	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
6	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hayden Paddon	Sebastian Marshall	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
7	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
8	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
9	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
10	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Kris Meeke	Paul Nagle	Citroën C3 WRC	M
11	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	Citroën C3 WRC	M
12	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën C3 WRC	M
14	Henning Solberg	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
21	Yazeed Racing	Yazeed Al Rajhi	Michael Orr	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	M
World Rally Championship-2 entries
31	Škoda Motorsport	Pontus Tidemand	Jonas Andersson	Škoda Fabia R5	M
32	Škoda Motorsport	Ole Christian Veiby	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Škoda Fabia R5	M
33	Printsport	Łukasz Pieniążek	Przemysław Mazur	Škoda Fabia R5	M
34	Hyundai Motorsport	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Hyundai i20 R5	M
35	Tommi Mäkinen Racing	Hiroki Arai	Glenn MacNeall	Ford Fiesta R5	P
36	Tommi Mäkinen Racing	Takamoto Katsuta	Marko Salminen	Ford Fiesta R5	P
38	S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl	Umberto Scandola	Andrea Gaspari	Škoda Fabia R5	D
39	TAIF Motorsport	Radik Shaymiev	Maxim Tsvetkov	Ford Fiesta R5	P
40	Kevin Abbring	Kevin Abbring	Pieter Tsjoen	Ford Fiesta R5	P
41	Fredrik Åhlin	Fredrik Åhlin	Joakim Sjöberg	Škoda Fabia R5	D
42	Mattias Adielsson	Mattias Adielsson	Andreas Johansson	Škoda Fabia R5	P
43	Toksport World Rally Team	Janne Tuohino	Reeta Hämäläinen	Škoda Fabia R5	P
44	Lars Stugemo	Lars Stugemo	Kalle Lexe	Škoda Fabia R5	P
45	Toksport World Rally Team	Jarmo Berg	Rami Suorsa	Škoda Fabia R5	P
46	Gianluca Linari	Gianluca Linari	Nicola Arena	Ford Fiesta R5	P
World Rally Championship-3 entries
61	Emil Bergkvist	Emil Bergkvist‡	Ola Fløene	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
62	Terry Folb	Terry Folb‡	Christopher Guieu	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
63	Denis Rådström	Denis Rådström‡	Johan Johansson	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
65	OT Racing	Ken Torn‡	Kuldar Sikk	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
66	ADAC Sachsen	Julius Tannert‡	Jürgen Heigl	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
67	Callum Devine	Callum Devine‡	Keith Moriarty	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
68	David Holder	David Holder‡	Jason Farmer	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
69	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi‡	Romain Courbon	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
70	ACI Team Italia	Luca Bottarelli‡	Manuel Fenoli	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
71	Théo Chalal	Théo Chalal‡	Jacques-Julien Renucci	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
72	Tom Williams	Tom Williams‡	Phil Hall	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
73	Emilio Fernández	Emilio Fernández‡	Joaquin Riquelme	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
74	Enrico Oldrati	Enrico Oldrati‡	Danilo Fappani	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
75	Go+Cars Atlas Ward	Yuriy Protasov	Pavlo Cherepin	Citroën DS3 R3T	M
76	Taisko Lario	Taisko Lario	Tatu Hämäläinen	Peugeot 208 R2	M
Other major entries
81	Tommi Mäkinen Racing	Jarkko Nikara	Sayaka Adachi	Ford Fiesta R5	P
83	Nil Solans	Nil Solans	Miquel Ibáñez Sotos	Ford Fiesta R5	D
102	Kristoffersson Motorsport	Johan Kristoffersson	Patrik Barth	Škoda Fabia R5	P
Source:[1][11]

Notes

• ^‡ — Driver is eligible to score points in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship.

Route

Itenerary

Date	Time	No.	Stage name	Distance
15 February	08:00	—	Skalla [Shakedown]	6.86 km
Leg 1 — 142.00 km
15 February	20:08	SS1	SSS Karlstad 1	1.90 km
16 February	06:00		Service A – Torsby	—
	07:55	SS2	Hof-Finnskog 1	21.26 km
	09:07	SS3	Svullrya 1	24.88 km
	09:54	SS4	Röjden 1	19.13 km
	11:31		Service B – Torsby	—
	13:41	SS5	Hof-Finnskog 2	21.26 km
	15:03	SS6	Svullrya 2	24.88 km
	15:50	SS7	Röjden 2	19.13 km
	16:56	SS8	Torsby 1	9.56 km
	17:31		Flexi Service C – Torsby	—
Leg 2 — 120.31 km
17 February	07:05		Service D – Torsby	—
	07:54	SS9	Torntorp 1	19.88 km
	09:12	SS10	Hagfors 1	23.40 km
	10:09	SS11	Vargåsen 1	14.21 km
	11:40		Service E – Torsby	—
	12:41	SS12	Torntorp 2	19.88 km
	14:12	SS13	Hagfors 2	23.40 km
	15:08	SS14	Vargåsen 2	14.21 km
	17:41	SS15	SSS Karlstad 2	1.90 km
	19:26	SS16	Torsby Sprint	3.43 km
	19:56		Flexi Service F – Torsby	—
Leg 3 — 51.94 km
18 February	06:30		Service G – Torsby	—
	07:50	SS17	Likenäs 1	21.19 km
	09:51	SS18	Likenäs 2	21.19 km
	12:18	SS19	Torsby 2 [Power Stage]	9.56 km
Source:[12]

Thursday

Ott Tänak drove a Yaris, defeated Thierry Neuville in their head-to-head heat on snow roads and stopped the clocks 0.3 second faster than Latvala, who beat Mads Østberg in their battle by 0.3 second. The Norwegian was impressive on his Citroën C3 debut to hold third as competitors headed north to Torsby for an overnight halt. Kris Meeke, driving another C3, and Hyundai i20 pilot Andreas Mikkelsen were tied in fourth, a further 0.3 second behind, while Neuville completed the top six. Toyota's Esapekka Lappi and championship leader Sébastien Ogier lost time after running wide on the same corner near the finish. They were eighth and ninth respectively but just 2.9 seconds off the pace.

