This year, the race has moved 800 kilometers north from Karstad and will take place near Umeå. As a result, athletes will be greeted by 17 unprecedented winter special stages created on very fast roads. Although there will be narrow and technical places, riders will be greeted by many long straight lines.
The fastest stage in the history of the World Rally Championship so far took place in 2016 in Finland. At that time, the winner Chris Mike set an average speed of 126.6 km / h.
“This will be the fastest rally ever,” M-Sport Ford driver Craig Brin told a pre-race news conference. “There aren’t many opaque places or springboards here, but in places where the road is narrow, it’s really narrow and uneven.”
Last year, the Swedish stage did not take place, but instead a winter race took place in Finland. It was also the last winter stage of the World Cup. Hyundai driver Ots Tanaks celebrated the victory in Lapland at that time.
“This could be one of the fastest rallies,” says Tanak. “Actually, this looks like the fastest rally in my career. That’s because there are a lot of long lines here that I haven’t seen too much in other stages before. ”
Tanaka Noivil, a member of Tanaka’s team, admits that this will be a completely different rally than the previous stages in Sweden. True, he does not find them exciting.
“To be honest, these stages are very different,” says Neuwil. “These roads are also different from last year’s winter in Finland. The weather is pretty good, there are high coupes, but the ice on the road is not thick, so we can get to the gravel quickly. The stages will be fast, but from my point of view, not as interesting as I expected. Some of them are nice, while others do not meet the WRC level. If the stages are fast, that’s not a problem, but if they are fast and straight, it’s not interesting. ”
Resources used:
4rati – 4rati
