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Vol.1 : 20, February 2006
Snowy Start for spec C in Sweden
Five new spec C entries produce best result of second overall in Group N
Of all the events contested in the world rally championship, Sweden is the only true 'snow' rally. Its stages are famous for high-speed sections over sweeping stretches, with deceptively sturdy snow banks to bounce cars off of. Weather is also a crucial element and can play into the hands of the winners - and losers.
In contrast to last year's event where a dearth of snow meant competitors were driving on what appeared to be gravel stages rather than the white stuff, 2006 was perfect in terms of providing the right conditions for a snow event. Until crews ran the second pass over the stages...
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| Copyright © STI |
With the large number of entrants at last weekend's event (67 in total, of which 29 were Group N cars) - coupled with the fact that competitors had to run many of the tests twice, the roads became deeply rutted. This can be a real problem as coming out of the ruts, or 'tram rails' as they're commonly called, means a car loses all directional control. We saw this happen to a number of WR cars on the notorious SS3 of leg one.
This year the Swedish Rally is not part of the Production Car WRC. However, SUBARU was well represented in the Group N category with no fewer than 11 IMPREZAs dotted throughout the entry list.
While most of the cars were privately entered, there were a couple with support from Subaru Sweden, featuring drivers Oscar Svedlund (#67), and Hasse Gustavsson (#74), a gentleman driver who would take seventh in the category. Svedlund ended the rally third after an eventful weekend. He had a puncture on leg one, with the car subsequently falling off the jack in the stage. It took the crew about six minutes to get it all together and get back in the thick of the action. The time loss was a disaster for the team, but they picked up six valuable points for their effort.
The strongest competitor among the IMPREZA runners was clearly Jukka Ketomaki, the Finn setting some blistering stage times on all three legs of the rally. He would eventually take second in Group N, seventeenth overall, for what was a remarkable result from the up-and-coming driver.
Club-spec? Not a problem for Ketomaki
Considering the budget he was running on, it was a particularly strong showing from Ketomaki, having to contest the event in what was really a club-spec car, rather than a full Group N-spec machine with all the latest developments. Add to that the fact he had only half the tyres available to him as many of the other competitors, and it readily becomes apparent just how good he was.
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| Copyright © STI |
The problem for Jukka was the varying conditions over the three legs of the event. The pre-event test forecast snow falling on the rally so he purchased snow tyres. However, it turned out that the roads cleaned very quickly and he ended up needing ice tyres for half of the stages. In the end, it was a case of having the wrong tyres for the conditions. As well as running without his regular co-driver on this event, the time loss caused by the less-than-optimal tyre choice may well have cost him Group N victory.
Quickest among the Swedes in SUBARU Group N machinery was Patrick Flodin, setting consistently quick times in the early stages, though he retired from the rally on SS9.
George Donaldson - STI Group N Project General Manager:
"Jukka Ketomaki gave a brilliant performance in Sweden this past weekend. Not only did he end up ahead of all the other IMPREZAs, he did it in a club-spec car. Everyone else was running all the V.O. parts available, and he was running with none of them. Patrick Flodin was also very competitive. He was in there in the thick of the fight during the early stages with Hanninen and Ketomaki. It was only on day two that Ketomaki's tyre deficiency came to light. Patrick would, I'm sure, have fought all the way to the finish - which would have given us a great chance for a win. It's wonderful to see all the support for SUBARU from both the competitors and the fans. We are very pleased with the progress we've made in this latest version of the SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI spec C, and are eager to see just how well our spec C customers fare in their various championships around the globe this season."
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