The second round of the World Rally Championship and the only event on the WRC calendar exclusively contested on snow and ice, Rally Sweden is something of an exercise in tightrope walking. To bolster its efforts to perform well in Scandinavia, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT is entering a third C3 WRC for Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen, in addition to the usual crews of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle and Craig Breen/Scott Martin.
A BALANCING ACT
It could be said that Sweden is to rallying what the Winter Olympics is to skiing: an iconic, unmissable event and the ultimate test in winter conditions, where the speeds reached are at least as high as the skill levels required behind the wheel. The perseverance of the Scandinavian drivers and their dominance at the event was stopped for the first time by Citroën and the Loeb-Elena crew (Xsara WRC) in 2004. An achievement matched by only one other non-Nordic driver since. Needless to say, Nordic drivers still have an advantage on paper, particularly due to their greater experience in these specific grip conditions. This is why it is important for Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT to have one in its line-up for this event, as Mads Østberg joins Kris Meeke and Craig Breen, the team’s usual standard bearers.
The Norwegian knows Citroën well, having scored seven podiums as a works driver for the team between 2014 and 2015. In Sweden, his reputation is not only limited to his gravity-defying leaps over Colin’s Crest, the famous jump on the Vargasen stage, he has also finished as runner-up in 2011 and claimed four other podium finishes since then (3rd in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016). However, Kris Meeke and Craig Breen can equally make a good case for themselves, building on the haul of points racked up by the team in Monte-Carlo. Kris was among the frontrunners on only his third appearance at the event in 2016, whilst Craig has competed here five times – his best result being fifth place in 2017 – and really enjoys the specific difficulties of this very unusual event.
A MORE TECHNICAL COURSE FOR 2018
This year, just under a quarter of the course has been changed compared with last year’s event. However, only a little over five kilometres of the Torsby stage are completely new, whilst the ten or so different kilometres on Hagfors, as well as the Torntop stage, were already used in 2013 and 2014 respectively. One significant new element, however, is the large snow banks that look set to line the stages this year. This is likely to affect not only the width of the roads but also the angles at which the cars tackle the corners, and therefore the pace notes. In recent years, mild weather during the rally has meant crews have become used to avoiding the packed snow lining the roads. This time, they will need to make greater use of the snow banks in order to exit the corners with as much speed as possible. It will be a great challenge, where experience may play a key role, and which should provide plenty of excitement and action.