P-WRC and S-WRC driver summary for Sweden rally

P-WRC DRIVER BY DRIVER SUMMARY (In numerical order)

31 – Armindo Araújo (PRT)

Araújo took a solid third, but not without a battle with Semerád which lasted throughout the first two days of Rally Sweden. Despite not making any clear mistakes, Araújo suffered on all three days of the event with set-up problems. The heavy Mitsubishi Evolution X, which chose to drive this year instead of the earlier model in which he won the 2009 Championship, was strong over gravel sections, but too heavy in the snow and ice. Throughout the rally Araújo lost time as the car fought against his steering and he lost control leading to skidding.

33 – Gianluca Linari (ITA)

After leaving the road in SS5 on day one and being out of the rally until SS9, the first round of day one, Linari ended Rally Sweden 42 minutes and 58 seconds behind class winner Flodin. Only this third snow rally, Linari’s aim was to drive steadily, gain confidence and get to the finish. After he rejoined the rally in SS9 he achieved this and even picked up a solid six points along the way.

34 – Martin Semerád (CZE)

Despite Semerad’s air box filling with snow on SS2, causing a loss of power which put him 33.7 behind Araújo, the Portuguese P-WRC champion’s set-up problems left room for Semerad’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX to sneak into third at the end of day one, beginning day two 14 seconds ahead of Araújo. By the end of the second day, the roles had reversed as Araújo finished 15 seconds ahead of the 19 year-old Czech driver. And after running off the road into a ditch on SS18 Semerád lost over five minutes and the battle was over. Araújo was in a clear third place, 8mins and 3secs in front of Semerád and then things went from bad to worse as on SS21, Semerád once again lost control of the car, coming in 9mins and 8secs behind leader Flodin, ending the rally in a disappointing fifth place.

41 – Fabio Frisiero (ITA)

After a steady rally, Frisiero took fourth place as a result of two major errors from Semerád on day three. He started with an aim to finish the rally, but by driving cautiously and making few errors of any significance he took home 12 points in the P-WRC Championship and finished 16mins 45secs behind winner Flodin, and just 5mins 2secs ahead of Semerád in fifth.

43 – Reijo Muhonen (FIN)

Muhonen ended the rally in sixth place. Disappointed with his performance on day one which left him a full 14 minutes and 26 seconds behind leader Flodin after a series of minor errors which racked up, Muhonen was much more confident on days two and three and despite driving steadily ended the event only 3mins 37secs behind fifth-placed Semerád.

44 – Paulo Nobre (BRA)

Nobre ended the rally in eighth place, but despite finishing 51mins 58secs behind P-WRC winner Flodin, he achieved his aim of surviving his first ever snow rally. His fear of the conditions resulted in him burning his gearbox out as he relied upon it for braking throughout the event, much to the displeasure of his mechanics, but he ended day three pleased to have gained experience and with four P-WRC points under his belt.

46 – Anders Gröndal (NOR)

Norwegian Subaru driver Anders Gröndal, could not touch P-WRC winner Flodin, but took a clear second, 3mins 51secs ahead of third-placed defending Champion Araújo. Gröndal finished 1min 13secs behind Flodin, despite racking up six stage wins over the course of the event. A series of problems for Gröndal allowed Flodin to hold his lead. On SS3, the Norwegian caught the car in front, and was just getting back on track on day one when he lost his light pod on SS7 and had to complete the stage in the dark. Day two also got off to a bad start for him when his eager pursuit of Flodin in SS9 landed him in a ditch, leaving the air box full of snow and his engine performance limited. Overall on day three, Gröndal shaved six seconds off Flodin’s lead, but this wasn’t enough to touch the class winner.

50 – Patrik Flodin (SWE)

Flodin led Rally Sweden from start to finish. Despite claiming he had a terrible SS1 due to inadequate pace notes, he still came in three seconds ahead of fellow Swedish guest driver Nyman who finished the opening stage in second. Flodin remained in control throughout the event, despite having a problem with his car’s suspension in the morning stages of day two. This problem carried over to day three but they did not affect his lead and he finished the rally 1min 13secs in front of second-placed Gröndal.

