Swedish Rally 7th - 10th February 2008
LATVALA FOCUSES TO BECOME YOUNGEST WINNER
Leg 1 - Mild weather affected the running of the 2008 rally, with temperatures above freezing point melting the snow and ice on the stage surfaces with each passing car and exposing the gravel underneath. As would become traditional, the Karlstad Superspecial kicked off the event on Thursday evening and Subaru's Petter Solberg topped the leaderboard by 0.5 seconds from the factory Focuses of Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen, another 0.4 seconds back - the hopes of the works Ford squad rested with the two Finns after the retirement of Marcus Grönholm at the end of 2007. Into the forests for SS2, Stensjön 1, and Hirvonen started brightly by besting Sébastien Loeb by 3.3 seconds, who was running first on the road and starting his 100th WRC rally, as the theory of the later runners having more grip appeared to hold true. Running tenth on the road, Latvala beat his teammate's benchmark by 3.3 seconds and moved into a 3.7-second lead. Slotting into fourth was Mads Østberg in his privately entered Subaru, after setting an impressive third fastest time in SS2, which placed him ahead of the works-run Imprezas. Petter Solberg, who led into the stage, fell behind the Stobart Focuses of older brother Henning and Gigi Galli to languish in seventh. In eighth sat the two-time, and reigning, JWRC champion Per-Gunnar Andersson in the new Suzuki SX4 WRC. After moving up to seventh in SS3, the Swede's engine blew in SS4, Mangen 1, and forced him out of the rally. Mangen also saw the effective demise of Loeb, who rolled in the stage after being sucked into a snowbank. The reigning three-time world champion was able to reach the remote service which followed but got little further, engine and clutch woes stopping him on the next road section. Also in SS4, Østberg blunted his sharp start with a spin and dropped to eighth. Latvala continued to add to his buffer throughout the morning to lead by 23.0 seconds at the remote service, the Focus having gone fastest through SS3 and then taken a whopping 17.4 seconds from Hirvonen in SS4. The Finnish youngster's domination continued into the afternoon loop with the fastest time on each of the three forest stages and also besting Hirvonen by 0.2 seconds on the first run of the Hagfors Sprint stage, which extended his margin over his teammate to a healthy 48.2 seconds at day's end. Italian Galli closed the gap to third-placed Stobart-VK stablemate Henning Solberg down to 5.6 seconds across the afternoon, helped by a rapid run through SS7, Mangen 2, some 9.0 seconds faster than the Norwegian as Ford Focus WRCs filled the top four positions.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC 1:03:33.3
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Focus WRC +48.2
3. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud - Ford Focus WRC +56.3
4. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini - Ford Focus WRC +1:02.0
5. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC +1:45.2
6. Mads Østberg/Ole Kristian Unnerud - Subaru Impreza WRC +2:15.1
Leg 2 - The day started in a foggy SS9, Horsjön 1 - the most southerly stage on the schedule, and Latvala was able to add 4.9 seconds to his lead from Hirvonen, despite only being fourth-fastest through the stage. Hirvonen, however, was able to repel the threat from Henning Solberg after the Norwegian finished the stage with his left-front tyre off the rim. The Stobart Focus fell 8.0 seconds behind teammate Galli into fourth as a result. Henning recovered 4.7 seconds of the deficit in SS10, Hagfors 1, so trailed by 3.3 seconds going into SS11, Vargåsen 1, but spins mid-stage and hits a bridge, spelling retirement on the spot. The incident promoted younger brother Petter into fourth place. After ceding another 9.0 seconds to his rally-leading teammate in SS10, Hirvonen took back 8.2 seconds from his fellow Finn in SS11 but the lead still stood at a comfortable 53.9 seconds at service. The Ford man was only able to prize 4.1 seconds more from Latvala's lead across the afternoon's pair of stages, the loop having lost the second run of Horsjön due to the mild conditions, so sat 49.8 seconds behind his Ford stablemate heading into Sunday. Rally leader Latvala survived a mild scare in SS13, Hagfors 2, when he sideswiped a bale. Galli ended the day in third and held a solid 1 minute 05.0 seconds margin over Petter Solberg in fourth, Briton Matthew Wilson completed the top five in a third Stobart Ford.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC 2:03:53.7
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Focus WRC +49.8
3. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini - Ford Focus WRC +1:35.9
4. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC +2:40.9
5. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin - Ford Focus WRC +4:37.6
6. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløne - Ford Focus WRC +4:48.1
Leg 3 - Sunday's action would take place over five stages after SS18, Ullen 2, fell foul of the mild conditions, with the damage to the road too severe after the first pass. Rally leader Latvala was only beaten by his teammate Hirvonen once during the day, by a scant 0.1 seconds, so romped to a 58.3-second victory and became the youngest WRC rally winner in the process. The Stobart Focus of Galli scored a podium finish with third but there was disappointment for his teammate Matthew Wilson, a sticking throttle putting him out in SS19, Lesjöfors 2. Gaining fifth place as a result was teenager Andreas Mikkelsen, who followed home his fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg in fourth. Petter's older brother Henning was able to rejoin the rally for the final day and would set a clean sweep of the fastest stage times to finish in fourteenth.
