2008 Swedish Rally Explained

2008 Swedish Rally
Native Name:57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally
Round:2
Championship:2008 World Rally Championship
Previous Round:2008 Monte Carlo Rally
Next Round:2008 Rally México
Rallybase:Karlstad, Sweden
Startdate:February 7
Enddate:10 2008
Stages:20
Stagekm:340.24
Overallkm:1440.08
Surface:Snow/Ice-covered gravel
Driver1: Jari-Matti Latvala
Team1: BP-Ford World Rally Team
Teamsstart:61
Teamsfinish:49

The 2008 Swedish Rally, officially 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, was the second round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally took place during February 7 - 10, beginning with the Super Special Stage placed in the rally's base, Karlstad. The rally was also the first round of the Production Car World Rally Championship this season.

Even though it snowed before the rally, eliminating the threat of calling the event off, the mild temperatures caused cancellation of stages 12 and 18, shortening the overall competitive length.[1] [2]

The rally was won by BP Ford World Rally Team's Jari-Matti Latvala; the first of his championship career. Latvala's teammate and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen was second and Stobart VK M-Sport Ford's Gigi Galli completed an all-Ford podium. Subaru World Rally Team's Petter Solberg was fourth, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen, Dani Sordo, Toni Gardemeister, Juho Hänninen, Mads Østberg and Jari Ketomaa. Fifth-placed Matthew Wilson ran into technical problems with throttle on the penultimate stage and had to retire.[3] [4] Sébastien Loeb crashed out and rolled his car while running third, then retired again, after restarting under SupeRally and winning two stages, because of the damaged engine.[5] Henning Solberg inherited the third place, but later suffered a puncture causing him to slip further down and then crashed while running fourth and was forced to retire for the second day;[6] after rejoining the fight under SupeRally format Norwegian was the fastest driver on day three, winning all the remaining stages.

With his debut win, the 22-year old Latvala became the then-youngest winner in the history of the WRC, breaking Henri Toivonen's record from the 1980 RAC Rally;[7] his own record would stand until the 2021 Rally Estonia where it would be broken by the 20-year-old Kalle Rovanperä.

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Results

Pos.DriverCo-driverCarTimeDifferencePoints
WRC
1. Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka AnttilaFord Focus RS WRC 072:46:41.210
2. Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo LehtinenFord Focus RS WRC 072:47:39.5+58.38
3. Gigi Galli Giovanni BernacchiniFord Focus RS WRC 072:49:04.4 2:23.26
4. Petter Solberg Phil MillsSubaru Impreza WRC20072:49:40.62:59.45
5. Andreas Mikkelsen Ola FloeneFord Focus RS WRC 062:52:27.25:46.04
6. Dani Sordo Marc MartiCitroën C4 WRC2:53:54.3 [1]7:13.13
7. Toni Gardemeister Tomi TuominenSuzuki SX4 WRC2:57:16.510:35.32
8. Juho Hänninen Mikko MarkkulaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX2:59:08.712:27.51
[1] - Including 5 minute penalty for replacing the damaged engine after malfunction during 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.[8]
PCWRC
1. (8.) Juho Hänninen Mikko MarkkulaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX2:59:08.710
2. (10.) Jari Ketomaa Miika TeiskonenSubaru Impreza WRX STi N143:00:31.91:23.28
3. (11.) Patrik Sandell Emil AxelssonPeugeot 207 S20003:01:00.51:51.86
4. (12.) Martin Prokop Jan TománekMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:01:11.72:03.05
5. (14.) Uwe Nittel Detlef RufMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:03:04.03:55.34
6. (15.) Toshihiro Arai Glenn MacNeallSubaru Impreza WRX STi3:03:31.64:22.93
7. (17.) Armindo Araujo Miguel RamalhoMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:05:13.96:05.22
8. (19.) Bernardo Sousa Carlos MagalhãesMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:07:07.37:58.61

Special stages

All dates and times are CET (UTC+1).

