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The Swedish rally impressively enters its 75th year.
And there have been some changes to the popular car race.
– That makes the rally competition so spectacular and an experience out of the ordinary, admits SVT expert Jonas Kruse.
As early as 1950, the very first Swedish rally was run and since 1965 it has been a purely winter rally. Over the years, it has become Sweden’s largest annually recurring event with around 200,000 spectators at most and roughly 100 million television viewers around the world.
The SVT expert’s words
As it now enters its 75th year, a big change will take place. The tire manufacturer Hankook takes over the distribution and will ensure a much better and more even competition to continue the fine tradition of the world’s unique rally sport.
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Because there really is something very special about Rally Sweden, as the competition is now officially called. Jonas Kruselong-time SVT expert on motor sports and project manager at the Swedish Motor Sports Association, gets really warm when he talks about his favorite race.
– The Swedish rally has been in Värmland for many, many years. It has built its tradition there and it is the only competition in the World Rally Championship that is on snow and ice with real studded tyres. It has become very special and created a strong story. My father took me to the Swedish Rally and that has been the case in many other generations as well, he says in an interview.
– With the difficulty, the high average speed and the challenge that the Swedish Rally entails, it is one of the fastest and most fast-paced competitions in the WC. It makes the rally competition so spectacular, an experience out of the ordinary and it has gained a high status among the drivers as the person who wins Rally Sweden is a complete rally driver.
World-class rallying
In 2022, the folk festival left the forests in Värmland after a full 50 years for a move 80 miles up to Umeå instead. Even if it feels different for a Värmlander like SVT expert Kruse, he praises the move up to Västerbotten.
– As a Värmlander, it is of course tough to see it move, with all the traditions that have been. But when you get up to Umeå and see how nice the winter rally is there, it’s much more of a winter rally now in the eye of the beholder.
– Umeå has done very well with shorter transports and more environmental thinking. Much is in the middle of town, the service station itself and the public section “Red Barn”. There are no great distances to the routes and there is a simplicity in Umeå. They have taken care of the rally in a very good way, with a holistic approach and with an important environmental approach. But it still hurts a little in the heart.
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For the upcoming Swedish rally, which will be decided on February 13-16, 2025, it will be even better. Largely thanks to the help of South Korean Hankook, from 2025 to 2027 the manufacturer has been given the great honor of taking care of tire management for the entire World Rally Championship.
Hankook takes over
In order to achieve absolutely world-class rally driving in a much better way.
– Hankook has now been given the task that there should be a final fight around the tires. There has been quite a lot of negative criticism in batches against previous tire manufacturers. The FIA (International Motorsport Federation) does not want to see more of that. They want it to be a much more durable tire, Kruse says of the change.
– The information I have says that Hankook will make a more durable and strong winter tire that will resist punctures and at the same time be a fast winter tire. It’s a huge challenge for Hankook with the World Rally Championship and they’ve really embraced the opportunity in an exciting way to make it as good as possible.
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Now the Swedish public also hopes to see a blue-yellow driver win the WC race on home soil, the last time it happened was in 1997.
– We are very good at driving and if we compare with Finland, we are at least as good at driving as them. I actually want to stick my chin out and say that until the Junior World Rally Championship we are even better, says TV expert Jonas Kruse and gives his view of it.
– Then it’s a matter of us having to get the money needed to send the drivers on after the Junior WC. So that they get the development they need. There, more money and more resources are needed for our Swedish drivers from the business world.
He then points out Oliver Solberg as the great hope for Swedish rally sport going forward. In February, we will get the answer to who will be this year’s winner of the Swedish Rally, and now Hankook is offering the unique opportunity for two people to see the classic race live in Umeå.
– I am looking forward to a super successful competition in sunshine, with lots of snow and ice. Party conditions would be one and a half meters of snow bank and 10 degrees cold, says Jonas about the expectations.
READ MORE: The rally world’s best friend is 74-year-old Kenneth Hermansson: “Colin McRae was wild”
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