Rally Sweden is one of the most magical events on the World Rally Championship calendar, but why? Find out below.
Unique Event Conditions
Rally Sweden is the most unique event on the World Rally Championship schedule. Sure every event is unique in its own way. However, Rally Sweden is the only event to take place on full snow and ice-covered roads. This provides the drivers with a unique challenge. Snow and ice is already a difficult and different challenge. The roads themselves make it even more of a challenge. As the roads are often fast and flowing like Rally Finland. However, these roads don’t feature nearly as many jumps.
Different Challenges
Every World Rally Championship has different challenges. Monte has jagged rock faces, Finland has fast-flowing jumps, and Rally Sweden is no different. Sweden’s unique challenge comes mainly in the form of snowbanks. Snowbanks are extremely unforgiving. As it’s pretty easy to get the car beached on them. Just ask Andreas Mikkelsen, he lost an event after getting his car beached on a snowbank on the final stage some years ago. Drivers use tire studs to help with traction on the slick roads. However, at times the roads are still extremely slick. This can cause a driver to go straight into the previously mentioned snowbanks. The more experienced drivers can use the banks to their advantage. As some have used the banks to help braking when needed. However, that’s only on rare occasions as it is a massive risk.
Night Stages
Rally Sweden is also one of the only events on the calendar to feature night stages outside of the SuperSpecial. This provides drivers with yet another unique challenge. This pushes almost every driver to their limit. Some more experienced drivers find this easier, while others don’t. For some, this will be the only nighttime rallying they do in their career. While some grew up doing nighttime rallying.