With that said, I’m of course following Rally Sweden this weekend. I won’t blog about it – but I’ll try to post interesting stuff on Twitter when things happen…

Follow @maxattackblog on Twitter here:
http://www.twitter.com/maxattackblog

Stay tuned – one day I’ll be back for real!

Russian finance man and Spyker investor Vladimir Antonov with co-driver Denis Giraudet driving a SAAB 99 in Midnattssolsrallyt earlier this summer. Foto: Mikael Hjerpe

According to Autosport.com, the loose rumours about SAAB thinking about a comeback into the WRC has now went on to real talks with the WRC organisers and the TV promotor North One.

The car models tipped to be used by the Swedish brand is 9-1 or 9-2 and the engine would probably come from BMW, that has already developed the 1.6L engine for the new MINI team entering the championship from 2011.

The rumours about a comeback into the WRC first started when Spyker was introduced as a potential buyer of SAAB from General Motors – probably much based on Spykers sporty profile and the fact that the brand had a big and expensive, but not very successful, team in Formula 1 just a few years ago. Also, SAAB MD Jan Åke Jonsson and Spyker MD Viktor Mueller recently took park in the classical Mille Miglia rally in one Saab 93 each. The Russian finance man and Spyker investor Vladimir Antonov wasn’t late to follow them and entered the classical Swedish competition Midnattssolsrallyt in a SAAB 99 in July (see photo above). Considering SAAB’s heritage in the rallying circus, one could at least hope for a better success in the World Rally Championship than in Formula 1, despite the economical troubles that is still very much a reality to the company.

Autosport’s sources claims that Spyker representatives has already been speaking to the WRC organisers and North One Sport, and will continue the talks in connection to Rallye de France in October. However, North One MD Simon Long refuses to comment on any specific brands but admits that MINI’s decision “has given people a lot of confidence in the sport”.

In today’s NWT Peter tells that he has installed active differentials and paddle gearshift in his car – a Volvo 940(!!!). That’s quite amazing!

So, now you think: “Who cares about Zachrisson?”. Peter had a few OK chances a some years ago doing the Swedish Rally and planning an international career, but sadly it never really happened for him because of financial trouble. However, Peter is a hell of a driver and I tell you – watch this video, and then you’ll care. Especially – listen to the sound when he passes in front of the camera:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks to Adielssonmotorsport for the video.

All photos are taken by Rasmus Bjerén and protected by copyright. If you wanna share them, please link to this post and do not copy the image or link directly to it!

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Thanks to Mikael Hjerpe for this!

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Thanks to Hedlund80 for the videos.

Some of Sandell's new livery exposed at the successful test in Norway. Photo: James Holms

Patrik Sandell with co-driver Emil Axelsson have spent the day testing on snow in Norway with their car for the 2010 season, the Red Bull Skoda Fabia Super2000.

Sandell himself said at the test:

- We’re doing just fine. It was good to do a rally in Norway last weekend, so we didn’t have to start at zero now. We are doing some small adjustments to the dampers to find the right setup for Rally Sweden, but the feeling is really good. Since it has snowed so much this winter the roads will be narrower than in 2008, which will make the speed go down. However, it will still be a fast rally so we chose a fast test road to see have the Skoda behaves in full speed bends.

Patrik, who will drive in the new S-WRC / WRC Cup class, continues:

- The competition in the rally will be the best we have ever met. PG is driving exactly the same car on a wild card and will be incredibly fast, so he will probably be our biggest challenge. But even Prokop and Tuohino will be there fighting for the points, he concludes.

Karlstad Super Special Stage this afternoon. Photo: Mikael Hjerpe

A friend of mine in Karlstad just gave me a report of the conditions at the Karlstad Super Special Stage, where Rally Sweden is set to kick off on Thursday . The stage will also be run a second time on Friday evening.

The conditions are perfect with ice, snow and a temperature of +2 in the sun and -4 in the shadows. This is perfect since it allows for the upper surface to melt just a little to then freeze once again. The organiser also monitors the surface a long time before the rally and makes sure to build up a thick level of ice on the track.

Just watch the beautiful picture!?!

Daniel Carlsson with co-driver Bosse Holmstrand enjoying perfect snow conditions of solid ice covered with a thin layer of loose snow in Uddeholm Swedish Rally 2006. Photo: Rasmus Bjerén

With more than two weeks left before the rally kicks off it’s too early to judge how the weather situation for Rally Sweden will be, but considering the discussions that has always been before the rally in recent years, I can’t avoid thinking about how promising it looks. It has been cold weather since early December in the rally region (and in almost whole Sweden) and currently reports are talking about ca 40 cm’s of snow in the area. That may of course vary locally, but there is snow – no doubt. And then, looking at the forecast for the next 10 days, it shows more snow the next few days and cold weather for the whole period.