DayStageTimeNameLengthWinnerTimeAvg. spd.Rally leader
1 (7 FEB)SS120:04SSS Karlstad 11.90 km P. Solberg1:28.976.5 km/h P. Solberg
2
(8 FEB)		SS209:34Stensjön 115.50 km J. Latvala7:24.0125.7 km/halign=left rowspan="19" J. Latvala
SS310:44Bjälverud 121.58 km J. Latvala10:33.7122.5 km/h
SS411:23Mangen 122.09 km J. Latvala12:20.7107.4 km/h
SS513:25Stensjön 215.50 km J. Latvala7:22.3126.2 km/h
SS614:35Bjälverud 221.58 km J. Latvala10:32.4122.8 km/h
SS715:14Mangen 222.09 km J. Latvala12:21.2107.3 km/h
SS818:00SSS Karlstad 21.90 km1:28.277.6 km/h
3
(9 FEB)		SS908:25Horssjön 114.89 km9:18.196.0 km/h
SS1009:38Hagfors 120.92 km D. Sordo11:45.8106.7 km/h
SS1110:41Vargåsen 124.63 km S. Loeb13:49.1106.9 km/h
SS1213:04Horssjön 214.89 kmCancelled
SS1314:17Hagfors 220.92 km D. Sordo11:30.1109.1 km/h
SS1415:20Vargåsen 224.63 km M. Hirvonen13:32.5109.1 km/h
4
(10 FEB)		SS1508:08Ullen 116.25 km H. Solberg8:21.7116.6 km/h
SS1609:13Lesjöfors 110.49 km H. Solberg5:54.5106.5 km/h
SS1709:45Rämmen 121.87 km H. Solberg11:14.4116.7 km/h
SS1811:21Ullen 216.25 kmCancelled
SS1912:26Lesjöfors 210.49 km H. Solberg5:43.8109.7 km/h
SS2012:58Rämmen 221.87 km H. Solberg11:07.1118.0 km/h

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

PosDriverMON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
 Pts 
1 Mikko Hirvonen2216
2 Jari-Matti Latvala12110
Sébastien Loeb1Ret.10
4 Gigi Galli639
Petter Solberg549
6 Chris Atkinson3216
7 François Duval45
8 Andreas Mikkelsen54
9 Dani Sordo1163
10 Jean-Marie Cuoq72
Toni GardemeisterRet.72
12 Per-Gunnar Andersson8Ret.1
Juho Hänninen81
PosDriverMON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
Pts

Manufacturers' championship

RankDriverEventTotal
points
MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
1 BP Ford World Rally Team8 18 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 26
2 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team8 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - -16
Subaru World Rally Team10 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16
4 Citroën Total World Rally Team11 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - -15
5 Suzuki World Rally Team2 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - -5
6 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team- - - - - - - - - - - - - 0

Production championship

Points table:[9]

PosDriverSWE
ARG
GRC
TUR
FIN
NZL
JPN
GBR
 Pts 
1 Juho Hänninen110
2 Jari Ketomaa28
3 Patrik Sandell36
4 Martin Prokop45
5 Uwe Nittel54
6 Toshihiro Arai63
7 Armindo Araújo72
8 Bernardo Sousa81
PosDriverSWE
ARG
GRC
TUR
FIN
NZL
JPN
GBR
Pts

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Swedish Rally: SS12 - cancelled. . 2008-02-09 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net .
  2. Web site: Second stage cancelled. . 2008-02-10 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net .
  3. Web site: NEWS FLASH: Wilson Jr loses fifth. . 2008-02-10 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net.
  4. Web site: Throttle issue robs Wilson Jr. . 2008-02-11 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20080215062752/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159568-0/throttle_issue_robs_wilson_jr.html. 15 February 2008 . live.
  5. Web site: Loeb: Engine was on its last legs. . 2008-02-09 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20080212202300/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159511-0/loeb_engine_was_on_its_last_legs.html. 12 February 2008 . live.
  6. Web site: NEWS FLASH: Henning goes off. . 2008-02-09 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20080212202137/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159498-0/news_flash_henning_goes_off.html. 12 February 2008 . live.
  7. Web site: Latvala claims historic Swedish win . . 2008-02-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20080211105836/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65066. 11 February 2008 . live.
  8. Web site: Engine blow for Sordo. . 2008-02-07 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20080211075254/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159435-0/engine_blow_for_sordo.html. 11 February 2008 . live.
  9. Web site: 2008 Production WRC Classification . Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . 2009-02-01 .

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