Silver Swedes in Rally Sweden

Patrik Flodin and Patrik Sandell are the top Swedes in Rally Sweden.

Both drivers took the silver medal in the PWRC and SWRC respectively 2010 and this year they will both start in the Swedish WRC event, February 10-13. And the ambitions are high. Flodin wants to lay the foundation for grabbing the championship title and Sandell is looking to create opportunities for starting in more international events in 2011.

Flodin and Sandell will, alongside national touring car champion (STCC) Richard Göransson, be the most interesting Swedes to watch in Rally Sweden. Flodin is entered in the PWRC together with local co-driver Göran Bergsten. They finished second in the championship last year after having opened the season with a win in the home event.

– We’re hoping for the same result in Rally Sweden as last year but in the championship we’re aiming higher. We’re going for gold, says Flodin, who will be competing for the Russian URT team.

– I’m really happy that they have continued confidence in me. It’s a very good and proffessional team. And for this season we will have a new Subaru Impreza.

Patrik Sandell has lost his position in the Red Bull Rally Team. But it is for this team, with back-up from Skoda in Sweden, he will be competing in a Skoda Fabia S2000 in Rally Sweden. The Swedish event is not part of the SWRC, which means Sandell will be competing in the same car as last year.

But this time it won’t be with Emil Axelsson as co-driver. After many years of working together Sandell and Axelsson has chosen to go separate ways. Instead, Sandell will have Staffan Parmander in the co-driver’s seat. Parmader has previously competed in the WRC together with Kenneth Eriksson for 13 years.

– It’s going to be really great to have Staffan beside me and it will be interesting to see if I can develop even more as a driver with his help, says Sandell.

Other Swedes entered in Rally Sweden are: Fredrik Åhlin, Joakim Roman, Lasse Storm och Oscar Ortfeldt.

Photo: McKlein

Together with Göran Bergsten, Patrik Flodin won the PWRC class in Rally Sweden 2010. This year he’s looking to repeat the win and aim for the championship title.