Top 10 Results
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC 2:46:41.2
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Focus WRC 2:47:39.5 +58.3
3. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini - Ford Focus WRC 2:49:04.4 +2:23.2 +1:24.9
4. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC 2:49:40.6 +2:59.4 +36.2
5. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene - Ford Focus WRC 2:52:27.2 +5:46.0 +2:46.6
6. Dani Sordo/Marc Martí - Citroën C4 WRC 2:53:54.3 +7:13.1 +1:27.1
7. Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen - Suzuki SX4 WRC 2:57:16.5 +10:35.3 +3:22.2
8. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:59:08.7 +12:27.5 +1:52.2
9. Mads Østberg/Ole Kristian Unnerud - Subaru Impreza WRC 3:00:09.7 +13:28.5 +1:01.5
10. Jari Ketomaa/Miikka Teiskonen - Subaru Impreza STi N12 3:00:31.9 +13:50.7 +22.2
Latvala quote - "The guy who was before me was Henri Toivonen and he was 24 years old and he is a big idol of mine and in, uhh, my secret mind I have been thinking that I want to beat this record and, uhh, actually we did it! And we did it here in Sweden. It's unbelievable feeling!"
Leg 1 - Mild weather affected the running of the 2008 rally, with temperatures above freezing point melting the snow and ice on the stage surfaces with each passing car and exposing the gravel underneath. As would become traditional, the Karlstad Superspecial kicked off the event on Thursday evening and Subaru's Petter Solberg topped the leaderboard by 0.5 seconds from the factory Focuses of Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen, another 0.4 seconds back - the hopes of the works Ford squad rested with the two Finns after the retirement of Marcus Grönholm at the end of 2007. Into the forests for SS2, Stensjön 1, and Hirvonen started brightly by besting Sébastien Loeb by 3.3 seconds, who was running first on the road and starting his 100th WRC rally, as the theory of the later runners having more grip appeared to hold true. Running tenth on the road, Latvala beat his teammate's benchmark by 3.3 seconds and moved into a 3.7-second lead. Slotting into fourth was Mads Østberg in his privately entered Subaru, after setting an impressive third fastest time in SS2, which placed him ahead of the works-run Imprezas. Petter Solberg, who led into the stage, fell behind the Stobart Focuses of older brother Henning and Gigi Galli to languish in seventh. In eighth sat the two-time, and reigning, JWRC champion Per-Gunnar Andersson in the new Suzuki SX4 WRC. After moving up to seventh in SS3, the Swede's engine blew in SS4, Mangen 1, and forced him out of the rally. Mangen also saw the effective demise of Loeb, who rolled in the stage after being sucked into a snowbank. The reigning three-time world champion was able to reach the remote service which followed but got little further, engine and clutch woes stopping him on the next road section. Also in SS4, Østberg blunted his sharp start with a spin and dropped to eighth. Latvala continued to add to his buffer throughout the morning to lead by 23.0 seconds at the remote service, the Focus having gone fastest through SS3 and then taken a whopping 17.4 seconds from Hirvonen in SS4. The Finnish youngster's domination continued into the afternoon loop with the fastest time on each of the three forest stages and also besting Hirvonen by 0.2 seconds on the first run of the Hagfors Sprint stage, which extended his margin over his teammate to a healthy 48.2 seconds at day's end. Italian Galli closed the gap to third-placed Stobart-VK stablemate Henning Solberg down to 5.6 seconds across the afternoon, helped by a rapid run through SS7, Mangen 2, some 9.0 seconds faster than the Norwegian as Ford Focus WRCs filled the top four positions.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC 1:03:33.3
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Focus WRC +48.2
3. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud - Ford Focus WRC +56.3
4. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini - Ford Focus WRC +1:02.0
5. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC +1:45.2
6. Mads Østberg/Ole Kristian Unnerud - Subaru Impreza WRC +2:15.1
Leg 2 - The day started in a foggy SS9, Horsjön 1 - the most southerly stage on the schedule, and Latvala was able to add 4.9 seconds to his lead from Hirvonen, despite only being fourth-fastest through the stage. Hirvonen, however, was able to repel the threat from Henning Solberg after the Norwegian finished the stage with his left-front tyre off the rim. The Stobart Focus fell 8.0 seconds behind teammate Galli into fourth as a result. Henning recovered 4.7 seconds of the deficit in SS10, Hagfors 1, so trailed by 3.3 seconds going into SS11, Vargåsen 1, but spins mid-stage and hits a bridge, spelling retirement on the spot. The incident promoted younger brother Petter into fourth place. After ceding another 9.0 seconds to his rally-leading teammate in SS10, Hirvonen took back 8.2 seconds from his fellow Finn in SS11 but the lead still stood at a comfortable 53.9 seconds at service. The Ford man was only able to prize 4.1 seconds more from Latvala's lead across the afternoon's pair of stages, the loop having lost the second run of Horsjön due to the mild conditions, so sat 49.8 seconds behind his Ford stablemate heading into Sunday. Rally leader Latvala survived a mild scare in SS13, Hagfors 2, when he sideswiped a bale. Galli ended the day in third and held a solid 1 minute 05.0 seconds margin over Petter Solberg in fourth, Briton Matthew Wilson completed the top five in a third Stobart Ford.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC 2:03:53.7
