Rising Stars Ready for Action as FIA Junior WRC Returns in Sweden
Posted: February 12, 2025 8:50 AM
The 2025 FIA Junior WRC season gets underway this week, with rallying’s rising stars ready to face the ultimate test in the frozen forests of northern Sweden.
All 12 crews will be put through their paces on the spectacular roads surrounding the city of Umeå, Rally Sweden’s home since 2022, with the event marking stop one on the five-round 2025 FIA Junior WRC calendar.
Ice-covered roads, hard-packed snowbanks and freezing temperatures are all hallmarks of Rally Sweden - and long-range weather forecasts suggest these conditions will be in full force for the 13 - 16 February event.
Topping the entry list is Ali Türkkan from Türkiye, who finished third in last year’s championship and returns with high hopes. He’s joined by 11 other drivers, all competing in identical M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evos. They will rely on Hankook’s Winter i*Pike SR10W tyres, fitted with tungsten-tipped studs to ensure optimum grip on the frozen surfaces.
Türkkan is joined by a number of familiar faces including Sweden’s Mille Johansson, who claimed victory at this event last year. Johansson returns for 2025 with a full-season Junior WRC campaign after securing the FIA Junior ERC title. Diego Domínguez, runner-up in 2023, is back for his third season, with other returnees including Max Smart, Taylor Gill and Eamonn Kelly also entered.
2025 also sees a host of new talent entering the series. Among them are Tristan Charpentier, Joosep Ralf Nõgene, Thomas Martens and Kerem Kazaz. But the spotlight will also be on Claire Schönborn and Lyssia Baudet, who earned their places at round one through the WRC Promoter’s Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme. The two will compete against each other for a seat for the remaining rounds of the season.
Following Shakedown on Thursday morning, the competitive action begins that evening with the first pass of the Umeå Sprint stage. Three full days of competition follow, with crews facing 18 stages totalling 300km before Sunday afternoon’s finish.
FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager Maciej Woda said:
"There’s always a unique buzz of excitement when a new season kicks off, and Rally Sweden provides the perfect backdrop for what promises to be an incredible year in the FIA Junior WRC. I’m excited to see our crews tackle the challenges ahead, not just here in Sweden but across the entire season. A warm welcome also goes to Hankook as our tyre supplier for 2025 - we look forward to working together. Best of luck to all the crews as they prepare to take on the frozen forests this week!"
McErlean/Treacy set for a snowy Sweden
Posted: February 12, 2025 8:47 AM
The unique snow-bound event marks his second event in the top tier of the WRC, following an impressive Rally1 debut at Rallye Monte Carlo where he secured an inspiring seventh-place finish.
The 25-year-old from Kilrea will be faced with yet another steep learning curve, as he and co-driver Eoin Treacy sample the sport's highest level on the ice and snow of the specialist rally for the very first time.
Rally Sweden, renowned for its high-speed and unforgiving stages, will test McErlean’s adaptability, having only previously contested the event in 2022. He will need to call on all of his prior experience of the wintery conditions, and coupled with his knowledge of the Puma Rally1 gained from Rallye Monte Carlo, he will be searching for another points scoring finish to add to his tally.
“Rally Sweden in a Rally1 car will be like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before, but that’s going to be a theme of the season really,” says McErlean.
“It’s such a specialist event that takes years to master so, pretty much like Monte, our expectations remain realistic and that is quite simply to do our best for the M-Sport team and try to gain some points for our season”.
The event remains the only WRC round run entirely on snow and ice, creating a spectacular winter challenge that requires pinpoint precision and accuracy from the crew. From its base in Umeå, over 300 kilometres of ultra-high-speed stages lie in wait, with cars often floating over the thick ice and glancing off the thick snowbanks which line the stages.
With temperatures often as low as -25°C, the challenges are not just confined to the stages and McErlean, along with M-Sport and the Mi Rally Academy, have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the challenging rally.
“We have been able to conduct some winter testing to enable me to get a feel for the Puma on the ice and snow, but I’m fully aware that getting the most out of the car will take some time from my side” continues McErlean.
“The plan was always to take the first few rounds step by step as they are so specialist, and that approach clearly worked in Monte Carlo; we learnt so much on that event. Rally Sweden is always incredible. It's always a special event with the unique challenge of the surface. The grip these cars can generate with the studded tyres is something else”.
