An added dimension to this year’s competition is also Swedish driver Oliver Solberg’s remarkable start to the season in Monte Carlo. The 24-year-old opened the WRC season by becoming the youngest driver ever—and the first Swede in 55 (!) years—to win the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. The last time a Swede took home the trophy was Ove “Påven” Andersson in 1971.<\/p>\n
Solberg, from Värmland and this season a full-time driver for Toyota’s WRC1 team, excelled on the notoriously difficult surface in the hilly French mountain terrain.<\/p>\n
He finished more than 50 seconds ahead of his teammate and the reigning Rally Sweden winner, Elfyn Evans. A further minute behind, Sébastien Ogier secured third place.<\/p>\n
Now Solberg arrives in Umeå—whether he likes it or not—as one of the major favorites based on the season opener. Historically, and looking back at his starts in Umeå, he also has—aside from the premiere year in 2022—three consecutive WRC2-class victories. In Umeå, Solberg is well-liked, and the affection is mutual.<\/p>\n
The last time a Swede won Rally Sweden was as far back as 1997, when Kenneth Eriksson claimed victory in Värmland.<\/p>\n
The four editions in Umeå have also produced four different winners. At the 2022 premiere, Kalle Rovanperä took victory. In 2023, Estonian Ott Tänak, then driving for M-Sport Ford, secured the win after a steady performance throughout the weekend. In 2024, it was Finland’s turn again, as Esa-Pekka Lappi impressed for Hyundai as a “part-time driver” and claimed his first WRC victory since 2017.<\/p>\n Last year, Britain’s Elfyn Evans took revenge for his runner-up finish the year before and won a dramatic duel that for a long time seemed destined for his Toyota teammate Takamoto Katsuta, all the way until the penultimate stage, Västervik SS17. Evans ultimately won by just 3.8 seconds over the 18 special stages.<\/p>\n Since both Tänak and Rovanperä have ended their rally programs, Esa-Pekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans have the chance to become two-time winners in Umeå ahead of the 2026 edition.<\/p>\n Or is it time for Belgium’s Thierry Neuville, who has finished on the podium three times in his four appearances in Umeå?<\/p>\n A powerful, beautiful winter cold will frame this year’s Rally Sweden, offering near-perfect winter conditions. On wednesday, the drivers took to the stage to present themselves to rally fans ahead of this year’s competition, officially setting the tone for the event. Umeå is hosting for the fifth time since the move from Värmland, and the City of “Birches” has delivered a strong event while creating a true festival atmosphere in town.<\/p>\n – We’ve been able to grow into the rally with our organization. Now it feels like the competition has established itself in the minds of Umeå’s residents. We’re experiencing incredible engagement, which we’re very grateful for, says Erik Åström, Event Manager, Rally Sweden.<\/p>\n February has become synonymous with rallying in Umeå. Initially, it was a slightly bewildered city that was suddenly invaded by rally fans from all over the world during the premiere year in 2022. Now, as the competition enters its fifth year, it is an established concept ingrained in the local population. People talk regularly at their workplaces. The characteristic rally hats sway atop every other Umeå resident’s head, and few in the city go unnoticed by Rally Sweden.<\/p>\n – It’s gratifying to see the drive and determination among all the fantastic volunteers—none mentioned, none forgotten—who make this work. It requires millimeter-precision from us and everyone passionate about this for it to succeed. It’s intense for a few days, but countless hours of planning lie behind the event, says Åström, who also highlights the importance of the revenue Rally Sweden generates for local associations. That’s perhaps one of the best effects of the event—that the money rightfully flows down to local sports clubs and interest organizations. We would never be able to run this without their help and commitment, Åström adds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An added dimension to this year’s competition is also Swedish driver Oliver Solberg’s remarkable start to the season in Monte Carlo. The 24-year-old opened the WRC season by becoming the youngest driver ever—and the first Swede in 55 (!) years—to win the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. The last time a Swede took home the trophy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47092,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47091\/revisions\/47092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFour different winners<\/strong><\/p>\nPerfect winter conditions<\/h2>\n