Rally Sweden
| Rally Sweden | |
|---|---|
| Status | active |
| Genre | motorsporting event |
| Date(s) | February |
| Frequency | annual |
| Location(s) | Umeå, Västerbotten |
| Country | Sweden |
| Inaugurated | 1950 |
The Rally Sweden (Swedish: Svenska rallyt), formerly the KAK-Rally, the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, as a summer rally called the Rally to the Midnight Sun (Swedish: Midnattssolsrallyt) with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish became located in Karlstad. The main service park is located in the town of Torsby, which is actually much closer to the special stages than Karlstad. The competition is spread out over three days with the start of the first part on Friday morning and the finish on Sunday afternoon.
In 1973 the rally was introduced to the World Rally Championship and started to get international attention; the Swedish Rally has been also traditionally the only rally held on snow. Like Rally Finland, for many years the rally was known to be very difficult for non-Nordic drivers. The first driver to win the Swedish Rally not hailing from Sweden or Finland was Frenchman Sébastien Loeb in 2004; Frenchman Sébastien Ogier was the second non-Nordic winner (with wins in 2013, 2015 and 2016), and since then Belgian Thierry Neuville and Welshman Elfyn Evans have also recorded wins at the event.[1] Estonian Ott Tänak also won in 2019 and 2023, but the question of whether or not Estonia is a "Nordic" country remains an open debate.[2] Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished second four times and third two times.
The rally has been cancelled three times; in 1974 due to the oil crisis, in 1990 because of the mild weather and in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The rally was also not held in 2009 due to the WRC's round rotation system. Weather continues to be a concern, as rising global temperatures reduce the likelihood of appropriately snowy conditions every year. The 2005 event was one of the warmest ever, turning many stages into mud and destroying the special studded snow tires used by the teams.
In 2021 it was announced that Rally Sweden would relocate to the northern Swedish city of Umeå after being held in the province of Värmland since its foundation. The primary reason for its relocation was that Umeå is considered a more snow safe region.[3]
Results
1950 through 1969
| Rally name | Stages | Podium finishers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Driver Co-driver |
Team Car |
Time | ||
| 1st International Swedish Rally 1950 |
– | 1 | Per-Fredrik Cederbaum | BMW | – h : – m : – s |
| 2nd International Swedish Rally 1951 |
– | 1 | Gunnar Bengtsson | Talbot-Lago | – h : – m : – s |
| 3rd International Swedish Rally 1952 |
– | 1 | Grus-Olle Persson | Porsche | – h : – m : – s |
| 4th International Swedish Rally 1953 |
– | 1 | Sture Nottorp | Porsche | – h : – m : – s |
| 5th International Swedish Rally 1954 |
– | 1 | Carl-Gunnar Hammarlund | Porsche | – h : – m : – s |
| 6th International Swedish Rally 1955 |
– | 1 | Allan Borgefors | Porsche | – h : – m : – s |
| 7th International Swedish Rally 1956 |
– | 1 | Harry Bengtsson | Volkswagen | – h : – m : – s |
| 8th International Swedish Rally 1957 |
– | 1 | Ture Jansson | Volvo | – h : – m : – s |
| 9th International Swedish Rally 1958 |
– | 1 | Gunnar Andersson | Volvo | – h : – m : – s |
| 10th International Swedish Rally 1959 |
– | 1 | Erik Carlsson | Saab 93 | – h : – m : – s |
| 11th International Swedish Rally 1960 |
– | 1 | Carl-Magnus Skogh | Saab | – h : – m : – s |
| 12th International Swedish Rally 1961 |
– | 1 | Carl-Magnus Skogh | Saab | – h : – m : – s |
| 13th International Swedish Rally 1962 |
– | 1 | Bengt Söderström | British Motor Corporation | – h : – m : – s |
| 14th International Swedish Rally 1963 |