The only thing that could improve is the icyness. The snow came immeditely as the temperature had gone sub-zero – and since the snow isolates the ground, that means that the ground isn’t frozen as much as it would preferably be. Without a layer of ice and/or frozen ground, the car will fast blow away the snow and reach the ground that gets muddy and teared up. If it came a short, very short, melting period followed by cold weather again – the snow surface on the roads would get packed, partially melted and then freezed back to ice. That, with a thin or thick layer of fresh snow on top of it would make up the perfect conditions for a winter rally with snow spraying behind the cars, studs staying in the tires and a great winter atmosphere.

However, I think the current conditions are certainly good enough – and better than most times – for a fantastic winter rally. So, let’s not worry and just hope the fantastic conditions stay for the next few weeks, and everything will be just amazing! I have a feeling that Rally Sweden 2010 will be remembered as the best for quite a few years…!

If more movies of Petter in Finnskogsvalsen appear later, they’ll be added to this post – so check back for latest.

NEW! Video with service and some action shots.

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Thanks to bakkis2 for this video.

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Thanks to cnygge for the video.

Driving on SS2:

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The interview:

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Quotes from Petter’s interview:

• “This is most a way to test on many stages and get back to the feeling again”
• “I have one goal this year, and that is to beat Sebastien Loeb. I’m a privateer now and that’s tough, many people probably regard it impossible, but I will try my best and I have a 2009 spec car that should be at least almost the same as the one Loeb will drive. I will do my workouts,eat good and try to get more testing than Sebastien. He will do 15 test days this year, so I have planned 26.”
• Asked on the differences between Petter’s car and the 2010 Citroen works car, Petter says: “Sebastiens gearbox is 4 kg lighter than mine. I could get it, but it would cost me 8M NOK (ca €912.000) more, so I thought I’ll have to lose 4 kg’s myself instead.”
• Talking on when Petter left Subaru, he says: “I had a good time with Subaru and we had many good years, but it came a time without that right philosophy, and then you’ll have to do something. They’ll probably come back some time – but when you don’t fight to win anymore you can’t do anything else [than leaving]. Now it’s Citroen and times have changed, but that’s life. It changes and you can just look forward.”
• “The Citroen and the Ford is very similar cars, but I have a feeling the Citroen is better. Especially since this year’s WRC has many asphalt rallies, where the Citroen is clearly better.”
• “I have one team in Torsby and one in France. The French team is currently preparing my other car for Mexico, and it will be loaded on the containers on Monday. At the same time, Pernilla is working on clothes and other things. Everyone in this team is working all around the day now, very hard.”
• “This is the life of my family and also my wife Pernilla’s family. We all want to win and we’ll try to do it…”

Petter Solberg's car in service during Finnskogsvalsen. Photo: PSWRT

Petter Solberg were fastest through the stages in Swedish local competition Finnskogsvalsen today, as expected (I dare to say this despite the last stage is still running, since Petter is through with a normal time and his advantage on the previous stage is 3min 56 seconds). The Norweigan drove his Citroën C4WRC through a little bit more than 80 km’s of competitive stages and seemed to be really happy about the car. Since he recced and made his own notes for the rally, which is not allowed, Petter took part out of the competition and couldn’t win the rally. This, however, is probably nothing that will give Petter problems sleeping tonight – since the rally was first and foremost a test of his new car before Rally Sweden.

At the same time, a number of big names competed in the Norweigan Championship round Mountain Rally in Norway. Anders Gröndal took the victory from second placed Henning Solberg, who were haunted by mechanical problems in his competitive debut with new co-driver Ilka Minor. Mads Östberg with his Swedish co-driver Jonas Andersson led the rally until he hit a snow bank, forcing him out of the competition. Third was Sveinung Bieltvedt, in a Subaru Impreza.

Of course even Henning, going with a Ford Focus WRC05, used the rally primarily as a preparation for Rally Sweden. In this, he was joined by Andreas Mikkelsen and Eyvind Brynhildsen, among others. Brynhildsen scored a fourth place in his Skoda Fabia S2000 while Mikkelsen scored fifth going with his Subaru Impreza – after being penalised with 1min 20s after having to change gearbox in service. Looking at Mikkelsens time if he wouldn’t have had the penalty, he was only a few seconds after Brynhildsen in his S2000, something that maybe indicates that Mikkelsen can be really, really fast when going into the Fiesta S2000 in Sweden!?