Rally Sweden gets underway on Thursday [13 February] with a short super special before a full day Friday, the longest of the event. Saturday offers seven tests before the final three stages round out the rally the following day.
McErlean is backed by Woodland NI, Admore Air Conditioning, SDC Trailers, Hutchinson Engineering, McCormack Contracting Inc, Fastener Connections, Shamrock Building Systems and EC Framing Inc.
PUMAS PREPARED FOR RALLY SWEDEN’S SNOW AND ICE CONDITIONS
Posted: February 12, 2025 8:40 AM
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is getting into gear for Rally Sweden and the second round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship. Alongside Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean, the team welcomes M?rti?š Sesks and Jourdan Serderidis back for the event, with a four-strong showing of Ford Puma Rally1 cars lining-up in Umeå next week.
Rally Sweden, the only full snow-and-ice event in the WRC season, is a historic and fan-favourite rally dating back to 1950. Often dominated by Nordic crews due to the unique driving skills required, its ever-changing conditions challenge even the most experienced crews.
Delivering impressive rally action with high speed sections through trees and tight corners, drivers often describe driving on snow giving a ‘floating’ feeling due to the effect of the studded tyres on the loose surface.
M-Sport’s quartet of Puma Rally1 cars will take to the stages around Umeå next week, in Sweden’s northern region of Norrland. Three days of action will commence on Friday, after a vibrant start to the event on Thursday night’s super special stage, hosted in the fan-favourite Red Barn Arena.
With his confidence bolstered by his first-ever stage win in Monte-Carlo last month, Grégoire Munster will seek to advance his winter driving skills on his second snow outing in Rally1 machinery in Sweden. The previous year’s edition proved tough for Munster, who battled to find grip and speed on the unique surface in his newly upgraded machinery.
Now with a full year in the Puma Rally1 under his belt, Munster, alongside co-driver Louis Louka, will utilise his experience in the car to take on the WRC season’s next challenge in Sweden.
Josh McErlean will make his second ever Rally1 appearance on Sweden’s snowy stages next week, after a successful debut in Monte-Carlo where he finished seventh overall and claimed six championship points.
Now facing the next challenge ahead, joined by co-driver Eoin Treacy, the pair will experience their first full-snow event in the Puma Rally1 on only their second rally in the car. The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew will focus on managing tyres, grip levels and avoiding dangerous snow banks on the famously tough event.
Joining the team for the first event of his partial season in 2025, M?rti?š Sesks will also make his Rally1 snow debut in Sweden next week. Despite having only one previous edition of Rally Sweden under his belt, when he claimed second overall in Junior WRC in 2020, Sesks is no stranger to snowy rally stages.
Having claimed multiple class and event wins on snow events in his home country of Latvia, Sesks and co-driver Ren?rs Francis have a good foundation to give a strong performance in Sweden next week.
Also joining the team for his first WRC event on snow and ice is Jourdan Serderidis. The Greek driver takes on this new challenge alongside co-driver Fred Miclotte, expanding his driving skills on a new surface in the Puma Rally1. The pairing prepared for their Rally Sweden debut on last weekend’s Arctic Lapland Rally in Finland and are excited to take on Sweden’s stages next week.
The team will also launch its 2025 WRC2 campaign in Sweden, with Romet Jürgenson’s debut in the Fiesta Rally2 taking place on the historic snowy stages. Kicking off a seven-round campaign in Sweden, last year’s Junior WRC campaign will look to gain valuable experience in Rally2 machinery across snow, gravel and Tarmac surfaces throughout the season.
The Estonian driver finished second overall in the Junior category in Sweden last year, and combined with some native experience on snow, he and co-driver Siim Oja will look to deliver a clean and measured drive on their first WRC2 appearance with the team.
Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Principal, said:
“Sweden is a very different challenge compared to Monte-Carlo for the crews, but it will also be a challenge for the team, going from running two cars on Round 1, to five cars on Round 2. It is fantastic to see such a lineup for us, and although there is a lot of experience to be gained on this surface for all our crews, we showed in Monte that with the right approach we can get interesting results. That will be the same mentality and aim for this weekend!”
