Swedish Rally: Subaru final summary

An excellent day for 555 Subaru World Rally Team. Four-times World Champion, Tommi Mäkinen maintained his overnight second place to collect eight WRC Drivers' points, while team-mate Petter Solberg was sixth, securing three WRC Drivers' points. Between them, the Subaru drivers each claimed a stage win on the rally and collected eleven Manufacturers' points for Subaru. Rounding off a successful event, Tommi Mäkinen was named Inmarsat's Star of the Rally and was presented with a trophy and a cheque for $5,000 for his favourite charity.

Stage Reports

SS13 0835hrs Sågen 2 (14.17km)
Fastest time: Mäkinen (Subaru) 7:19.1

Competing in temperatures of around -1 degrees, 555 Subaru driver Tommi Mäkinen found excellent grip with his Pirelli ice tread tyres on the second run through the 14.17km Sågen stage - despite the softer surface on the twisty corners. Running at an average speed of 116kph, the Flying Finn was on vintage form and won the stage - setting a new stage record and consolidating his advantage over Burns. There was no change to the overall top ten, but a charge from Sebastian Loeb in his Citroen Xsara saw the Frenchman slash the difference between himself and Loix, lying in overall ninth, to 1.6 seconds. Thousands of fans turned up to see their favourite drivers charge through the famous downhill hairpins near the finish, including Petter Solberg's army of Norwegian supporters, who were delighted to see their favourite driver come in sixth fastest after reaching a top speed of 198kph.

SS14 0927hrs Rämmen 2 (23.16km)
Fastest time: Gronholm (Peugeot) 11:41.4

Gronholm was quickest with Mäkinen second. No change to the overall top ten, but the tricky test comprising narrow bridges and hairpin bends wasn't without drama. Running fifth on the road, Ford privateer Janne Tuohino went too quickly over a crest, lost control of his Focus WRC and slid into a snow bank. With his Ford stuck, albeit off the road, spectators waved down the approaching cars of Sebastian Loeb, Freddy Loix and Carlos Sainz. All three lost time as they slowed for the incident. Tuohino eventually managed to complete the stage but lost over five minutes. In the Subaru camp, Petter Solberg was becoming far happier with his driving. Electing to run Pirelli's snow tyres, Solberg found the set-up a great improvement and despite a small spin near the start posted the sixth fastest time.

SS15 1114hrs Hara (11.91km)
Fastest time: McRae (Citroen) 5:55.4

Colin McRae was fastest through the short Hara run to take his third stage win of the season and set a new record. Gronholm was second fastest and Mäkinen third. After carefully negotiating the narrow test, which demanded the ultimate in neat driving to avoid skidding into the fresh snow at the sides of the road, Loeb finished seventh to move ahead of Loix into ninth overall, by a margin of just 0.3 seconds. Hyundai's Freddy Loix claimed to have found more engine power after the snow shield was removed from the front of his Accent's air box in service; he tied eighth with Toni Gardemeister. Petter Solberg was fifth and remained sixth overall. Bad news for FIA Production Car Championship driver Toshi Arai, when his Impreza was forced into retirement on the road section after the stage with engine failure. He had been leading the class by 1m 3.7s.

SS16 1212hrs Brunnberg 2 (31.66km)
Fastest time: Martin (Ford) 15:08.7

The second run through the Brunnberg stage presented crews with a surface of rutted ice, 2cm of loose snow, and a section of slippery gravel 27km in, making tyre preservation key. Subaru's Petter Solberg found excellent grip with his Pirelli tyres, and stormed through to finish fourth fastest, reducing the overall gap between himself and fifth-placed Colin McRae to 11 seconds. His team-mate Mäkinen was fifth quickest, despite spinning his Subaru on a tight hairpin. In temperatures of 0 degrees and in bad visibility, Ford's Markko Martin was fastest, scoring his first ever stage win in Sweden and protecting his overall fourth position. Gronholm was second and Loeb third. With just one more stage to run - the long 39.86km Hagfors test - and with a lead of 46.8 seconds, Marcus was looking good for another potential Swedish victory.

SS17 1435hrs Hagfors (39.85km)
Fastest time: Solberg (Subaru) 19:40.0

Petter Solberg was right on the pace through the final test and powered through in his Impreza to the take the stage win - to the delight of his fans, who had stood for hours in the cold to support their hero. However, despite a maximum attack, the Norwegian's effort was not enough to snatch fifth from McRae and at the finish, 3.3 seconds separated the pair. Gronholm finished sixth to take the overall win and claim his third victory at the Swedish event, while his compatriot Mäkinen, a previous three-times Swedish Rally winner, took second. Richard Burns took the final top three overall position. A great final run by Sebastian Loeb saw the Frenchman move up from ninth to seventh overall.

Team Quotes

David Lapworth, 555 Subaru World Rally Team Principal: "I'm very pleased with the outcome and for Tommi to come second proves that the new car is living up to its expectations at this point in the season. We leave Sweden with extra confidence ahead of Turkey and New Zealand, which we expect will suit the car and the tyres even better. It was great to see Petter end on a high. He admitted struggling at the start, but by the end he had found a good set up and there are no doubts in his mind about his performance ahead of the next event. It's worth mentioning that neither Tommi or Petter's car have missed a beat all rally - the team have done a terrific job and all the effort over the Winter seems to have paid off."

Tommi Mäkinen: "That was very, very good. This result has definitely increased my confidence and determination and I'm feeling very positive for future rallies. The changes that have been made to the car are very good and I'm sure we will be very competitive on the gravel events that are coming up."

Petter Solberg: "I tried to take Colin and got very close, but it just wasn't quite enough. But, overall I'm pleased. This could have been a great event and I did my best, but I struggled for the first two days. It's a shame I didn't try the set up that I have now on Friday. It just didn't feel right earlier on and when something's wrong you don't have the confidence to push. But, looking at the set up and tyre choice I have now, I wish I could start the event again tomorrow!"

News from Pirelli

Fiore Brivio, Pirelli Tyres Rally Manager: "Today has been an excellent day with the tyres working well. Conditions have been good, temperatures have averaged 1 degree and all of the day's stages have been in good condition with only small amounts of gravel. Tommi continued to use the Pirelli J1 ice tyre, as he has used all event. However, Petter changed to the Pirelli W1 snow tyre, which he found more to his liking. This has been an excellent Swedish Rally for Pirelli."

Next Event

Teams move to Turkey for the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship - and a brand new event. Beginning on Thursday 27 February, the rally, which replaces the epic Safari event, will be based around a single service point in the holiday resort of Kemer. Crews will contest 380 competitive kilometres, over three Legs and 18 gravel stages, run through twisty mountain roads.

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