The FIA World Rally Championship ventures deep into the frozen forests of Sweden this week for round two of the season. Read on for a comprehensive guide to all the stages the crews will face.
SS1/SS8: Umeå Sprint (5.16km)
A centrally located sprint stage featuring several sharp road changes and hairpins, interspersed with some truly high-speed straights. The stage concludes at The Red Barn Arena in front of a large crowd, with three spectacular jumps and speeds reaching up to 150kph.
SS2/SS5: Bygdsiljum (28.27km)
The stage begins with a fast forest road and features several sections where drivers and co-drivers must hit their marks to maintain speed for the rest of the stage. After a left turn, the stage reaches Rönnliden, with a large spectator area where fans can watch the cars descend towards a tight hairpin right before accelerating around Lake Välvsjön. This section transitions from a fast village road to narrow and technical rally roads with several crests and curves.
SS3/SS6: Andersvattnet (20.51km)
A new stage for 2025. It begins with a relatively fast section leading to Storberget, where there are several challenging curve combinations between houses. It continues into a tight hairpin right descending towards Hösjöälven, where the road narrows and features a technical section and a significant crest. After several kilometres on a narrower road, the stage opens up slightly and concludes with approximately 10km of beautifully winding forest road leading to the finish.
SS4/SS7: Bäck (10.80km)
A unique stage with the start and finish located close to each other. It begins on a fast village road leading to a sharp left turn in Näs. It then opens up with fields on both sides. Upon entering the forest, the stage changes character, becoming much narrower and more technical. After another sharp left turn, a very fast section begins heading north towards the village of Rickleå, where the next left turn lies between houses. The stage then continues along a fast village road, ending at the finish in Bäck.
SS9/SS12: Vännäs (15.65km)
One of the most famous rally stages in Västerbotten, used in the Swedish Rally Championship
The entry list for Rally Sweden, round two of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship oasts 12 cars in the headline Rally1 category.
British squad M-Sport Ford will field an expanded line-up for Puma Rally1s for the WRC’s only pure snow fixture, which takes place from 13 – 16 February and is based in the Swedish city of Umeå.
Alongside full-time drivers Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean, Latvian talent Mārtiņš Sesks begins his much-anticipated half-season programme in the frozen forests, while gentleman driver Jourdan Serderidis also joins the squad in a fourth Puma Rally1.
Hyundai Motorsport has entered three i20 N Rally1 cars, led by reigning world champion Thierry Neuville. Joining him are two-time Rally Sweden winner Ott Tänak and Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux.
Defending manufacturers’ champions Toyota GAZOO Racing, meanwhile, will field an impressive five GR Yaris Rally1 cars with points-scoring duties for the main team falling to two-time champion Kalle Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta. Sami Pajari is entered under Toyota’s B-team while Italy’s Lorenzo Bertelli, piloting a rented car, is not scoring points for the manufacturer.
Although Oliver Solberg will contest Rallye Monte-Carlo next week, the GR Yaris Rally2 driver’s WRC2 season officially begins in Sweden with the youngster opting to count his home event as his first point-scoring opportunity of the year.
2017 WRC2 champion Pontus Tidemand, who enjoyed a handful of top-level outings with M-Sport in 2019, returns to the championship after almost five years away in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Other drivers to watch in the premier support category include Lauri Joona, Robert Virves, Fau Zaldivar and Mikko Heikkilä as well as rising stars like Roope Korhonen and Romet Jürgenson.
The WRC3 field also looks strong, additionally bolstered by the opening round of the Junior WRC for which the entrants were revealed on Thursday. Drivers like Matteo Fontana, Peru’s Andre Martinez and Finland’s Ville Vatanen are among those set to compete for honours in the third tier.