Grégoire Munster said:
“I’m looking forward to driving on snow and ice again, it’s something that we’re not so used to and don’t do so often. Being able to do it with the Puma is really cool too. `We had the pre-event test earlier this week, where we learned a bit about how to work with the new tyres, and I think that’s going to be an interesting factor on this event.
“We are going to have a good starting position, after our result in Monte, so we will try to benefit from that on Friday and hopefully we will enjoy some good snow conditions. We had good pace in Monte-Carlo, and although this is a completely different surface, we hope to carry some of that momentum into Sweden.”
Josh McErlean said:
“Really excited for Rally Sweden! This event is always incredible, it's such a special event with the unique challenge of competing on snow and ice. The grip these cars can generate with the studded tyres is something else. We learned a lot in Monte Carlo, and now the focus is on building momentum, taking another step, and building speed. I can’t wait to get back in the car and experience the thrill of flying through the forests at full speed.”
M?rti?š Sesks said:
“I'm excited to be back in Rally1 with M-Sport and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do half of the season this year with them, which gives us more chance to show our pace and maturity in the car.
“This will be our first rally of the season, and our first snow rally in the Rally1 car. It will be a good experience with a good learning curve for sure! Because we’re only doing half the season, we have less pressure on us long-term and we can just see rally by rally how we feel and how our pace is going to look. I’m excited to be driving on snow, I really enjoy driving in these conditions, using the snow banks around the roads. It should be a fun weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jourdan Serderidis said:
“Rally Sweden is our first appearance in the WRC in 2025 and we are excited to drift on snow again! While Sweden is not where we have the most experience, we believe that this event should help us to tackle higher objectives in Kenya in March. I can’t wait to be back in the Puma together with our team-mates in Umeå.”
Romet Jürgenson said:
“It’s going to be a big step up in Sweden for both me and Siim, but we are ready for the challenge! WRC2 at the moment is a different league and it will definitely take some time to be able to establish ourselves. I will take my time and try to prove my worth once we are settled in properly. We have an exciting year ahead of us and can’t wait to get started!”
Hyundai Motorsport Preview: Round 2 – Rally Sweden
Posted: February 12, 2025 8:37 AM
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team ventures to snow-covered Scandinavia for round two of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Rally Sweden, with its sights set on a strong team result.
Just three weeks after the 2025 WRC season got underway at Rallye Monte-Carlo, rallying action returns to the scene of some of Hyundai Motorsport’s most special moments. Only last year, Esapekka Lappi secured his second-ever WRC win at the event, and in 2023 the team celebrated two emotional stage wins by the late Craig Breen across the fan-favourite Brattby test.
The 2025 edition will include three stages never before seen at Rally Sweden: Andersvattnet (SS3/6, 20.51km), Bäck (SS4/7, 10.80km) and Kolksele (SS11/14, 16.06km). With these complete unknowns, crews must place extra importance on stage recce to ensure they can make the most out of their runs.
Across four days of action, crews will face over 300 kilometres of treacherous terrain in freezing temperatures. Snowbanks and icy passes are ready to punish any mistakes made by the challenging crews, meaning the right lines and accurate pace notes are vital to a strong result.
The event will also see the arrival of the redeveloped Hyundai i20 N Rally1. The updated car will retain the current Rally1 chassis but features an overhaul in other areas to maximise efficiency. With a focus on suspension layout and weight reduction, the team has utilised several 2025 jokers in a bid to improve performance across the remainder of the season.
In preparation for Sweden’s unique trials all three Hyundai Motorsport crews participated in pre-event testing at the team’s Finnish base. Although Hankook’s Sweden-specific tyres were used at this test, the rally will see the only full weekend of contention on the studded gravel tyres.
An impressive performance from Adrien Fourmaux at this event last year saw the Frenchman bring home the first WRC podium of his career. However, after claiming third in his Hyundai Motorsport debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo, a challenging road position awaits him in Sweden. A clean weekend will be crucial as Fourmaux aims for another strong points haul. Team-mates Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak have three wins and nine podiums between them at the Nordic event, emphasising the strength of the team’s driver line-up. Their respective experience will allow them to push across the unforgiving stages in pursuit of top-three finishes.
With a 24-point gap to the top of the manufacturers’ championship, all three Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crews will be looking to secure as many points as possible for the team’s efforts, while also chasing individual glory.
