Uddeholm Swedish
Rally

For 2007, the Uddeholm Swedish Rally will be paired with Rally Norway to provide the championship¹s only two all-snow rallies of the season. Temperatures on the stages, north of Rally HQ in Karlstad and the service park at Hagfors, can drop as low as -27C. However, the event¹s characteristics make it a real favourite and the highly charged atmosphere will make you forget the cold.

This year the event will be launched and finished in the new Karlstad Super Special Arena located just a few kilometres from the city of Karlstad. The stage is 1886 m of parallel track with a 30m jump in the middle of the track.

Despite the lack of traction on the ice and snow-covered stages, speeds are still frighteningly quick thanks to skinny studded tyres which penetrate the snow in search of grip below, as well as snow banks, which drivers use as a soft barrier on which to 'lean' their cars. There are plenty of hazards, though. Hit a snow bank at the wrong speed, and it sucks the car in, resulting in time spent digging yourself out again as well as potential radiator damage. Exposed patches of bare gravel road can also rip studs from the tyres, leading to a lack of grip on icy sections.

As with the fast gravel roads of Finland and the asphalt of Corsica and Spain, local talent prevails here, and the winners' list looks like a Scandinavian phone book. To succeed in Sweden, you need a sublime combination of commitment, fingertip feel and lightning reactions. If you can win here, you're halfway to becoming a true rallying great.

Previous Winners

2007 Marcus Gronholm (Ford Focus)
2006 Marcus Gronholm (Ford Focus)
2005 Petter Solberg (Subaru Impreza)
2004 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Xsara)
2003 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot 206)
2002 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot 206)
2001 Harri Rovanpera (Peugeot 206)
2000 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot 206)
1999 Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi Lancer)
1998 Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi Lancer)
1997 Kenneth Eriksson (Subaru Impreza)
1996 Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi Lancer)