Rally Sweden – Will the Swedish WRC2 be as intense as Monte-Carlo?

If the field has lost a little of its scope compared to last year and if it does not yet record the participation of all the big guns (Fergus Greensmith and Pierre-Louis Loubet are absent), the list of favorites remains tempting. The alignment of names could provide a wild ride with suspense, but it's not clear whether Oliver Solberg would agree.

Present in Gap for Monte-Carlo, he delivered a mixed performance. Having clearly decided not to score points in Monaco, his mixed performance had no effect in the championship. Pilot Torsby, on the other hand, will want to achieve the perfect launch in Västerbotten (600 km north of Stockholm). Oliver will be eagerly awaited in Umeå where anything other than a victory will be experienced as a failure. Last year, he won after a solid performance. However, adversity had been overcome. It will be again this year.

Facing the young 22-year-old Swede, 4 Finns also want to take advantage of their skills on ice and snow. Discreet at Monte-Carlo where he used the Toyota Yaris Rally2, Sami Pajari is under pressure. Announced as “the future” for the Japanese manufacturer, the Nordic who had chosen not to score a point in Monaco wants to get its year off to a good start. Shy in France, will the Yaris Rally2 compete with the Skoda Fabia Rally2 from Solberg in Sweden? Pajari will also have to deal with three of his compatriots.

2 WRC2022 world champion, Emil Lindholm begins his collaboration with the French team CHL Sport Auto. Now more experienced with Hyundai i20, will the Finn manage to interfere in the fight for victory? His program is currently only 5 rounds, Emil has an interest in picking up the big points. The performances of Lauri Joona and Mikko Heikkilä will also be worth watching. The first named has championship ambitions and will look to get his campaign off to a good start. Winner in Rally2 at the Arctic Rally, Heikkilä aims moreERC, but he could be an important entertainer in Umeå by rolling free.

Apart from this quinth of favorites, the performances of Georg Linnamäe (Yaris), Fabrizio Zaldivar (Fabia), Roope Korhonen (Yaris), Jan Solans (Yaris) and William Creighton (Fiesta) will be to be observed in a 2^e platoon.

After the shakedown on Thursday morning (from 9:01 a.m.), the rally will start at the end of the day with a 5,16 superspecial held at night. There will then be 17 special stages to run, representing 294,94 timed kilometers.

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