– | 1 | Berndt Jansson | Porsche | – h : – m : – s |
| 15th International Swedish Rally 1964 |
– | 1 | Tom Trana | Volvo | – h : – m : – s |
| 16th International Swedish Rally 1965 |
– | 1 | Tom Trana | Volvo | – h : – m : – s |
| 17th International Swedish Rally 1966 |
– | 1 | Åke Andersson | Saab | – h : – m : – s |
| 18th International Swedish Rally 1967 |
– | 1 | Bengt Söderström | Ford | – h : – m : – s |
| 19th International Swedish Rally 1968 |
– | 1 | Björn Waldegård Lars Helmér |
Porsche | – h : – m : – s |
| 20th International Swedish Rally 1969 |
– | 1 | Björn Waldegård Lars Helmér |
Porsche 911 L | 13 h : 21 m : 42 s |
1970 through 1985
| Rally name | Stages | Podium finishers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Driver Co-driver |
Team Car |
Time | ||
| 21st International Swedish Rally 11 to 15 February 1970 Round 2 of the International Championship for Manufacturers |
40 stages 1282 km |
1 | Björn Waldegård Lars Helmér |
Porsche 911S | 12 h : 20 m : 50 s |
| 2 | Stig Blomqvist Bo Reinicke |
Saab 96 V4 | 12 h : 44 m : 6 s | ||
| 3 | Lillebror Nasenius Björn Cederberg |
Opel Kadett Rallye | 12 h : 59 m : 33 s | ||
| 22nd International Swedish Rally 17 to 21 February 1971 Round 2 of the International Championship for Manufacturers |
39 stages | 1 | Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz |
Saab 96 V4 | 8 h : 35 m : 29 s |
| 2 | Lars Nyström Gunnar Nyström |
BMW 2002 TI | 8 h : 40 m : 42 s | ||
| 3 | Harry Källström Gunnar Häggborn |
Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF | 8 h : 41 m : 36 s | ||
| 23rd International Swedish Rally 17 to 20 February 1972 Round 2 of the International Championship for Manufacturers |
37 stages 802 km |
1 | Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz |
Saab 96 V4 | 7 h : 43 m : 28 s |
| 2 | Björn Waldegård Lars Helmér |
Porsche 911S | 7 h : 47 m : 44 s | ||
| 3 | Harry Källström Gunnar Häggborn |
Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF | 7 h : 52 m : 32 s | ||
| 24th International Swedish Rally 15 to 18 February 1973 Round 2 of the 1973 World Rally Championship |
36 stages 1800 km |
1 | Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz |
Saab 96 V4 | 9 h : 18 m : 31 s |
| 2 | Per Eklund Rolf Carlsson |
Saab 96 V4 | 9 h : 20 m : 53 s | ||
| 3 | Jean-Luc Thérier Marcel Callewaert |
Alpine Renault A110 1800 | 9 h : 34 m : 12 s | ||
| 1974 rally cancelled | |||||
| 25th International Swedish Rally 13 to 15 February 1975 Round 2 of the 1975 World Rally Championship |
40 stages 800 km |
1 | Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius |
Lancia Stratos HF | 7 h : 19 m : 46 s |
| 2 | Stig Blomqvist Hans Sylvan |
Saab 96 V4 | 7 h : 21 m : 33 s | ||
| 3 | Simo Lampinen Sölve Andreasson |
Lancia Beta Coupé | 7 h : 31 m : 22 s | ||
| 26th International Swedish Rally 20 to 22 February 1976 Round 2 of the 1976 World Rally Championship |
34 stages 722 km |
1 | Per Eklund Björn Cederberg |
Saab 96 V4 | 8 h : 8 m : 26 s |
| 2 | Stig Blomqvist Hans Sylvan |
Saab 96 V4 | 8 h : 10 m : 2 s | ||
| 3 | Anders Kulläng Claes-Göran Andersson |
Opel Ascona | 8 h : 31 m : 10 s | ||
| 27th International Swedish Rally 11 to 13 February 1977 Round 2 of the 1977 World Rally Championship Round 3 of the 1977 FIA Cup for Rally Drivers |
472 km | 1 | Stig Blomqvist Hans Sylvan |
Saab 99 EMS | 8 h : 2 m : 17 s |
| 2 | Bror Danielsson Ulf Sundberg |
Opel Kadett GT/E | 8 h : 8 m : 19 s | ||
| 3 | Anders Kulläng Bruno Berglund |
Opel Kadett GT/E | 8 h : 8 m : 32 s | ||
| 28th International Swedish Rally 10 to 12 February 1978 Round 2 of the 1978 World Rally Championship Round 3 of the 1978 FIA Cup for Rally Drivers |
39 stages 615 km |
1 | Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius |
Ford Escort RS1800 | 6 h : 42 m : 40 s |
| 2 | Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz |
