Rally Sweden

Rally Sweden

The Uddeholm Swedish Rally (Swedish: Svenska rallyt), formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun (Which at this time was a summer rally) with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish became located in Karlstad. The main service park is located in the town of Hagfors, which is actually much closer to the special stages than Karlstad. The competition is spread out over three days with the start of the first part on Friday morning and the finish on Sunday afternoon.

In 1973 the rally was introduced to the World Rally Championship and started to get international attention; the Swedish Rally has been also traditionally the only rally held on snow. The only non-Nordic winning driver of the Swedish Rally has been Frenchman Sébastien Loeb in 2004. Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished second four times and third two times.

The rally has been cancelled twice; in 1974 due to the oil crisis and in 1990 because of the mild weather. Weather continues to be a concern, as rising global temperatures reduce the likelihood of appropriately snowy conditions every year. The 2005 event was one of the warmest ever, turning many stages into mud and destroying the special studded snow tires used by the teams.