52 – Joakim Nyman (SWE)

After a strong first stage which he finished only three seconds behind Flodin, Nyman left the road and retired in SS2, prematurely putting an end to his guest drive at his home rally.

91 – Ott Tanak (EST)

2010 P-WRC Pirelli Star Driver driver Tanak took to the event in a Subaru rather than the Mitsubishi he will be seen driving for the rest of the season. His choice not to nominate Rally Sweden in his bid for the P-WRC title proved wise after a disastrous day two would have left him out of contention. It did however provide great experience for the rest of
the season.

S-WRC DRIVER BY DRIVER SUMMARY (In numerical order)

21 – MARTIN PROKOP (CZE)

Convinced he could not compete with the Scandinavian drivers at the head of the field on a snow rally, Prokop was pleased to finish on the podium, settling for a satisfying third place. He lost time in SS2 after missing a corner and stalling his Fiesta, but stepped up his pace throughout the day, finishing only 25.9 seconds behind second-placed Tuohino and a comfortable 1min 20secs in front of Sandell in fourth. On SS16 at the end of day two he even clocked a time of 2min 14secs and put his Fiesta on top of the stage results – beating all the WRC crews.

24 – PATRIK SANDELL (SWE)

Sandell got off to a disappointing start on day one of his home rally. He stalled at the start of both SS3 and SS4 and too much grip in his rear tyres cost him places. After maintaining a positive attitude into the afternoon, the Swede overshot a junction in SS5, and unable to reverse, had to wait for help from spectators. He then got stuck behind a competitor who was going slowly on SS6 which cost 10 more seconds. On the next stage he lost the studs on his tyres and by the end of day his confidence was shattered. After a cautious start the next day, he regained his confidence and defended fourth position for
the rest of the event.

25 – EYVIND BRYNILDSEN (NOR)

After a spin on SS3 putt him 2mins 51secs behind leader P-G Andersson, Brynildsen couldn’t find the speed he needed to make up ground that afternoon. But with a win on S11, he gained 20 seconds on Sousa, overtaking the Portuguese driver and taking fifth place which he then held throughout the rally. Brynildsen spent days two and three trying to catch Sandell in fourth, but despite narrowing the gap to 34.9secs by the end of day two, rear differential problems in SS17 and SS18 at the start of day three denied him the chance to make up enough ground. He ended Rally Sweden frustrated in fourth place.

26 – BERNARDO SOUSA (PRT)

Sousa struggled throughout the rally with minor hiccups and despite ending day one in fifth place, he lost out to Eyvind Brynildsen on day two. Unsure of the snow, Sousa lost time as a result of a cautious approach to the rally. Even then, he suffered especially on day three when on SS17 he went into a snow bank and on SS18 lost the use of his intercom which saw him end up in his second snow bank of the morning. This broke his wipers and meant that he had to finish the stage with snow covering the windscreen.

27 – JANNE TUOHINO (FIN)

Tuohino drove a steady rally unchallenged in his second place from SS2, but unable to compete with class winner P-G Andersson. Following a problem with a misting windscreen due to an overactive hot air vent at the beginning of day one and then the loss of his rear window in SS7, Tuohino put in consistently good times throughout the event and focused on getting stage wins, managing to snatch four from Andersson by the end of day three.

49 – P-G ANDERSSON (SWE)

Andersson was the star of Rally Sweden, his home event, leading from SS1 and claiming the first ever class win in the SWRC. Despite being more cautious on day two in an effort to protect his lead, Andersson still clocked 13 stage wins and finished the rally 47.3 seconds ahead of second place Tuohino.

51 – PER-ARNE SAAV (SWE)

Swedish guest driver Saav finished Rally Sweden at the back of the pack, 17 minutes and 39 seconds behind winner P-G Andersson, but saved the best to last, coming in fifth on SS21, his highest result of the rally. Satisfied with his performance, the only difficult moments for Saav came on day two when he made incorrect changes to a pace note and
went off the road in the forest twice on SS11, finishing 1min 9secs behind Andersson, and SS16, costing him 36 seconds more. On SS16, the sprint at the end of day two, he was then overcautious and completed the stage 2 minutes and 36 seconds slower than the leader.