Friday

The early starters lost time ploughing a clean route through fresh snow. Championship leader Sébastien Ogier was the first on the road. He was struggle with the grip all day and conceded almost three minutes en route to twelfth. So were Ott Tänak and Jari-Matti Latvala. The Toyota teammates separated by eighth and ninth. Craig Breen was third on the board, and the Irishman was delighted with his form with two afternoon stages wins. Teammate Mads Østberg was 0.5 second further back. Lying sixth after last night's curtain-raising speed test, Thierry Neuville moved his i20 to the front on this morning's second stage and held off a chasing pack which had the advantage of better conditions. Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, who started further behind, had a trouble-free day while Hayden Paddon running out of the top three to make Hyundai 1-2-3.

Saturday

Hayden Paddon and Sebastian Marshall on the road.

Thierry Neuville was the rally leader, but the gap between him and his main opponent was not big enough, especially for the Citroën driver, Craig Breen, who was eager to claim his first WRC victory. The Irish driver have once narrowed the gap to less than five seconds. However, the Hyundai star set four fastest stage times to build a 22.7-second lead, though he suffered a paddle shift gearchange system issue at the opening stage. Teammate Andreas Mikkelsen finished third after a spin today which made him dropped from second to fourth place, 9.3 seconds behind Breen. Hayden Paddon's car set-up was unsuited to this morning's forest roads. The New Zealander stuck on the inside of a hairpin in the final stage, which made him lost some time. He ended the day 16.6 seconds behind Mikkelsen. Mads Østberg changed his C3's settings to improve his car's balance but the switches affected his confidence and he reversed the adjustments. There was also an accident in SS13. Kris Meeke nosed into a snow bank but lost engine power when he regained the road. He stopped to clean snow from his Citroën's cooling system and as Ott Tänak tried to overtake in a narrow section, the two cars collided and the Estonian's Toyota Yaris bounced into a ditch. That ended with the Briton's retirement and made five-time world champion Sébastien Ogier finally get into the top ten.

Sunday

With a comfortable lead, Thierry Neuville finally eased through Sunday's final three speed tests to head Ireland's Craig Breen, driving a Citroën C3, for whom second was a career-best result. Andreas Mikkelsen finished third after a spun at exactly the same point as Neuville. Esapekka Lappi fought back and gained two places in the final three stages to finish fourth, 17.5 seconds adrift of Mikkelsen, after he plunged down the order after burying his Toyota Yaris in a snow bank. A final stage mistake from Hayden Paddon cost him a place. The Kiwi stalled his i20 a couple of kilometres from the finish and trailed the Finn by 8.6 seconds. After only a day's pre-event testing, Mads Østberg was sixth on his debut drive in a C3. Jari-Matti Latvala finished seventh after being delayed by a troublesome front differential and adverse road conditions. Fellow Finn Teemu Suninen was eighth in a Ford Fiesta, the highest place among M-Sport World Rally Team drivers. Ott Tänak and Monte-Carlo winner Sébastien Ogier dropped lot of time in Friday's opening leg as they ploughed a path through deep snow. They were unable to regain lost ground and finished ninth and tenth respectively.^[8]

World Rally Championship

Championship standings

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Manufacturers' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Manufacturer	Points
1		4	Thierry Neuville	41		4	Nicolas Gilsoul	41		3	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	54
2		1	Sébastien Ogier	31		1	Julien Ingrassia	31			Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	53
3			Jari-Matti Latvala	23			Miikka Anttila	23			Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	46
4		2	Esapekka Lappi	23		2	Janne Ferm	23		3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	43
5		3	Ott Tänak	21		3	Martin Järveoja	21

World Rally Championship-2

Championship standings

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Teams' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Team	Points
1			Jan Kopecký	25			Pavel Dresler	25			Škoda Motorsport II	25
2			Takamoto Katsuta	25			Marko Salminen	25			Tommi Mäkinen Racing	25
3		1	Eddie Sciessere	18		1	Flavio Zanella	18		1	M-Sport Ford WRT	18
4			Pontus Tidemand	18			Jonas Andersson	18			Škoda Motorsport	18
5		2	Teemu Suninen	15		2	Mikko Markkula	15			Toksport WRT	15

World Rally Championship-3

Championship standings

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Teams' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Team	Points
1			Enrico Brazzoli	25			Luca Beltrame	25			ADAC Sachsen	25
2			Denis Rådström	25			Johan Johansson	25			Go+Cars Atlas Ward	18
3			Taisko Lario	19			Tatu Hämäläinen	19			ACI Team Italia	15
4		2	Amaury Molle	18		2	Renaud Herman	18			OT Racing	15
5			Emil Bergkvist	18			Ola Fløene	18

Junior World Rally Championship

Championship standings

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Nations' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Team	Points
1			Denis Rådström	34			Johan Johansson	34			Sweden	25
2			Emil Bergkvist	23			Ola Fløene	23			Germany	18
3			Julius Tannert	15			Jürgen Heigl	15			France	15
4			Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	12			Romain Courbon	12			Ireland	12
5			Terry Folb	10			Christopher Guieu	10			Chile	10