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Rally Sweden CEO Glen Olsson has scotched drivers’ fears about the roads at this week’s second round of the World Rally Championship in Torsby.
Temperatures in Sweden have risen in recent days, causing some drivers to fear the warmer conditions will lead to less ice and more gravel on the stages either side of the Swedish-Norwegian border.
Olsson insists the opposite is actually true, adding that he and his team welcomed the rise into temperatures above freezing.
Citroen drivers Sebastien Ogier and Esapekka Lappi voiced concerns after testing in the region of the rally last week, but Olsson has assured the WRC field the roads will be in perfect condition.
“We’ve had some plus degrees in the last few days and this is good,” Olsson said.
“We had such a cold winter, really colder than normal and this doesn’t make the perfect roads.
“When it snows on such a cold, hard road, it’s dusty snow and the snow moves and then we have the gravel.
“What we need is the warmer weather – the ground is frozen beneath the road for like one metre or something, so we need plus degrees to melt some of this on the surface. That moisture would then freeze hard for a solid base.
“As well as that some rain, some help from above, this would also be perfect. Plus four [degrees] in the day is great for us right now because it’s down to minus 10 or something in the night and this will freeze everything.”
Olsson’s team have been watering the Karlstad superspecial and the end of the Torsby stage (which is used every day), to build a layer of ice 15cm thick.
Following his two-day test, Ogier said: “We’ll have to see how the roads evolve for the second passes, but I fear that with the layer of ice currently on the roads, the gravel will start to appear quite quickly.
“Sweden is a rally I have always enjoyed. You get a nice feeling from driving the World Rally Cars here, so I hope we have conditions where we can enjoy ourselves.”
Temperatures are expected to hover around and just above freezing in Torsby for the duration of the rally.
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