FIA World Rally Championship 2026 Stop 02 - Umeå, Sweden
Sub-zero temperatures provide perfect conditions for the WRC's second round.
Oliver Solberg heads home to Rally Sweden (12 - 15 February) with the championship lead in his pocket – but also the unenviable task of sweeping the road on what promises to be one of the fastest winter events in FIA World Rally Championship history.
Fresh from a breakthrough victory at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo last month, the 24-year-old Toyota GAZOO Racing driver arrives in Umeå not just as local favourite, but as the man everyone is chasing. The script could hardly be better written - yet the challenge ahead is anything but straightforward.
“To go to my home rally leading the championship is something crazy that I couldn’t have dreamed of,” said Solberg. “It’s an amazing feeling, but I’m still taking everything rally by rally. Rally Sweden has always been my favourite rally of the year - it’s the most fun that you can have in a rally car.”
A prolonged cold snap across the Västerbotten region has delivered a rock-solid frozen base to the stages. Armed with studded Hankook Winter i*pike SR10W tyres, grip levels are expected to be high and average speeds correspondingly fierce as Rally1 machinery threads through the snow-lined forests north of Umeå.
But there is a twist. With less fresh snowfall than in previous editions, the famous snowbanks are lower and less forgiving. The soft cushions drivers often lean on to rotate the car at high speed could offer far less margin for error this time.
For Solberg, road position adds another layer of complexity.
“Starting first on the road in Sweden is maybe not always the best place to be,” he admitted. “Maybe on some stages I can have an advantage, and on others maybe not. I can only hope for good conditions, do my best and drive as fast as I can.”
Hyundai Motorsport arrives determined to strike back. Thierry Neuville, the 2024 world champion, is joined by Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi - a former Sweden winner who returns to the event where he triumphed in 2024. Starting further down the order, Lappi could benefit from cleaner lines on Friday’s opening leg.
Two-time Sweden winner Elfyn Evans will be eager to respond after narrowly missing out at round one, while Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari add further depth to Toyota’s line-up. Privateer Lorenzo Bertelli, hailing from Italy, completes a formidable GR Yaris Rally1 presence.
M-Sport Ford fields a trio of Puma Rally1s and welcomes the return of Latvian ace Mārtiņš Sesks, who gets his half-season campaign under way. Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong – fresh from a head-turning debut in Monte-Carlo – complete the line-up.
The rally begins with this evening’s opening stage in Umeå before crews head deep into the frozen forests for 18 speed tests covering 300km.