Ford Escort RS1800 | 6 h : 44 m : 8 s | ||
| 3 | Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki |
Fiat 131 Abarth | 6 h : 45 m : 26 s | ||
| 29th International Swedish Rally 16 to 18 February 1979 Round 2 of the 1979 World Rally Championship |
38 stages 630 km |
1 | Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg |
Saab 99 Turbo | 6 h : 34 m : 49 s |
| 2 | Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius |
Ford Escort RS1800 | 6 h : 36 m : 9 s | ||
| 3 | Pentti Airikkala Risto Virtanen |
Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS | 6 h : 39 m : 31 s | ||
| 30th International Swedish Rally 15 to 17 February 1980 Round 2 of the 1980 World Rally Championship for Drivers |
29 stages 414.5 km |
1 | Anders Kulläng Bruno Berglund |
Opel Euro Handler Opel Ascona 400 |
4 h : 17 m : 52 s |
| 2 | Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg |
Saab Scania Saab 99 Turbo |
4 h : 19 m : 22 s | ||
| 3 | Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius |
Fiat Sweden Fiat 131 Abarth |
4 h : 21 m : 39 s | ||
| 31st International Swedish Rally 13 to 15 February 1981 Round 2 of the 1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers |
stages km |
1 | Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz |
Audi Sport Audi Quattro |
3 h : 48 m : 7 s |
| 2 | Ari Vatanen David Richards |
Rothmans Rally Team Ford Escort RS1800 |
3 h : 50 m : 0 s | ||
| 3 | Pentti Airikkala Risto Virtanen |
Rothmans Rally Team Ford Escort RS1800 |
3 h : 51 m : 47 s | ||
| 32nd International Swedish Rally 12 to 14 February 1982 Round 2 of the 1982 World Rally Championship for Drivers |
25 stages 358 km |
1 | Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg |
Audi Sport Sweden Audi Quattro |
3 h : 40 m : 15 s |
| 2 | Ari Vatanen Terry Harryman |
David Sutton Motorsport Ford Escort RS1800 |
3 h : 42 m : 51 s | ||
| 3 | Walter Röhrl Christian Geistdörfer |
Rothmans Opel Rally Team Opel Ascona 400 |
3 h : 44 m : 29 s | ||
| 33rd International Swedish Rally 11 to 13 February 1983 Round 2 of the 1983 World Rally Championship for Drivers |
24 stages 466 km |
1 | Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz |
Audi Sport Audi Quattro A1 |
4 h : 28 m : 47 s |
| 2 | Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg |
Audi Sport Audi 80 Quattro |
4 h : 29 m : 34 s | ||
| 3 | Lasse Lampi Pentti Kuukkala |
Privateer Audi Quattro A1 |
4 h : 32 m : 51 s | ||
| 34th International Swedish Rally 10 to 12 February 1984 Round 2 of the 1984 World Rally Championship for Drivers |
27 stages 450 km |
1 | Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg |
Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 |
4 h : 16 m : 45 s |
| 2 | Michèle Mouton Fabrizia Pons |
Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 |
4 h : 24 m : 12 s | ||
| 3 | Per Eklund Dave Whittock |
Clarion Audi Quattro A2 |
4 h : 33 m : 27 s | ||
| 35th International Swedish Rally 15 to 17 February 1985 Round 2 of the 1985 World Rally Championship |
29 stages 505 km |
1 | Ari Vatanen Terry Harryman |
Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 |
4 h : 38 m : 49 s |
| 2 | Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg |
Audi Sport Audi Sport Quattro |
4 h : 40 m : 38 s | ||
| 3 | Timo Salonen Seppo Harjanne |
Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 |
4 h : 42 m : 15 s | ||
1986 through 1999
2000—
Multiple winners
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See also
References
- ^ "Sunday in Sweden: Neuville Wins in Sweden". wrc.com. WRC. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- ^ "Sunday in Sweden:Victory for ice-cool Tänak". wrc.com. WRC. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Rally Sweden moves north to Umeå". Rally Sweden: Closer to Rally. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.