Rally Sweden to include Norwegian stages

2nd September 2010

By Giles Wade

The forests around Kongsvinger will once again reverberate to the sound of the World Rally Car following Rally Sweden’s decision to spend the first day of their event in Norway next February.

The Rally Sweden and Rally Norway organisers have always worked closely together and, when Norway failed to make it to the 2011 calendar, the idea was raised of running a day of the WRC season opener across the border in Norway. Rally Sweden clerk of the course Bertil Klarin has confirmed the plan and the WRC’s first full day’s competition next season will be on the Kongsvinger stages.

With Norway not being part of the European Union, the service park will remain in Sweden, to save the teams having to send vans and personnel across the border.

Klarin said: “This is something we were thinking about for some time. The roads around Kongsvinger are very nice and, of course, this opens our event to a lot more spectators in Norway. Unfortunately, now that Rally Norway no longer really exists, we have to do the marketing ourselves. But it will be very worthwhile.”

The Saturday and Sunday of Rally Sweden remain similar to last season, running north from the event’s Karlstad base out of the town of Hagfors.