WRC: Countdown to Rally Sweden

Rally Sweden
WRC round 1 of 13
Thursday 11 February - Sunday 14 February

It's been a long time coming, but four months after the 2009 World Rally Championship reached its thrilling conclusion in Wales, the fuse is well and truly lit on the 2010 competition. On 11 February the WRC ignites again, with one of the most spectacular challenges of the year - the 200kph snow-fest that is Rally Sweden.

Kicking off the 13-round 2010 season, Sweden is the only winter round this year, and makes a welcome return after a year out in 2009, when Norway hosted the WRC's annual snow and ice fixture instead.

Like in 2008, the rally is based from the central Sweden city of Karlstad. Unlike the last edition, however, much of the competitive action has been shifted north around a Service Park 85km away at Hagfors airport. Organisers took this step in an effort to guarantee good snow cover on the gravel roads of the Varmland and Dalarna regions, where the majority of the stages are based.

Fifty-seven per cent of the competitive distance has changed since 2008, although many of the new roads are familiar from previous years. With the exception of the Karlstad Super Special, only two of the previous stages remain. The rest are a mix of brand new routes and tests used in previous years when the rally went further north.

The action begins with a super special stage at Karlstad's trotting track on Thursday evening and the test also ends Friday's opening leg, which journeys to the rally's most northerly point. The second day includes a short sprint stage on the edge of Hagfors and the final day is based east of the town. In total drivers tackle 21 tests covering 345.15km in a route of 1879.23km.

With six days to go before the event gets underway, weather conditions are reported to be perfect. Heavy snow has fallen on the rally route in the last few days and organisers predict the coldest event for 20 years, with temperatures forecast to plunge below -25ºC.

Who's going to win?

It's the opening round of the season, and an event which traditionally favours Scandinavian snow-driving specialists, so it's an extremely tough one to call. When you factor in five previous WRC snow winners (Loeb, Solberg, Latvala, Hirvonen and Gronholm) and three World Rally Champions (Loeb, Solberg and Gronholm) it gets even more complex.

Going on the pace they showed on the most recent rally in Wales, Hirvonen and Loeb must be the two favourites for victory - with Loeb's win on snow in Norway last season edging him slightly ahead of his Finnish rival. But with minimal changes made to their cars in the off-season, there's every reason to think the pair will start this season as closely matched as they ended last year's.

In identical machinery as their team-leaders, the factory number two drivers Dani Sordo and 2008 Sweden winner Jari-Matti Latvala are both more than capable of challenging for victory too. And at this stage in the season team orders really shouldn't come into play.

Sweden marks the start of Petter Solberg's bid for a second WRC title, and few would doubt the Norwegian's determination to succeed. Will having the same car as six time champion Loeb be enough for him to mount a serious title challenge? He hasn't had a lot of practice in the car, but snow is a surface he's right at home on.

Also in a top car - a Ford Focus RS WRC - is double champion Marcus Gronholm, the Finn tempted out of retirement to drive one of the Stobart team entries. Sweden is a rally Gronholm loves - so much so that he named his restaurant after one of its stages.

With learning the name of the game for WRC newbie Kimi Raikkonen, it's unlikely we'll see any opening round heroics from the 2007 Formula One World Champion. But you never know...

Tyres

The championship's control tyre regulations dictate the use of just one pattern for the majority of WRC events, and for Rally Sweden the chosen rubber is WRC tyre partner Pirelli’s ‘Sottozero’, which runs on a normal 15-inch gravel rim.

Each 205/65R15 tyre is equipped with almost 400 7mm tungsten-tipped studs to penetrate the snow and bite into the ice beneath. Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber in the event of heavy snow and each car can carry two spares.

You’ll find more information on Rally Sweden, including this year's itinerary and a video review of the 2008 event, in the rallies section.

Follow these links for more information about the Rally Sweden entry list and our S-WRC and P-WRC previews.

We’ll bring you preview information from each of the leading teams over the coming days on wrc.com.