Photos from Finnskogsvalsen at Backmans Foto
Results from Finnskogsvalsen 2010 at Resultatdata
Results from Mountain Rally 2010

Magnus Samuelsson, probably the strongest man in a rally car?! Photo: Gustafssons foto

Now it’s confirmed. As I revealed earlier today, Magnus Samuelsson (World’s Strongest Man) will start Rally Sweden 2010. The team aims to start in the World Rally Championship round, but since they still don’t have a full budget a Swedish Championship start may  be the case instead. Magnus is backed by Fredrik Eljas and Olof Eljas, and the later of them will be responsible for giving Magnus the training needed (not physical, huh!?!) to do the start.

The team will run a 280bhp Subaru Impreza group N of latest spec. Magnus Samuelsson himself comments the start as follows:

- This is my dream as a young boy coming true. I’ve tried “folkrace” before but the dream has always been to drive a real rally car. It will be a true adventure and just the thought of being at the start line along with Loeb and the other boys is breathtaking.

Read the article (in Swedish) at RallySweden.com

The question for me is how the entry will be solved? Magnus is not entered in the WRC round, nor the Swedish Championship. In the Swedish Championship part Hasse Gustafsson is entered with an Impreza – but I doubt the driver can be switched after the entries close. I think that the organiser can accept a late entry if the other competitors in the class accept it, and maybe that’s the way to choose. Or, they may blame the fax and say the entry got late because of their technical problems? A reason that may also be completetly true, of course…

Read more about Magnus Samuelsson on his own website

Also S2000 will be interesting to follow, where home ace Patrik Sandell will be hunted by skilled drivers as Mikkelsen, Brynhildsen, Prokop and Tuohino. Also Solowow, Sousa and Hunt and heavily experienced home ace Per-Arne Sääv, running on the organizers wild card, are entered in S2000 cars.

My current most interesting list (to be updated, for sure!):

• Loeb vs. Hirvonen + Latvala
• Petter vs. Henning
• How fast can Grönholm and Räikkönen be?
• What happens to the Swede superfight in group N: Andersson + Flodin + Nyman?
• The Super2000 superfight: Sandell vs. Mikkelsen + Brynhildsen + Prokop + Tuohino

Every single one of the points above will probably be world class entertainment – and of course I’ll get back with more comments, interviews etc. related to the entries. This is just the start…!

Read the full entrylist here

Patrik Flodin himself, that is now the first ever non-Russian Russian Champion (nice scentence, huh?), says:

- It will be incredibly fun to drive on home soil again. I’m really looking forward to the rally!

Read my interview with Patrik from the 4th of January here

- I will do the rally in my own Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. I’ve been testing and discussing with them all, Skoda, Ford, Peugeot… Everyone. But in the end, price the made the decision…  There still is a small chance that it will be another Evo IX, a brand new one. But it’s not very likely…

Price has been a big factor to PG when deciding – and that’s no big surprise. Talking on the prices of a Super2000 car, PG says that the price level has now reached where WRC was five years ago, which means around €100 000 per rally. A start in his own car makes PG save half the money for later…

Andersson will do the rally with co-driver Anders Fredriksson, who also sat alongside him in this weekend’s Sigdalsrally in Norway. The duo will probably perform a test the weekend before the rally – and the next few weeks PG will spend on rebuilding the car to get it in good shape. Talking on his chances in the rally, Andersson doesn’t say much:

- I don’t know what my chances are. I hope to be able to keep up to speed with some of the Super2000 guys, but it will be hard to go as fast as someone like Mikkelsen, for example. We’ll see…

Even if rallying nowadays is very much about money, a crucial thing for a driver like PG – a clear talent that is without a contract – is to be seen and get PR. Going into the season it seems like S-WRC will take a role of “mini WRC” as it’s the upcoming big class for next year (and despite the until now weak entry list for the S-WRC championship), and that it will therefore render some extra interest from media. The production car championship will therefore probably be even more in the shadows than before. Asking PG about what he thinks about that, he says:

- It’s all about scoring results – as always – but yes, it seems like the PWRC wont get much attention. However, hasn’t it been like that for the last few years? It’s compareable to the JWRC that rendered some interest during the first years when I drove, but it has then fallen and become more and more hidden…

Regarding the rest of the season, PG confirms that he is looking at Sardinia and that it now looks a bit better for the rest of the season than it did earlier. He also says that he has the budget neccessary to do both events, but it’s still not at all certain that he will enter the Italian IRC round. So, for us fans we’ll just need to have patience, hope for a good result for PG in Rally Sweden and then we’ll see!

