Rally Sweden 2008

 Rally Sweden 2008

Racing data
2nd of 15 races in the 2008 World Rally Championship
Surname:	Rally Sweden
Date:	7-10 February 2008
Begin:	Karlstad
Exams:	20 tests over 340.18 km
Distance:	1440.08 km
Covering:	Asphalt, ice and snow
Podium
First:	Jari-Matti Latvala Ford World Rally Team
Second:	Mikko Hirvonen Ford World Rally Team
Third:	Gianluigi Galli Stobart VK Ford Rally Team

Jari-Matti Latvala in the Ford Focus RS WRC

The 57th Rally Sweden was the second of 15 FIA - World Cup races 2008 . The rally consisted of 20 special stages and was held between February 7th and 10th. The snow-covered forest roads were turned into deep, muddy paths due to the thaw. Therefore the 12th and the 18th special stage had to be canceled.

Race report

The 22-year-old Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) won the Rally Sweden and was not only able to celebrate his first victory in a world championship race, but was also the youngest ever winner in the WRC . On Friday morning he took the lead in the first special stage and did not give it up until the end. Latvala was unimpressed by the adverse conditions. In mild temperatures, the snow melted and turned the roads into slippery and dangerous routes. Two special stages even had to be canceled because the roads were in too bad a condition. Latvala extended the lead and drove towards the goal in a controlled manner on the following two days. In the end he was 58.3 seconds ahead of his team mate Mikko Hirvonen . Hirvonen wasn't able to follow Latvala this time and he didn't really feel comfortable in the car in the difficult conditions. So he contented himself with finishing second safely. With the eight points gained, he took the lead in the drivers' world championship.

Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) had a zero number in Sweden. On Friday afternoon he overturned and damaged the engine. His mechanics couldn't make the necessary repairs. Loeb started again on Saturday, but at noon he finally gave up. Hirvonen now had a six point lead over Loeb in the World Championship standings. With the sixth teammate was Dani Sordo , after all, still the world championship points for Citroën.

Gigi Galli (Ford) initially fought an exciting battle with teammate Henning Solberg for fourth place. Solberg fell far behind after an accident. Co-driver Cato Menkerud even had to go to hospital for examinations, the doctors found no injuries. Solberg started again and won five special stages. Despite the best times, it was only enough for a place in midfield. Brother Petter Solberg (Subaru) drove unobtrusively to fourth place.

Classifications

Bottom line

Item	driver	Co-driver	automobile	time	Residue	Points
WRC
01	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 46: 41.2		10
02	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 47: 39.5	+ 00: 58.3	8th
03	Gigi Galli	Giovanni Bernacchini	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 49: 04.4	+ 02: 23.2	6th
04th	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	Subaru Impreza WRC	2: 49: 40.6	+ 02: 59.4	5
05	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløne	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 52: 27.2	+ 05: 46.0	4th
06th	Dani Sordo	Marc Martí	Citroën C4 WRC	2: 53: 54.3	+ 07: 13.1	3
07th	Toni Gardemeister	Tomi Tuominen	Suzuki SX4 WRC	2: 57: 16.5	+ 10: 35.3	2
08th	Juho Hänninen	Mikko Markkula	Mitsubishi Lancer | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2: 59: 08.7	+ 12: 27.5	1
09	Mads Østberg	Ole Kristian Unnerud	Subaru Impreza WRC	3: 00: 09.7	+ 13: 28.5
10	Jari Ketomaa	Miika Teiskonen	Subaru Impreza STi N12	3: 00: 31.9	+ 13: 50.7

Special stages

Day	WP number	WP name	length	WP winner	time	Ø km / h	leader
Day 1 (Feb. 7)	WP1	WPS Karlstad 1	1.90 km	Petter Solberg	1: 28.9	76.5 km / h	Petter Solberg
Day 2 (Feb. 8)	WP2	Stensjön 1	15.50 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	7: 24.0	125.7 km / h	Jari-Matti Latvala
	WP3	Bjälverud 1	21.58 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	10: 33.7	122.5 km / h
	WP4	Mangen 1	22.09 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	12: 20.7	107.4 km / h
	WP5	Stensjön 2	15.50 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	7: 22.3	126.2 km / h
	WP6	Bjälverud 2	21.58 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	10: 32.4	122.8 km / h
	WP7	Mangen 2	22.09 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	12: 21.2	107.3 km / h
	WP8	WPS Karlstad 2	1.90 km	Gigi Galli	1: 28.2	77.6 km / h
Day 3 (Feb 9)	WP9	Horssjön 1	14.89 km	Sébastien Loeb	9: 18.1	96.0 km / h
	WP10	Hagfors 1	20.92 km	Dani Sordo	11: 45.8	106.7 km / h
	WP11	Vargåsen 1	24.63 km	Sébastien Loeb	13: 49.1	106.9 km / h
	WP12	Horssjön 2	14.89 km	called off
	WP13	Hagfors 2	20.92 km	Dani Sordo	11: 30.1	109.1 km / h
	WP14	Vargåsen 2	24.63 km	Mikko Hirvonen	13: 32.5	109.1 km / h
Day 4 (Feb 10)	WP15	Ullen 1	16.25 km	Henning Solberg	8: 21.7	116.6 km / h
	WP16	Lesjöfors 1	10.49 km	Henning Solberg	5: 54.5	106.5 km / h
	WP17	Ramming 1	21.87 km	Henning Solberg	11: 14.4	116.7 km / h
	WP18	Ullen 2	16.25 km	called off
	WP19	Lesjöfors 2	10.49 km	Henning Solberg	5: 43.8	109.7 km / h
	WP20	Ramming 2	21.87 km	Henning Solberg	11: 07.1	118.0 km / h

Source:

Individual evidence

1. ↑ motorsport-total.com: Latvala celebrates historic triumph , accessed on December 24, 2015
2. ↑ ewrc-results.com: Stage results , accessed on September 19, 2015

Web links

Commons : World Rally Championship 2008  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website