Red Bull Skoda prepare for the 2006 Swedish Rally
The first event of the World Rally Championship 2006 is over – and the Red Bull Skoda Rally Team has a reason to be cheerful: Both crews got to the finish and gained points for the manufacturers` championship.
Two premieres in one for Marcus Gronholm: After changing over to Ford, the Finn wins the Monte Carlo Rally for the first time, his maiden victory on tarmac.

Just two weeks after visiting the French Maritime Alps, the remote forests and meadows of Sweden await the rally drivers.

Once more, Karlstad plays host to the Uddeholm Swedish Rally. For a few days, this town of 80,000 inhabitants, situated between Oslo and Stockholm, will become the sports capital of Sweden and the world of rallying.

This WRC event in Scandinavia is among the fastest and most spectacular in the entire schedule – especially if conditions comply with the season.

Lean on me
Snow, ice, and tall banks along the road inviting the drivers to lean against. In these bobsleigh tunnels, well-judged steering and braking adjustments should give additional stability.

If you overdo it, the snow banks could trap you. Those 300 hp WRCs demand awareness and a careful approach!

Almost nine million Swedes are once more about to become dedicated rally fans for the first weekend in February – they will be sure to provide a unique atmosphere along the challenging stages.

Looking back
Marcus Gronholm arrives in Sweden leading the championship and has to be regarded as the hottest contender in the cold North.

Gronholm has won the event thrice in the past six years, in 2000, 2002 & 2003, each time in a Peugeot 206. Petter Solberg of Norway won the previous year in a Subaru.

Mattias Ekstrom will compete alongside Andreas Aigner for the Red Bull Skoda Rally Team in Sweden. Ekstrom, DTM champion in 2004 and a huge fan of rallying, has competed no less than five times in Sweden, four of those in a Group N car, and in 2005 for the first time at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia WRC, when he managed to finish in P10.

For Andreas Aigner, Sweden means breaking completely new ground.

Tags: rally,