Besides Petter’s entry, the list contains no big surprises. However, Polish driver Michal Solowow is entered in a Peugeot 207 S2000 – something that has been rumoured but as far as I know not confirmed until now. A lot of names should still come in the entry list – the time expires tomorrow at 15PM local time for WRC entries.

Read the current entry list here (external link)

The whole competition will be a test where PG tries wether he can keep the speed up with Eyvind Brynhildsen in his Skoda Fabia Super2000. PG says that renting a Super2000 car costs twice as much as doing the home rally in his own Mitsubishi – and if he can, he will save the money for later:

- I’ve got the money it takes, but if I can do two rallies instead of one for them I would prefer that, says PG.

Besides the start in Rally Sweden, which now seems to be totally confirmed, PG is looking at entering the IRC round Rally Italia Sardinia in June. For that rally he would rent a Super2000 car. However, the first thing after Sigdalsrallyt for PG is to do ice notes for Guy Wilks in Rally Monte Carlo later this month. As I revealed yesterday, Wilks is expected to confirm his agreement with Skoda UK today announcing a drive in the 2010 IRC.

Patrik Sandell, photo: redbullrally.com

According to the local Swedish website Zport, Patrik Sandell is currently doing final negotiations with Red Bull and Skoda about a drive in the 2010 S-WRC. The Swede says that he “hopes” that everything will work out before the last entry date on the 4th of January. However, he doesn’t seem too worried – since he has just left for a vacation in Thailand. I think we’ll see Patrik in the Skoda, questions is just what they’re waiting for…? I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a 2 car team from Red Bull next year.

According to Bertil Klarin, m.d. of Rally Sweden, it means that both the Swedish Championship and the WRC event will get a lot of coverage.

Exact details regarding the coverage of Rally Sweden is not know, but the plan is TV broadcasts for four days during the rally, including live coverage of the Karlstad Super Special Stage in the start of the rally and also the finish at the new, spectacular Värmullsåsen stage in Hagfors.

(Source, in Swedish: SR)

My opinion is that getting PG into a good team in the WRC and with a mentor such as Petter would be really great and that is of course big news. However, one should remember that the amount of money still missing  is huge, and from what I know it forms around half of the budget of a Super2000 season. This means that the news is still just half a seat and there is a long way to go.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that PG and Petter get everything well together!

Daniel Carlsson - South Swedish Rally 2009

Yesterday and today Daniel Carlsson did his rallying comeback in the Swedish Championship, running a Ford Focus WRC05 to seventh place. PG Andersson won the rally just before regular Swedish frontrunner Mats Jonsson.

The rules in the Swedish Championship say that the fastest driver should go first. In this case it meant Daniel Carlsson and then Mats Jonsson. That’s probably why PG beat Jonsson, and since no new seeding is made before day two, Carlsson had to go the whole rally first on the road – filled with loose gravel. But why this seeding? Is Daniel really the fastest driver?

It was more than two years since Carlsson drove a rally last time, and in the meanwhile PG Andersson have done somewhere around 15 WRC events including some top placings. At the same time, Mats Jonsson have won the Swedish Championship and won almost every rally he started in. And if WRC merits count higher, may I ask someone to remind the Swedish organisers that Mats was the total winner of the Swedish Rally in both 1992 and 1993? Anyway, that shouldn’t be necessary – since the Swedish Rally organisation are also organising the Swedish Championship from this year on…

So… Dear organisers of the South Swedish Rally. Please do some argumentation and present some facts that you based your decision on. I don’t care about the result, but it’s an interesting principle where organisers can really affect the outcome of the rally based on making strange decisions.

One day I’ll take the time to write that story to you guys reading this blog. It isn’t really the time yet, I guess, but it’s certainly coming closer. Until then I’m just really happy about the comeback and the strength Daniel is showing. His mistake was unacceptable, he can’t blame anyone – and he let everyone down. But… He let himself down more than anyone else – and he has been knowing that every day since then. Now he’s back – and just the fact that he makes the comeback is just amazing. Hope the rally makes it even better!

The scene of the comeback will be South Swedish Rally (part of the Swedish Championship) on May 15-16 2009. The car, a Ford Focus WRC05, will be engineered by AP Däckservice Engineering Team in cooperation with the guys at Tätab and Dom Buckley Motorsport.

Read more (in Swedish) at www.danielcarlsson.com
If you don’t speak Swedish and still wonders something, feel free to ask me questions in the comments and I’ll try to answer them!

