WRC – Sébastien Ogier: “A rally on gravel”

Last Sunday, a press release from the organizers of the Rally of Sweden had at one time raised fears of a cancellation of the Scandinavian event, given the exceptionally mild weather conditions in the region. A meeting was then planned the next day with the FIA ​​and the promoter of the WRC.

Decision was finally made to shorten the route of the second round of the World Rally Championship with thirteen special stages, compared to twenty-one initially planned. The reconnaissance had also been postponed, with a departure scheduled for this Wednesday.

And it is clear that the first feedback from the pilots is not the best. The Norwegian Anders Grondal posted in the afternoon a video showing the state of a section of road, where snow is completely absent, replaced by mud.

It's then Sébastien Ogier who indicated via his Twitter account it “felt sorry for the organizers of Rally Sweden, but that apart from SS 3 and 4, where ice is present, the rest looks like a rally on dirt…” The Volkswagen driver also used the hashtag #NotSafeWithStud (translate: dangerous with studs), expressing his concerns about racing safety with studded tires if the situation remains the same this weekend.

The Frenchman also told the local newspaper Värmlands Folkblad that he did not understand why the recognitions were maintained.