Minus 20 degrees C may not strike you as the best conditions for motorsport, but the folks in the WRC don’t agree. So, we paid a visit to Rally Sweden – the only proper snow rally on the calendar – to see if we could stand the cold, and catch a glimpse of the action.
Alex Skibbe, head of communications for VW India, is an all-around good guy. So when I heard from Jared, who was with him in Sri Lanka recently for the Volkswagen Polo Cup night race, that Alex would soon be heading back to Germany for good – I tried calling him to see if I could talk him out of it.
My first couple of attempts went unanswered. So, when Alex finally called back, I was expecting him to tell me how swamped with work he’d been. Instead, his first question caught me by surprise, “Do you have a problem with the cold?” I was intrigued. “No,” was my response. “Then we’re going to Rally Sweden,” he said – which sounded more like an instruction, rather than a request! Well, who am I to object?
And so it was that a few weeks later we landed in Karlstad airport a few hours prior to the start of Rally Sweden. As you step from the climate controlled cabin of the plane onto the ice-covered tarmac, minus ten degrees hits you like a ton of bricks. But, apparently, this was good weather for the rally – if not a little mild. You see, the rally has only been cancelled once in its history due to the weather – and not because the conditions were too harsh, but because the snow was too sparse.
Every round of the World Rally Championship starts with a super-special stage, which sees the rally cars run side-by-side inside an arena – like an autocross or the Race of Champions. In this case, we had front row seats of that arena. But, most importantly, we were indoors where it was warm. Outside, it was still snowing, but that didn’t seem to have any affect whatsoever on the enthusiasm of the crowd. In fact, it seemed like the entire town of Karlstad had donned their winter caps and were braving the sub-zero temperatures to watch the start of the rally. And they were not to be disappointed – not only the rally cars, but also snowmobile riders from the X-Games put on a great show. There were somersaults (courtesy of the snowmobiles), fireworks (courtesy of the organizers), jumps (courtesy of the rally drivers), fresh snow (courtesy of Mother Nature), and an electric atmosphere (courtesy of the locals) – everything you could ask for from the winter wonderland that is Rally Sweden. What a start!
The piece de resistance, however, was the battle between nine-time world champion, Sebastian Loeb, in his Citroen, and his compatriot, Sebastian Ogier, in the brand new VW Polo R WRC car. Volkswagen started developing this car from a clean sheet of paper two years ago, and they look to have done a phenomenal job. The protruding wheel arches, vents, and massive rear wing make quite an impression. At it’s debut rally in Monte Carlo a few weeks prior, it earned an extremely impressive second place in the hands of Ogier, behind Loeb. So, all eyes were on the veteran and the challenger as the lights went out. But, it was Loeb who drew first blood, as he was quickest – 2.5 seconds faster than Ogier. But, as Spaniard Luis Moya, co-driver to WRC legend Carlos Sainz for 15 years and two-time WRC champion, said, “The real rally begins tomorrow in the forest, the super-special can only lose you the rally.” So, perhaps discretion was the better part of valour for Frenchman Ogier – especially in a rally that’s traditionally favoured Scandinavian drivers. In fact, Rally Sweden had only seen one non-Nordic driver win in the past – Loeb in 2004.
The next day, when the rally started in earnest though, Ogier was in spectacular form in his VW. By the time we caught up with the team at the service park, he had already pulled out a sizable lead. And watching the crew at work during the few minutes they get for service provides some insight into the commitment and professionalism that goes into running a top-class World Rally Team. As soon as the cars come in, eight mechanics get to work quickly, yet unhurriedly. In under ten minutes, a gearbox in Ogier’s car had been changed and checked. All the bolts are retorqued, the air filter is changed, the car is cleaned – inside and out – alignment is done, tyres are changed, and the Polo leaves the service park brand new once again. It was something else to watch.
Conversely, the service crew for my rally Gypsy are all arms and elbows, as they hunt for the correct sized spanner to tighten an engine mount. Here, they have just one briefcase of tools that works for every single component on the car. And while the Polo R WRC car may be based on the standard car, absolutely everything is bespoke – and the stunning workmanship is visible right from the carbon fibre door panel, which has a cut-out for the roll cage that’s cast into it the mould, or the suspension arm that’s forged from exotic materials – within the rules of course – and then drilled to reduce weight.
In fact, as Luis Moya explains, he would even tear out pages of used notes to save weight – that’s the extent to which a team will go to find even tenths of seconds. He goes on to explain that if you carry two spare tyres in the car, the weight of the additional spare will itself use about six horsepower and therefore add about half-a-second per kilometer on the stages. He does point out, though, that the extra weight helps during braking. Intense competition such as this, I suppose, requires attention to detail of this nature.
To watch the fruits of the service teams’ labour, we headed to Colins Crest – named after the Late, Great Colin McRae. Sweden in February is like a picture postcard, but the serenity and calm of the snow-blanketed wilderness is shattered by the shriek of the 1.6 litre turbocharged four cylinder engines mated to their quick shifting, but angry sounding, sequential gearboxes. As the cars flash past, you can immediately tell that Ogier and Loeb are in a league of their own as they fly over the crest and brake immediately for a slight right-left (Ogier’s teammate and two-time winner in Sweden, Latvala, isn’t far behind mind you). And you can also visibly see that the Polo is more stable in the air than the other WRC cars, which the VW engineers attribute to its massive rear wing that’s supposed to create downforce when the car is flying through the air.
And while all that sounds like science fiction, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as VW won its first World Rally in just its second full WRC event. In doing so, Ogier becomes only the second non-Scandinavian driver to win Rally Sweden. It appears that the stage is set for the emergence of another great French driver in the WRC – only this time he’ll be piloting a German machine. Bear in mind that keeping a nine-time World Rally Champion in your tracks requires not only superhuman skill, but nerves of titanium as well. And it appears that Ogier has both. Only time will tell, however, if VW can maintain this early momentum, or if Citroen can use their vast experience to come back on top – only they’ll have to do it without the Joker in their pack, as Loeb won’t be back in the car till Argentina in May – since he won’t be contesting the entire season.
Apart from the skill of the drivers though, what really struck me about Rally Sweden were the fans – thousands of them – cheering for the current WRC cars as well as the classics. At Colins Crest, barbeques were quenching both hunger and cold, while various forms of brew ensured a festive atmosphere. And that’s the essence of Rally Sweden – despite the elements, everyone from young kids to their grandparents come out to see the rally cars (literally) fly through the forest. It’s part of their culture – a culture that would do wonders for motorsport in India!
Stay tuned for interviews with double World Rally champion, Carlos Sainz, and VW Motorsport Director, Jost Capito, in our next issue.
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