I hope to get back with an update after having talked to Patrik himself…

Patrik Sandell/Emil Axelsson in Skoda Fabia Super2000 in Cyprus Rally 2009, Photo: Red Bull Rally

Rally of Portugal is getting closer, and Swedish Red Bull Skoda driver Patrik Sandell arrived in Algarve on Sunday evening. He spent the Monday just chilling in the sun to gain energy and focus for the event:

- I always try to get one extra day before the recce and other preparations begin. With my full-speed lifestyle it’s important to get some time off to focus. We’re back in Portugal after quite a disappointment in 2007 when I ended up retiring from all three days. However, I liked the event very much and it fits both me, Emil and the car perfectly, I think so I think it will be just fine.

Looking back on the close fight with Araujo in Cyprus, how different are the circumstances here in Portugal?

- Considering Araujos car, I think it will be harder for him, at least as far as it’s dry. We know that the Super2000 cars have a little bit of a problem when it’s wet, since we lose some traction – while group N cars can rely on low revs and still go very fast. Besides that, Araujo also have the advantage of being in his home roads. At least, the weather forecast is for nice weather…

Besides Araujo, for the first time this season there’s some real opposition with a number of drivers in Super2000 cars. What’s your view on that?

- It’s only fun! Looking at last years IRC result in Portugal, Magalhaes led after three stages, and even though he rolled on the 4th stage he has proven himself to be fast. I’ll look out for him. Of course also Flodin is in place and he is always good on finding the throttle, so it’ll certainly be a tough weekend!

Have there been any technical changes to the car since Cyprus?

- No, not really. We’ve made some small adjustments to the suspension, but since we haven’t had time to do any tests after Cyprus, most of the fine-tuning will have to be done on shakedown. I’ve got some small ideas…

So, do you have any worries for the event?

Patrik won his last outing in the championship, and I think we can expect a win even here if not material issues stop Patrik. The level in Russia is lower than in the championships Patrik is used to, but it’s still a good way of collecting valuable driving experience. However, more interesting to see will be how the PWRC will go on for Patrik (next start is in Portugal), after the failure in Norway. The relationship with Uspenskiy seem to be good, but who could expect anything else until Norway? It’s easy to be friends while winning…

No matter what, I hope Patrik get’s a real – long term – chance in Uspenskiy. Given the right settings, he can be really, really good.

Will arranging the Swedish Rally in the summer make the WRC better? At least it's easier to spectate a rally in the summer, allowing for better income to the organiser.

Here’s some background:

A few days ago I talked to a friend regarding the Swedish Rally. He had a great idea – to make the event a summer rally. Of course it’s not a new idea at all – I’ve heard it dozens of times, but for the first time it really makes sense. The idea is based on the fact that weather conditions are a problem to the rally – and that a few events next year (for example Indonesia) wants to get out of the championship. So, with summer events wanting to get out of the calendar, when Rally Norway that shines in meters of snow, and when Mikko Hirvonen sees no reason why Norway shouldn’t have a slot every year – why not include the excellent Rally Norway even next year (article in Norweigan here), and make the Swedish Rally with it’s excellent organisation arrange a summer round in the championship?

Here’s why it makes sense:

• First off, it’s impossible to fight the weather. Either the Swedish event would have to be changed to a snow/gravel mix, it would have to be moved, or it would have to be removed from the calendar. I don’t believe in snow/gravel, I think a move would mean losing big parts of the competence, and I don’t think that it’s a good option for the WRC to lose one of their best organisers – so… Remains to switch to a summer competition.
• Making the rally a summer event would preserve a fantastic organisation and allow for an already experienced organisation to take new steps and do a new event from scratch, allowing for much creativity to go into the event that could develop the WRC in a positive way.
• Summer rallies are in many ways easier and more cost-effective to arrange, where spectators and VIPs can easier get into the stages, facilities can be hosted in simple tents and snow ploughs doesn’t need to be used for every single parking spot. This would allow for the Swedish organisation to get back on feet economically.
• A summer rally would also mean having a rally later in the year than a winter round, which would give the organisation a little more time to improve their economy and also to prepare the switch.
• It would solve a part of the problems with the organisers wanting to cancel their WRC rounds, and make the calendar for next year closer to complete than it is currently.

Of course, it may be a problem having already having so much gravel events that Finland has a summer event on gravel, but for short, I just think it’s better to arrange a really, really good summer round than a half-bad and shaky winter round that ruins the economy of the organisation. Isn’t it?

Uddeholm Swedish Rally reduces their permanent organization from four people to one. Just two years ago the organization on a full-year basis consisted of at least nine people. I know because I was one of them. Why does this happen and what will it mean?

