The FIA World Rally Championship heads to the snow-bound forest roads of Sweden this week, for the first of two back-to-back winter events in northern Europe.
The Swedish Rally is one of the most unpredictable and extreme events of the season. Despite the ever-present ice and snow - plus temperatures that can fall as low as minus 25 Celsius - the drivers will still be in maximum attack mode.
The route for this year's Swedish Rally is very similar to last year, with most of the special stages taking place to the north-west and east of the main service area in Hagfors. The crews will battle over 20 special stages and a total of 342.09 competitive kilometres.
One change to the route is the introduction of a Super Special Stage situated on the outskirts of Karlstad, the base town for the rally. The rally organisers have created a spectator-friendly 1.9km test around the grounds of the Farjestad horse trotting track. The event begins with the first run around the Super Special at 2000hrs on Thursday 8 February and ends in the same location at 1400hrs on Sunday 11 February.
Special notes:
The roads are fast and flowing - indeed, this is the second-fastest rally on the WRC calendar, behind Rally Finland, and last year the average speed of the winning car was 110.78kph.
To be on the pace on ice, the drivers have to be confident enough to drive at high speed in the treacherous conditions. The roads are covered with a layer of soft snow and a base of hard ice, and all the competing cars will be fitted with studded tyres. The studs, which are tungsten-tipped, can cut through to the base layer and provide a surprising amount of grip.
Rallying in Sweden is a technical challenge that most drivers enjoy. The drivers use the tall snow banks that line the edges of the roads as an aid to 'steer' their cars around corners. They also have to cope with poor visibility, caused by the blanket of snow. Some drivers wear special tinted glasses to reduce glare and help them define the road clearly at high speed.
The event is paired with Rally Norway, on the WRC calendar for the first time. The event takes place the following weekend and is based across the border in Hamar, just 250kms from Karlstad. Rally Norway is also a winter/snow event.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has taken the early lead in the 2007 FIA World Rally drivers' championship following the opening round of the series, the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo last month. Loeb scored 10 points following his win at the Principality, while Daniel Sordo was second to take 8 and Marcus Gronholm third to score 6.
