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Rally
Sweden

On this rally last year & tyre facts

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In 2012 Jari-Matti Latvala took his second Rally Sweden victory with a superb drive on the snow. The Ford team leader pulled clear of a close-fought early lead battle in which Mads Ostberg, Petter Solberg, Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen all featured, and for most of the weekend was in a straight head-to-head with his former team-mate Hirvonen.

Latvala eventually managed to build a cushion over the Citroen, and had a big enough advantage that even a puncture three stages from the end did not cost him the lead. Hirvonen claimed second, with Ostberg third after a late puncture dropped Solberg to fourth. A trip off the road, a spin and a puncture conspired to leave Loeb back in sixth behind the impressive Evgeny Novikov.

Tyre facts:

• Both WRC suppliers will introduce new evolutions of their WRC snow tyre for the specialist conditions of Rally Sweden. Michelin will supply its new X Ice North 2 tyre to the majority of crews, while DMACK will be offering an updated version of its DMG-ICE.
• Both the Michelin and DMAC tyres are each fitted with 384 metal studs (20 per linear 10cm, in compliance with the FIA regulations). Each WRC driver will be allocated 32 tyres for the rally.
• The tyres are just 195mm wide to help them cut through loose snow to the hard surface underneath.
• Unlike the opening round of the season, Rallye Monte-Carlo, where there were four different choices, Rally Sweden has only one tyre option and no choices.

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