First, why does this happen?

From the start of 2008, the WRC calendar was divided by FIA and the events now appear every 2nd year in the calendar. This may be good to bring new events into the championship – but for old events it’s a hard time of adaptation. Sponsor agreements are based on an annual event, employees are hired, investments are made – and all economic calculations are based on the (shaky) fact that you need to get a huge amount of money in based on four intensive days of rallying. Events hugely sponsored by the governments may survive quite easily by just saying, “this is the best we can get”, but for the Swedish Rally it’s harder. From what I know they get around 10 percent of the turnover from local authorities/municipalities/etc, and the rest of the incomes need to be paid by sponsors, teams and spectators. FIA is controlling entry fees etc, so not much can be done there. Sponsors and spectators are left to pay – and here starts the problems.

Sponsors pay for marketing, and with no marketing – no money. For short this means “half the events – half the money” (unless your selling talent or market value increase badly). Spectators on the other side are much the same; they pay for tickets, drinks, merchandise, etc during the event – not just to be kind. It’s not very realistic to think that you can just double all the prizes or attract a lot more spectators easily. To adapt and optimize the organization to this kind of settings take a long, long time.

The Swedish Rally tried to be offensive; they created a new rally village with a service area more concentrated around the super special stage and brought their event into the Swedish Championship calendar. But they were unlucky. The weather was bad in 2008, a lot of spectators stayed at home and the Swedish Championship event needed to be cancelled because of the road conditions. Ticket incomes wasn’t good enough, they had to pay back 1M of Swedish Championship entry fees and they still had the two year old (and very important) agreement to sell the billboards for TV coverage of the WRC in Swedish Television. For short: a hard 2008 for the Swedish Rally.

With a new event in 2009, maybe they could challenge for better luck (and weather) and try to get going again by still being offensive (just a little less), limiting costs and hopefully getting back on feet. During this weekend Rally Norway is running over the border with perfect conditions. If Sweden had their event this year everything would be fine – because even Karlstad have a few decimeters of snow currently and the conditions on the stages are even better. But they have no event, so that doesn’t help and the economy wont get better this year.

Instead, I’ll try to answer the second question; what does this mean?

To run a World Championship event is a huge piece of work. The only man left now is Bertil Klarin, “Mr Swedish Rally”. He’s been in the game for a long, long time and I must admit (even though I’ve often been very critical to his decisions) that he is probably better fitted to do the work than anyone else. Why? Because he knows everything about the WRC, he has the contacts – and most of all; now it’s all about surviving! Bertil, along with the board members of the Swedish Rally, will have to do everything they can to get funds to hire people. If they can’t do that, the Swedish Rally story will end. But it’s hard. The current employees will of course disappear to other jobs, and to organize a WRC event isn’t a piece of cake – even though chairman Sven-Åke Enochsson says that “the rally interest is big – there are many people with expertise”. I’ve been working with Sven-Åke and I really respect him, but that sounds like bullshit. A big interest doesn’t at all mean you’re an expert, and arranging a WRC round requires professional competence in many areas; sporting, marketing, logistics, etc. And that doesn’t come by interest. That comes by long experience and education. Sven-Åke -if anyone – should know that.

I don’t say the 12 rounds calendar is bad – but for sure it’s tough to the organizers. Norway has been close to ruin after their event in 2007 which was a huge economic failure (and having no event in 2008), and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if more events went into trouble. I hope the effects of the new calendar will be better events and maybe events that are economically more solid.  However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it instead makes organizers leave the championship. It’s hard to build a competent organization without the possibility to hire them permanently, and to hire them permanently cost’s money. Big money.

So, I guess no one knows where it will end. I just keep hoping that Bertil can make it and get at least his three colleagues back into the office making the 2010 Swedish Rally a good one. Otherwise, the Swedish Rally will be a piece of rally history.

I’m not sure why they are delaying their coverage, but of course it’s hard to produce live TV. I was responsible for live coverage on the Swedish Rally website in 2007, and there was a lot of problems. However, it is possible. It can be done the old-fashioned way with satellites or an aircraft relaying images from the stages – or it may be done in more modern ways, as I proved with Nordisk Mobiltelefon and Daniel Carlsson in last years Swedish rally (see previous post). That solution was based on mobile technology and data transfer using a mobile network with really good coverage. It worked perfectly well!

