Castrol teams set for Scandinavian stages
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Petter Solberg will have local knowledge on his side in Sweden
Round two of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Sweden, gets underway tomorrow with two Castrol-backed teams poised to take the fight to current championship leader Sebastien Loeb on the snowy roads of Scandinavia.
Castrol sponsored Ford World Rally Team’s Nordic drivers will aim to extend the squad’s winning grip with the team having won the last five fixtures of the FIA World Rally Championship’s only true winter encounter and both Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Norway’s Petter Solberg have Swedish victories to their names.
Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila claimed their maiden WRC victory at the Karlstad-based rally in 2008 and Solberg, now partnered by Chris Patterson, took the spoils in 2005. The Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car that the two pairings will campaign also has a strong history in Sweden, having mastered the snow and ice to claim a podium clean sweep on its debut last
season.
Solberg, who claimed a podium on his Castrol-backed team debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo last month, has huge experience of the rally, with 12 previous starts to his credit. The 37-year-old has a family home and hotel alongside Friday morning’s Mitandersfors speed test, just inside Sweden, and can rely on extra support both there and in his native Norway.
“The farmhouse overlooks the special stage,” he said. “I can stand at the door and see the road. I think there will be many people and TV crews there so the atmosphere should be great. At least I know the road well! The conditions are looking good for a fast, proper winter event. It’s fun to drive in such conditions and as the rally goes into Norway this year, it makes it even more special for me.
The Prodrive-run MINI WRC team heads to Sweden entering Dani Sordo, driving the number 37 MINI WRC and local favourite Patrik Sandell who will take over behind the wheel of the number 52 MINI WRC.
Sordo will be out to follow on from his successful start to the season, which saw him finish runner-up at the Rally Monte Carlo. However, he too is well aware that the Rally Sweden is one of the most difficult events on the WRC calendar. “It is two years since I last drove on ice, and it will be a real challenge to keep up with the drivers from the north of Europe,” says Dani. “I will do my best to finish as high up the overall standings as possible though.”
Sandell, the man from Sweden, will take on the role of local hero and will also enjoy a home advantage. “Driving the car on routes I am familiar with gives me greater confidence,” said Sandell.
The Castrol-backed Volkswagen Motorsport squad sees Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia joined by Norwegians Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene who will be competing for the Volkswagen factory team for the first time this season.
Rally Sweden ushers in a new qualifying procedure to the WRC. After two hours of free practice on Thursday morning, drivers will tackle one timed run over the same stage. They will then choose their preferred start position for the first leg, with the quickest qualifier having first choice ahead of the next fastest and so on.
This year’s rally spans both Sweden and Norway and temperatures in the barren countryside can plunge towards -30ºC, placing huge demands on man and machine. Keeping the Fiesta RS WRCs at peak performance in such unrelenting cold demands specific engineering solutions, while the only way for mechanics to work outside in such conditions is to pile on layer after layer of clothing.
Hundreds of tungsten-tipped steel studs protrude from each of Michelin’s winter tyres to bite into the frozen road surface. They provide amazing grip and, paradoxically, Rally Sweden is one of the championship’s fastest rounds. Drivers also ‘lean’ their cars against the solid snow banks that line the forest roads to help guide them around corners.
The major change is a full day in Norway during Friday’s opening leg, over roads used during the final running of Rally Norway in 2009. Otherwise the format is familiar, with the event based in Karlstad, the major service park at Hagfors Airport and stages in the Värmland and Dalarna regions of Sweden.
After Thursday morning’s qualifying test near Hagfors, the rally begins with a super special stage at Karlstad’s trotting track that evening. The opening leg is the longest and includes six stages in Norway, as well as a test that starts in Sweden before crossing the border to finish in Norway.
A remote service will be held in the Norwegian town of Kongsvinger. The final two days are based in the Dalarna region near Hagfors, almost all on roads used last year. The final 4.66km Hagfors Power Stage will offer bonus points for the fastest three drivers. The finish is in Karlstad’s main square on Sunday afternoon, after 24 stages covering 349.16km in a route of 1842.60km.
