WRC Rally Sweden 2023 is the only full snow rally on the calendar. Originally run in the summer of 1950 and called the rally to the midnight sun, it later switched to a winter rally and was included in the inaugural championship in 1973. For most of its existence, the base was in Karlstad with the service in Torsby, it has also crossed the border into Norway.
With the cars running studded tyres which offer phenomenal grip the Sweden is actually one of the fastest rounds of the championship. The drivers maintain speed in the corners, leaning on the high snow banked sides to keep the rear of the car in line. This technique has given rise to safety concerns in some seasons when the weather is milder. In milder conditions, the snow banks don’t offer the same support to the cars and can give way. A lack of snow has been a problem that has dogged the event in recent years. Not only does the lack of snow leave the championship without a true winter round (Monte Carlo often has snow but rarely throughout the entire stage), the studded tyres damage and tear up the roads when they are not frozen and covered in snow.
In 2022, in the search for snow, the rally moved from its long time Karlstad base to the northern Swedish city of Umeå which has a better snow record. The rally Sweden 2023 retains its usual place as second event in the 2023 WRC calendar.
Like Rally Finland the rally has been dominated by nordic drivers, The first win by a non-nordic driver not being until Sebastian Loeb won in 2004. Only 3 further drivers have achieved this (Ogier, Neuville and Ostberg).
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