However, a big part of ISCs problems is their old-school solution taking images from in-car cameras. At least when I worked at the Swedish Rally in 2007, ISC used camcorders in the cars and retrieved DV-tapes from the recorders during service brakes. Of course that’s hard to broadcast live. I guess they’re looking at better options after seeing Eurosport’s coverage from Monte. It’s quite obvious with the technology of today that it’s perfectly possible to do live coverage – you just have to want to work hard and invest. And that’s where the problems seems to have been with ISC… Let’s hope they shape up now.

During this weekend, Patrik Sandell tested the Fabia Super2000 in Kall, close to his home soil in Jämtland, Sweden. I called him afterwards to ask a few questions regarding the car, the team and the feelings in the test. I got a feeling that Patrik was satisfied and optimistic – but still a little bit cautious – regarding the upcoming Rally Norway. Not so strange, I guess – since the Fabia has never before been tested on real snow conditions. Anyway, Patrik’s first impression of that car seems to have been really good:

- Already when I first got into the car on Saturday lunch I got a really good feeling. Since then we’ve only made small adjustments and tried to find an optimal setup, and it have worked out really great without any incidents. Since the car has never been driven on full snow before, we started off from a gravel setup and worked from that. We ended up with a setup we were really satisfied with, and switched to another road to verify it really worked out well on different road types. Even Raimund [Baumschlager, team manager of Red Bull Skoda], who works as a test driver for Skoda, tested the setup and said it was really good. Noone should be able to judge it better, since Raimund was the first one driving the car a year ago and he has got more than 1000 SS km’s in the car since then.

The snow test this weekend was Patrik’s first time really testing the Skoda in high speed – but actually it wasn’t the first time he sat in the car. Few people know, but Patrik has seen the car and checked out the cockpit one time last autumn in France, while Hänninen and Kopecky (Skoda works drivers in IRC) were driving tests. However, now he has had the chance to drive the car for real, and since Patrik has driven both the Peugeot 207 S2000 and the Skoda Fabia WRC I could hardly stop wondering – how is the Fabia S2000 compared to them?

- The Skoda Fabia is really hard to compare to the Peugeot 207, they doesn’t at all remind of each other. The Skoda Fabia WRC comparison is much better, since they feel much more similar to each other. It feels like Skoda took the best parts out of the WRC and fitted them into the Super 2000 regulations. It will be interesting to see how the do against each other – but no matter what, I really believe in this car and the Red Bull team works really well.

Now, if Patrik wants the comparison – he’ll get it really soon. Another good Swedish driver will do Rally Norway in the Fabia WRC; P.G. Andersson. After seeing Niall McShea’s initial performance in the Proton S2000 car in Rally Ireland, I think it’s not totally unrealistic dreams that a S2000 car could beat WRC cars lower in the field. Question is just – is PG one of them?

As a conclusion, Rally Norway will mean many new things to Patrik, his car and his team. New car, new team, new surface (as I wrote, the Fabia S2000 has never been driven on snow previously) and not least new tyres. New for the season is the new, wider Pirelli Sottozero tyres used for snow:

- We ran on the new tyres in the test, and I think they are good – especially for us Scandinavians. The older ones were narrower and that meant quite good grip everywhere, including in the loose. Those new ones have really good grip in the track, but as soon as you get out of the track it’s really, really slippery. I think that will be an advantage to us that are used to driving on snow.

Tomorrow Patrik leaves for Norway to start the recce on Tuesday and Wendesday. The big concurrents are all Scandinavians youngsters – Flodin, Mikkelsen and Brynhildsen. However, Patrik has one other warning too:

- Martin Prokop performed really well on the last day of the Swedish Rally 2008, he may be a threat. Myself, I want to win in Norway if the team doesn’t have other plans for me. However, we must remember it’s our first time in the new car and the first time on snow for Skoda, but hopefully it will work out well. Then we should be battling in the top of our class…

Do you want to see photos or video of the test? Check out my post from yesterday.

I e-mailed Johan Ejeborg on SVT and got the following answer (freely translated):

- We want to broadcast, but can’t afford it. The current situation in the world and the lack of Swedes premanently driving the WRC isn’t very good. We’ll have to return in 2010 or later. It’s a shame, but that’s how it is.

Many credits to Johan for answering this, the current situation is obviously not his fault. I think Swedish rally fans should hope for three things:

• A better financial situation in the world
• Swedes getting into the WRC
• A better and more thrilling WRC – and coverage of it

I guess the situation is quite the same in many countries. As a backup you may use Eurosport (if you don’t have it – check out the online player), WRC.com or WRC’s YouTube channel.