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “After a generally positive weekend in Monte-Carlo, we’re now looking to take a step forward by claiming a strong result at Rally Sweden. Thierry and Ott are both former winners, so they will be looking to get their campaigns back on track after various challenges left them outside the podium positions in Monte-Carlo. And we hope Adrien can keep the positive momentum from Monte-Carlo and continue his progression. We have some data on the new Hankook tyres from round one, but with the unique studded ice tyre being the only option available in Sweden, there will still be plenty for us to discover in the challenging conditions. Our target is to claim a solid result for our three crews, which is key as they go up against expanded entries from both Toyota and M-Sport.”
Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Strong Hyundai Motorsport debut gives French duo a solid foundation for round two
Duo looking to claim second Rally Sweden podium following 2024 success
Fourmaux said: “Finishing on the podium at Rallye Monte-Carlo was great for both us and the team. Ending a notoriously challenging event like that is great for our motivation. When we left Monte, we knew we had a tough challenge coming in Sweden – and when you do well in round one, you have a tricker road position at round two. We did two days of testing on snow in December, and then another test in January, so we have had some experience with the car on snow and feel confident going to the event. We want to push and do our best to replicate our podium finish from last year, but we know it’s a big challenge being second on the road. We need to score as many points as possible at this rally, and we’ll see where we end up.”
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Estonian pair targeting second Rally Sweden victory
Crew determined to improve on fifth-place result at Rallye Monte-Carlo
Tänak said: “Monte was full of surprises this year and we struggled to adapt immediately to the new tyres in the changing conditions. This will still be a challenge in Sweden, but with no tyre choice we just need to focus on maximising our performance as quickly as possible. Road position plays a key role in Sweden, especially on the second loop of some stages, but aside from that, speed and performance are still the most important factors. We had a test day in December and another one after Monte-Carlo and so far it’s all been positive. There will be some big challenges, but we are feeling motivated ahead of the weekend – we are hoping to push for a strong result.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#1 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
2024 champions aiming to bounce back after tricky season opener
Neuville has claimed five podiums at Swedish event, including a win in 2018
Neuville said: “Rally Sweden is a unique event that demands a lot from us as crews and the car. We need a good setup so we can feel as comfortable as possible – reactivity, precision and traction are crucial to finding success in Sweden. There is still more to test with the new tyres: learning how long the studs last and how much camber you can run are all things we still need to learn. The new stages this year also add to these challenges; with new pace notes and only two passes to learn them, it always makes it tougher. We want to take good points home from the event, and we are determined to be fighting for a podium finish. More important to us than winning is a clean points haul for the championship, and we want to maximise this on Sunday.”
Weekend at a Glance
One run of Umeå Sprint (SS1/8, 5.16km) on Thursday evening opens competition with 5.16km of rallying action in the infamous Red Barn Arena
Friday presents the longest day of the event, with seven snowy stages covering 124.32km of Swedish countryside
101.96km are covered by a further seven stages on the penultimate day of Rally Sweden, including the weekend’s first loop of Umeå (SS15/18, 10.08km)
Three stages totalling 68.78km bring the weekend to a close, with a second loop of Umeå assuming the role of the Power Stage.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing seeks more success on Swedish snow
Posted: February 12, 2025 8:33 AM
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team intends to build on its strong start to the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship season when the snow and ice of Rally Sweden hosts round two on February 13-16.
TGR-WRT began the defence of its manufacturers’ championship title with a maximum points haul and a one-two finish at January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, where Sébastien Ogier claimed a record-extending 10th victory on the iconic season opener.
With Ogier contesting a partial schedule of rallies and not present in Sweden, it is team-mate Elfyn Evans who effectively leads the fight for the drivers’ title and will be opening the road on an event where he scored his first win with the team in 2020. Third on the road will be Kalle Rovanperä, who took victory in Sweden in 2022. Completing the team’s manufacturer line-up is Takamoto Katsuta, who has also gone strongly in Sweden previously, while Sami Pajari represents TGR-WRT2 on his first full winter rally in Rally1 machinery.
TGR-WRT will still enter a total of five GR YARIS Rally1 cars in Sweden, with Lorenzo Bertelli taking part in one of his favourite rallies through the team’s customer programme for the third consecutive year.
