Ott Tänak and Kalle Rovanperä compete in Rally Sweden 2024

Last year's winner in Rally Sweden in Umeå Ott Tänak is one of 56 registered for the competition 15-18 February. PHOTO: ROBERT EKBLOM

Registration for Rally Sweden 2024 is now closed. Fifty-six crews from 27 countries will attend the FIA World Rally Championship in Umeå February 15-18. The last two years' winners, Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak, will start in the competition, along with the Swedish poster Oliver Solberg.

When the second part of the Rally Sweden WRC season, it will - just like the two previous years in Umeå - be a winter rally called duga. The snow landscape already frames Västerbotten and the upcoming rally stages in an almost fairytale-like way.
Fortunately, Rally Sweden offers a new participant record since the competition relocated to Umeå. The premiere attracted 45 teams in the first year. Last year, 52 teams signed up, and this year, the number of teams/drivers is up to 56 crews spread over 27 countries, including exciting nations such as Oman, Kazakhstan, and Chile, who will experience the atmosphere in Umeå for the first time.
- It is, of course, gratifying that we have attracted so many drivers to this year's competition, and it is, of course, extra gratifying that we have never had so many drivers enter the junior WC class; as many as 19 crews will start, says race director Stig-Rune Kjernsli and adds ;
- We are also delighted that we have attracted many new drivers who are now making their debut in Umeå. Then I think it's a shame that we didn't manage to get any Norwegians here, states the Norwegian competition leader.
Instead, he can rejoice in a new participation record and the amount of snow and variation in the weather, which created good sporting conditions at the time of writing.
- The snow has helped us frame the competition as the winter rally it is meant to be. The mild weather after Christmas created an ice surface to make the stages a good rally base.

Notable for the 2024 competition is that in the starting field this year, we will also find no less than three Swedes, where poster name and factory driver Oliver Solberg with his map reader Elliott Edmondson are accompanied by Isak Reiersen/Lucas Karlsson in the WRC 2 class. The WRC 3 and junior -The WC will allow the audience to get to know Mille Johansson/Johan Grönvall.
- It's fun that we get more Swedish drivers to the start, and even though I might have hoped for a few more seen for all the semi-professional teams that exist in Sweden, it's still a step forward compared to the previous Rally Sweden competitions in Umeå, notes Kjernsli.

In the WRC 1 class, many world stars will start. The Toyota team is fielding three drivers for the Umeå race, and the Japanese car manufacturer has had two completely different experiences of Rally Sweden. In the opening year, there were two out of three podium places.
Last year, they finished fourth and fifth and had to see Takamoto Katsuta make a serious roll because he was forced to break the competition.
In the premier year, Kalle Rovanperä won in Umeå, and the Finn - who won the entire WC series in both 2022 and 2023 - is, even though he only announced a half-time commitment this year, of course, one of the favorites. Elfyn Evans finished fourth last year and has not maintained complete driving focus during his Rally Sweden participation.

The Hyundai team with last year's winner Ott Tänak, contracted from M-sport Ford with his faithful map reader Martin Järveoja, will also start. Whether the new environment will make him repeat the victory from 2023 remains to be seen. Hyundai's other rally duo, Thierry Neuville and the always super sharp Finn Esa-Pekka Lappi, will - if they manage to steer their cars on the right side of the margins on the winter roads - threatened for the victory which will be distributed over the 18 special stages. The Belgian Thierry Neuville, WC third in the overall series in 2023, has been on the podium both times in Umeå. Lappi finished second while driving for Toyota in 2022 and was heavily in the race for victory for just over two-thirds of the race last year before going off the road in the penultimate stage on Saturday.

M-sport Ford celebrated with its poster name Ott Tänak at the top of the podium at The Red Barn Arena last year. For Rally Sweden, team manager Richard Millener has promoted WRC 2 driver Grégoire Munster from Luxembourg in the heaviest driver class, and the Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux also gets the chance again in the team. He was in 2022 but was forced to retire due to mechanical failure.

In the WRC 2 class, it will undeniably be tight for victory. At least 20 crews will start, and last year's winner, Oliver Solberg, now driving for Skoda's factory team, is the big favorite on home soil. The class offers many new teams making their debut in the competition. Among other things, Toyota offers two Japanese-Finnish debutant teams in the form of Yuki Yamamoto/Marko Salminen and Hikaru Kogure/Topi Luhtinen.