Already when I wrote the first post, I pushed for the Swedish Rally to test this thing in the WRC too – and now that seems to become true. In today’s VF (Swedish newspaper) Bertil Klarin, managing director of the Swedish Rally, says that they hope to repeat the same next year. Awesome!

Jimmy Joge, Värmland Runt/Swedish Rally 2009, Photo: Micke Fransson, teambild.se

The system will remain in beta phase during 2009 and get public in 2010 – but only for regional series etc, not the WRC. Based on the problems that seems to be good. We all know how much the starting order can mean in rallies with fresh snow, a lot of loose gravel etc. – and it wouldn’t be fair to decide rallies on a crazy ranking system. Despite that – I think the idea is good. The starting order today is in many parts decided by the organiser, and even in the WRC organisers have different quality and most important – they love their local drivers.

However, all this is based on a good system – which will not be easy to create. Championships are different around the world, and everyone knows that winning one regional championship doesn’t mean you even have a chance in one other. The system must of course take that into account, and it must also not over-credit drivers just because they are driving in the WRC. For example Khalid Al-Quassimi, that hasn’t made any real results, must of course be quite low in the list – lower than some drivers running on local basis.

So basically I like this. But question remains… How the h-ck can you make the system work?

I think this is a good grip trying to change and promote the sport. I mean, everyone knows that super special stages are arranged to entertain the spectators – so why not let them choose which heats they want to see? It gives spectators a chance to influence the competition, and at the same time it gives the organiser new inspiration – because the other option is for them too choose themselves…

I’d like to see the same thing tested in the WRC, so I asked Bertil Klarin, m.d. of the Swedish Rally, and got the following answer:

- As an organiser, we have the freedom to decide the heats ourselves even in the WRC, so it should be possible to do even there.

Now, that’s great and I hope that Bertil really tries it out next year – when the WRC is back in Sweden. In the end… How can it be bad? Until then, read more at www.swedishrally.com and make your own suggestions. I’ve already posted mine…

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Red Bull has proven to be one of the most loyal of all motorsport sponsors the last few years. They have spent huge amounts of money in both the WRC and the Formula 1 Championship, and if Sandell can impress here – money wont be a problem. Also, long time Red Bull protegee Andreas Aigner has left the team, and that opens for Sandell to be the star driver for Red Bull not only for one year, but for many…
• Super2000 will be the main class in the WRC from 2010 and on. The WRC Super2000 class will be modified with turbocharger etc, but experience from Super2000 will still be a big advantage – and the Red Bull deal now means that Patrik Sandell has two years of full championship experience from two different Super2000 cars. According to Sandell himself, no other driver at all have two years of S2000 experience in a row. No matter what, no driver have driven two different Super2000 cars in competition – and Sandell has done it a lot.
• Sandell drives the PWRC, not the IRC. Most S2000 drivers do the IRC, which is quite logical. However, to get a good start for the WRC 2010 it’s much better to have driven the car in the very same championship. That gives more experience from the rallies used in the championship (some rallies may match in IRC too, for example Monte Carlo, but not as many). Also, the WRC is more attractive to sponsors, and I consider it much more likely for Sandell to meet sponsors willing to spend their money on the WRC in the WRC than in the IRC. It’s not a big secret that the WRC as a true world championship is a lot more prestigeous for a rally driver than the IRC.
• The Skoda Fabia S2000 is a quite new, and interesting, car. Skoda do have quite a lot of experience from the World Rally Championship with their WRC Fabia’s and Octavias, and the factory seems to have high ambitions on supporting motorsport projects. They haven’t been very successful, but they know what it takes and now, when classes are changing, costs are being reduced and everyone starts at zero they have the chance to impress. It seems like one of the best S2000 cars to be in.
• Everyone else is going down – Sandell is going up. Just the fact that Sandell manages to challenge despite a lost contract with Peugeot Sweden and the financial crisis striking at it’s best is a proof of Sandell’s talent to open the right doors.

The PWRC 2009 starts off in Norway, which I guess will be a huge party for Sandell and his sponsors. The season then continues with Cyprus Rally, Rallye de Portugal,Rally Argentina (excluded for Sandell), Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, Acropolis Rally, Repco Rally Australia (excluded for Sandell) and last off Wales Rally GB. If Sandell can manage to get some good testing in the car the season could be really good to him allowing him to shine in the PWRC and most important create a very good platform for the WRC 2010.

Read more at Sandell’s own website, www.patriksandell.com, or Red Bull Rallye, www.redbullrally.com.

At the moment, Flodin is having an unintentionally extended christmas break after getting caught speeding by the Swedish police. However, he will get his license back on the 17th of January, so no rallies of the season are in danger.