WRC Sweden: Östberg fastest in Shakedown.

"Fred (FreddsterExprs)" (freddsterexprs)
02/05/2014 at 07:34 • Filed to: WRC Sweden, Rally, Shakedown

The second round of the WRC championship kicked of today in Sweden. WRC Sweden is the only event that consists of snow only, and therefore Michelin teams and the sole Pirelli car of Hennign Solberg are equipped with tiny spiked tires. Not loosing any of the spikes is going to be key as they provide insane amounts of grip, with cars reaching 200kph on the hilly forest roads. Mikko Hirvonen was one of the drivers who took it slow to save his precious Michelins and later apologised on twitter to his fans.

Citroen driver and former Sweden podium finisher Mads Östberg came out on top with a time of 1:55.8 minutes, 0.4 seconds faster than Latvala and his Polo R. Kris Meeke, who showed a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , put the second Citroen in third. Even a crash that resulted in his car being towed away and quickly fixed by the mechanics couldn't stop him.

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The first big surprise was the fourth fastest driver: Henning Solberg, brother of World Champion Petter, came to speeds very quickly after not racing in a WRC car for nearly a year. It also is a great sign for Pirelli as they made a come back to top tier rally. For this year they won't supply any top teams with tires but are aiming for privateers. That might change in 2015 and we would have another competitive tire war.

Hyundai will also be keen to finish this time after Neuville crashed his brand new i20 last time and Sordo's car was stopped by electronic problems. Jahu Hänninen will take his place as scheduled, and the focus will be on having a trouble free event.

At 20pm local time the Rally will start with the first stage of 24. Mind you, there will be no action on Sunday thanks to the Sotchi Olympics. In order to avoid TV conflicts, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the days the best drivers will tackle the icy Swedish Roads.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! pointed out that you will be able to watch some stages live:

SS1 Karlstad , SS20 Värmullsåsen 1 and SS24 Värmullsåsen 2 (Power Stage) are shown live. I'll be watching on Swedish TV, but if your local TV doesn't send the WRC you can check out this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for some online streams

Make sure to also enter !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and consult the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! if you are unsure about the sport or how to get your dose of offroad racing.

Results Shakedown:

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01. Östberg, DS3 WRC 1:55,8 Min.

02. Latvala, Polo R WRC 1:56,2

03. Meeke, DS3 WRC 1:56,6

04. H. Solberg, Fiesta WRC 1:57,2

05. Neuville, i20 WRC 1:58,0

06. Breen, Fiesta WRC 1:58,4

07. Hänninen, i20 WRC 1:59,9

08. Kubica, Fiesta WRC 2:01,4

09. Tidemand, Fiesta WRC 2:02,8

10. Ogier, Polo R WRC 2:03,1

11. Tänak, Fiesta WRC 2:03,7

12. Prokop, Fiesta WRC 2:06,4

13. Solowow, Fiesta WRC 2:10,7

14. Al-Qassimi, DS3 WRC 2:11,2

15. Evans, Fiesta WRC 2:13,8

16. Hirvonen, Fiesta WRC 2:23,9

17. Mikkelsen, Polo R WRC 2:24,9

Picture Credit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

DISCUSSION (3)

Hoccy > Fred (FreddsterExprs)
02/05/2014 at 07:59

I've said that this event is between Østberg and Latvala this year, so I'm happy to see that they've had a good shakedown. Hopefully we can get a solid battle this year.

Also, I'm impressed with Henning. If he can keep that speed through the event he should finish in the points, maybe even top 5.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Hoccy
02/05/2014 at 08:05

Didn't know about the Live Stages, going to edit that in!

I am betting on Östberg as well. Meeke is fast in general, but it's his first snow rally. The only real rivals could be Latvala and Ogier. Hirvonen still doesn't seem comfortable in his Fiesta, so he can't be a threat.

Dusty Ventures > Hoccy
02/05/2014 at 21:45

Henning's scored points in 7 of his last 9 visits to Sweden. So long as he stays on the road he should come away with something