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Focus WRC +49.8
3. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini - Ford Focus WRC +1:35.9
4. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC +2:40.9
5. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin - Ford Focus WRC +4:37.6
6. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløne - Ford Focus WRC +4:48.1
Leg 3 - Sunday's action would take place over five stages after SS18, Ullen 2, fell foul of the mild conditions, with the damage to the road too severe after the first pass. Rally leader Latvala was only beaten by his teammate Hirvonen once during the day, by a scant 0.1 seconds, so romped to a 58.3-second victory and became the youngest WRC rally winner in the process. The Stobart Focus of Galli scored a podium finish with third but there was disappointment for his teammate Matthew Wilson, a sticking throttle putting him out in SS19, Lesjöfors 2. Gaining fifth place as a result was teenager Andreas Mikkelsen, who followed home his fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg in fourth. Petter's older brother Henning was able to rejoin the rally for the final day and would set a clean sweep of the fastest stage times to finish in fourteenth.
Top 10 Results
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC 2:46:41.2
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Focus WRC 2:47:39.5 +58.3
3. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini - Ford Focus WRC 2:49:04.4 +2:23.2 +1:24.9
4. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills - Subaru Impreza WRC 2:49:40.6 +2:59.4 +36.2
5. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene - Ford Focus WRC 2:52:27.2 +5:46.0 +2:46.6
6. Dani Sordo/Marc Martí - Citroën C4 WRC 2:53:54.3 +7:13.1 +1:27.1
7. Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen - Suzuki SX4 WRC 2:57:16.5 +10:35.3 +3:22.2
8. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:59:08.7 +12:27.5 +1:52.2
9. Mads Østberg/Ole Kristian Unnerud - Subaru Impreza WRC 3:00:09.7 +13:28.5 +1:01.5
10. Jari Ketomaa/Miikka Teiskonen - Subaru Impreza STi N12 3:00:31.9 +13:50.7 +22.2
Latvala quote - "The guy who was before me was Henri Toivonen and he was 24 years old and he is a big idol of mine and in, uhh, my secret mind I have been thinking that I want to beat this record and, uhh, actually we did it! And we did it here in Sweden. It's unbelievable feeling!"
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PWRC - Juho Hänninen made up for the disappointment of losing his 2007 PWRC category win in Sweden by taking the honours in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. The event really belonged to 2006 JWRC champion Patrik Sandell in a Peugeot 207 S2000, the Swede had relieved early leader Jari Ketomaa of the position after SS5, Stensjön 2, and held the lead until SS14, Vargåsen 2, when a trip into a snowbank cost him more than two and a half minutes. Hänninen moved into a lead he wasn't to lose, over a minute ahead of Ketomaa, having kept Sandell more than honest and was only 5.4 seconds behind going into SS14. The Mitsubishi driver claimed the win by 1 minute 23.2 seconds from Ketomaa's Subaru. Sandell won each of the last three stages as he fought back to third and was within half a minute of Ketomaa (28.6 seconds) at the finish. Attrition in the WRC field allowed both Hänninen and Ketomaa to score world championship points with eighth and tenth-placed overall finishes respectively, whilst Sandell just missed out in eleventh.
1. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:59:08.7
2. Jari Ketomaa/Miika Teiskonen - Subaru Impreza STi 3:00:31.9 +1:23.2
3. Patrik Sandell/Emil Axelsson - Peugeot 207 S2000 3:01:00.5 +1:51.8
1. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:59:08.7
2. Jari Ketomaa/Miika Teiskonen - Subaru Impreza STi 3:00:31.9 +1:23.2
3. Patrik Sandell/Emil Axelsson - Peugeot 207 S2000 3:01:00.5 +1:51.8
Rally Sweden SM
Disappointingly, but not unexpectedly, the mild conditions saw the new National rally cancelled, the event would've counted towards the Swedish National championship. A pity because it featured a superb entry of over 100 cars.
Disappointingly, but not unexpectedly, the mild conditions saw the new National rally cancelled, the event would've counted towards the Swedish National championship. A pity because it featured a superb entry of over 100 cars.