WRC set on red hot action in sub-zero Rally Sweden
Distant and frozen forests in northern Sweden will present a frightening challenge when the FIA World Rally Championship enters unknown territory this week for the second chapter of its new hybrid.
Never before has Rally Sweden (24-27 Feb) traveled so close to the Arctic Circle. With temperatures dropping to bone-hard -4 degrees Fahrenheit in the host city of Umeå this week, the special stages in the Västerbotten region will fully test the rally sport’s elite.
After a year of absence due to the covid pandemic, the new Rally Sweden offers perfect conditions for the WRC’s only clean winter line-up when ice- and snow-covered roads are woven through postcard forests.
Winter rally requires a unique approach. Drivers “tilt” their cars towards snowdrifts to guide them around the turns, while studded tires bite into the ice to provide a remarkable grip and ensure that this paradoxically becomes one of the fastest events of the year.
Nordic drivers have traditionally dominated in Sweden, but the grip loosens and 21-year-old “Flying Finn” Kalle Rovanpera, who leads the jump in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, takes nothing for granted.
“We start the road first and will have some road cleaning to do there the first day,” he admitted. “In the test, we started from scratch with the snow layout for the new car and it felt a bit tricky to drive in the beginning. But together with our teammates, I think we have taken some good steps in the right direction during the two tests we have had.”
In support of Rovanpera’s optimism, he posted the fastest time in Thursday’s shakedown before the event, with a burning time of 3m22.4s on the 4.2m long test distance to improve Hyundai’s Ott Tanak by 0.3s.
Among Rovanpera’s Toyota teammates is the British Elfyn Evans, who won Sweden’s latest WRC event two years ago (although one that definitely lacks snow and ice). He is desperate to bounce back from a disappointing season opener in the Monte Carlo Rally, where he slipped off the road the second day and went on to a low 21st. The silver is a favorable starting position for the opening day’s stages on Friday.
Esapekka Lappi returns to Toyota’s factory list for the first time since leaving the Japanese manufacturer at the end of 2018. He takes over after Monte Carlo runner-up and reigning WRC champion Sebastien Ogier, who only takes on a part-time campaign in 2022.
Incredibly, this will be the first WRC event without either eight-time champion Ogier or his teammate Sebastien and the Frenchman, nine-time champion Loeb, since the season-ending Rally GB 2006. Loeb won last month’s Monte Carlo Rally in a (so far) one-time race for Ford, but the 47-year-old legend may add more events later in the season.
But back to the drivers who will be in Sweden, and Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta completes a Toyota quartet and drives a GR Yaris Rally1 for the brand’s development group for the next generation.
M-Sport Ford was fastest out of the blocks with the new generation of cars in the Monte Carlo Rally, but with Loeb not on the starting list, Craig Breen leads the British squad in a Puma Rally1. The Irishman is on a strong race with four straight podium places after finishing third in the season opener.
The glacier is joined by Brit Gus Greensmith, fresh from his first stage victory at Monte, and the Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux, who will focus on a real drive after a massive crash in the French Alps last time.
Thierry Neuville leads Hyundai Motorsport’s squad in an i20 N Rally1. The Belgian was Hyundai’s best performer in a difficult opening round for the Korean manufacturer and is once again joined by the brand’s shakedown pacers Tanak and Oliver Solberg.
Solberg competes at his home event, and although this is his first start in the WRC’s headlining class, the 20-year-old is no stranger to competing on snow and ice. And for advice, he need look no further than his father and 2003 WRC champion Petter, who won the 2005 Rally Sweden when he drove for Subaru.
Umeå will host the ceremonial start on Thursday evening. Friday’s first section begins the smooth competition, with seven special distances for a total of 78.12 competition miles. Another eight stages follow on Saturday, before Sunday’s last four stages take the total distance to 188.74 miles.
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