The opening Karlstadt Super Special stage was won by a VW, however it was piloted by Andreas Mikkelsen who beat both of his more acclaimed teammates Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala.
Mikkelsen stormed to victory on the 1.9km side-by-side circuit built at the local trotting track. He was 0.8 seconds quicker than Monte Carlo winner Sebastien Ogier.
“I was a bit rusty with my driving for the first couple of corners because I haven’t tested in the snow since December. But I had a clean run and it’s a great way to start the rally,” said Mikkelsen.
Hyundai drivers Juho Hanninen was also quicker than his more fancied team mate Thierry Neuville. The rally resumes later today with six stages in Sweden and Norway covering 60.12km.
TIMES: Stage 1 Rally Sweden
| Position | Driver | Team/Car | Time |
| 1 | Andreas Mikkelsen | VW | 1m33.4s |
| 2 | Sebastien Ogier | VW | +0.8s |
| 3 | Ott Tanak | M-Sport Ford | +2.2s |
| 4 | Jari-Matti Latvala | VW | +2.4s |
| 5 | Mikko Hirvonen | Citroen | +2.6s |
| 6 | Henning Solberg | Solberg Ford | +3.0s |
| 7 | Juho Hanninen | Hyundai | +3.2s |
| 8 | Mads Ostberg | Citroen | +3.2s |
| 9 | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +3.4s |
| 10 | Kris Meeke | Citroen | +3.9s |
