WRC Preview: Seven for Sweden
Just like the opening round of the World Rally Championship – Rallye Monte Carlo last month – there will be seven Motorsport Ireland licence holders in action in Rally Sweden this weekend. As the only snow event on the 2023 WRC schedule, Rally Sweden offers a unique test for both man and machine. Despite the terrain, the profile of the stages makes the event one of the fastest rounds on the calendar.
The studded winter tyres provide remarkably high levels of grip in the icy conditions, while large snowbanks can be utilised by the drivers to assist cornering. However this can be a risky game; when the temperature is slightly warmer, the banks can disintegrate on impact and leave cars stranded in the deep snow.
Rally Sweden marks Craig Breen and James Fulton’s first rally of the season. Breen returns to the Hyundai Motorsport World Rally Team after a year away and Fulton, replacing the retired Paul Nagle, makes his debut with the squad. The Irish crew will be aiming to get plenty of kilometres under their belts during their first rally behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid.
“Rally Sweden is always an event that I enjoy, and a place where I have been able to bring home some of my best results in the past. We only have one rally a year where we get to drive in true winter conditions with the studded tyres, so that makes Sweden even more special,” said Breen.
“The stages will be very straight and very fast, meaning you need to be committed to be quick. With quite a few stages taking place in the dark, it’s really important to make sure the pace notes are accurate.
"In an ideal world, I would love to leave Sweden having stood on the podium again, but with it being my first competitive event in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, this will be a challenge. Ultimately, my main goal is to enjoy the experience.”
Breen and Fulton won’t be the only Irish competitors with factory backing in the Umea-based rally. Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta and his Tyrone co-driver Aaron Johnston step up to the main Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team for the first time too. They drove for Toyota’s secondary Challenge Team in Rallye Monte Carlo but, for the first time, are now entitled to score Manufacturer Championship points in Sweden. The Japanese/ Irish team finished fourth in this event last season.
“We are really looking forward to Sweden I enjoy winter rallies. It is still quite new to me. I've done, maybe, ten winter events but it's a surface that I really enjoy and it's one that Taka definitely feels comfortable on. We will be targeting a good result this weekend,” said Johnston.
“We are hoping for a strong rally this weekend and of course, it being our first to score points, that will bring added pressure, but looking forward to it and hopefully we can be fighting for a top position.”
Takamoto and Johnston prepared for this weekend by tackling the second round of the Finnish Rally Championship, the all-snow Rally Kuopio on Saturday.
They were lying second overall behind Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi when they were forced to retire from the event due to damage after collecting a snowbank – all good training for the week ahead!
“Preparations went really well. We had a solid test two weeks ago and then we did this Finnish National Championship rally last weekend,” he added.
“We've had really good preparations. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the national event because we spun into a snow-bank and ended up damaging the radiator which put us out. But up to that point we had covered a lot of kilometres and we're feeling really good in the car.”
They were not the only team with Irish connections to enter a winter rally in preparation for Rally Sweden. The Junior World Rally Championship kicks off in the Arctic this weekend. William Creighton and Liam Regan are back for a third attempt at the title. On Saturday they entered the Swedish Championship counting Lima Rally, an event based near Rally Sweden’s former home in Hagfors. They finished tenth overall in the six-stage event.
A second Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew – Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan will make their WRC debut in Sweden. Last month Kelly took part in the Arctic Rally in Finland as part of his preparation for his first attempt at the Junior World Rally Championship. Both Junior crews will drive M-Sport Poland-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally 3 cars in the event.
The rally will begin on Thursday evening with a short ‘sprint’ stage in Umeå, which is run again on Friday following two loops of three stages: Brattby and Sarsjöliden to the west were driven on Saturday and Sunday respectively last year, while Botsmark to the north is new. Saturday’s repeated loop of three stages begins with two new tests: Norrby and Floda, which is the most northerly stage of the rally and the longest at 28.25 kilometres. A double-length version of the Umeå stage rounds out the day, and will also serve as the rally-ending Power Stage on Sunday following two passes of another new test, Västervik.