Considered the WRC’s only pure winter event, Rally Sweden holds good memories for TGR-WRT as the scene of its first ever victory back in 2017, when current Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala was behind the wheel. In 2022 the rally moved north to Umeå, the largest city in northern Sweden and a short trip across the Gulf of Bothnia from Finland where TGR-WRT is based. The new location – closer to the Arctic Circle than to the capital city Stockholm – has helped ensure extreme winter conditions and also brought even faster roads. Special studded tyres that bite into the surface make it one the quickest rallies of the season, with drivers ‘leaning’ their cars on snowbanks by the sides of the road to carry more speed through corners.
The rally starts on Thursday evening with a short ‘sprint’ stage in Umeå, which will be run again on Friday after two loops of three stages separated by a mid-day service. Saturday’s format is similar but concludes with a double-length version of the Umeå stage – which also serves as the rally-ending Power Stage on Sunday when it follows two passes of the Västervik test.
Seven GR Yaris Rally2 cars will take part in WRC2 with the entry list led by Oliver Solberg, who begins his seven-round championship campaign with the Printsport team on his home event. Others to watch include Georg Linnamäe, who finished on the class podium with the RedGrey team in 2024, plus the Rautio Motorsport duo of Roope Korhonen and Tuukka Kauppinen, the latter fresh from winning the Arctic Rally. Rally Sweden regular Micha? So?owow joins Solberg under the Printsport awning.
The TGR WRC Challenge Program’s second-generation drivers Hikaru Kogure and Yuki Yamamoto also begin their WRC2 campaigns in a pair of GR Yaris Rally2 cars, while third-generation duo Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita make their WRC3 debuts in Renault Clio Rally3 machinery.
Quotes:
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“Rally Sweden is almost like a home rally for our team, with the kind of winter conditions that we experience in Finland. These are some of the most enjoyable conditions for driving a rally car. Rallye Monte-Carlo was almost a perfect start to the season for us and we really hope to fight for the victory in Sweden as well. The conditions on a rally like this can be tricky as well, because if there’s fresh snow falling on top of the ice base it can impact the performance of the drivers running at the front, as Elfyn will be on Friday. Hopefully the conditions can be stable and then it will be a rally that all our drivers can enjoy. On every different surface we face at the start of this season, there are new tyres to learn about, so our testing before the event has been important to give our drivers an understanding of how to get the best from them during the rally.”
Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“Our podium in Monte Carlo was a solid start to the year and we’re looking forward to the next challenge in Sweden. It’s an event that’s always a lot of fun to drive with the stages being as fast as they are. Opening the road could make for a difficult start to the weekend if there’s a lot of fresh snow like last year. On the other hand, if it’s icy, it could play into our hands; we’ll be giving it our all regardless. There’s a lot of learning to do at the start of the year about the new Hankook tyres and for Sweden it’s no different. So far the feeling is quite different to before and we have to try and adapt to that and get the most out of it.”
Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It was not the easiest start to the season for us at Rallye Monte-Carlo but we ended the weekend with some good points and now we want to try and have a strong performance in Sweden. Driving on snow is always a lot of fun and doing the Arctic Rally along with our pre-event test has been also really important to get some good kilometres on this surface with the new tyre and to get a feeling for it. We’ve been working hard with the team to find the best setup and the right direction for us to take, and so far the feeling has been pretty good. We’ll have to see what the conditions will be like but hopefully it can be a good rally for us.”
Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Rally Sweden is one of my favourite rallies and I will try to do my best there for the team. It’s going to be a big challenge with the new tyre for this event, which means that the feeling in the car will probably be a bit different to previously on this surface, but I will try to adapt to this. A lot can depend on the conditions we face. If there is a lot of snow like last year, then our road position could be good, but if the surface is just pure ice it could be more difficult for us. Naturally I’m hoping for plenty of snow but I will do my best either way.”
Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Sweden. It’s one of my favourite events in the whole WRC season. It’s a completely different event compared to Rallye Monte-Carlo: the conditions are usually more stable and the tyre choice is a lot simpler with just one type of tyre available. In that sense, the approach can be more straightforward. Perhaps some people are hoping that I can fight for a top result there, but for me it’s very much still a learning event, because it’s my first winter rally in Rally1. So I’m not setting such high expectations: I just hope that we can enjoy the rally and have a good solid event.”
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