Sweden 2020

This was a trip we will not forget very soon as it was just as the COVID pandemic with the associated lock downs started, and we did not come back to Europe for 5 years!

We left Perth on the 11^th of February and flew to Oslo via Doha. From Oslo we went by bus to Arvika, our home for the next 5 days, the biggest town close to the rally stages. Arvika is a cute small town (but we didn’t have time to visit anything unfortunately as every day we left before shops and museums opened and came back after they closed).

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On Thursday we went by bus to watch the shakedown in Skalla. There were already lots of cars there; some looked as if they camped there overnight – particularly a loud group of Norwegian fans. It was nice and chilly! We were pleasantly surprised to see officials having dogs on leash around – but I guess it was Europe. It was also nice to walk through a European forest again, stepping on moss even if frozen, and seeing practical imagination at work, with a piece of fencing being used as a temporary bridge!

Most people expected that the competitors would only do one round but most of them did several. Kalle Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans and Sebastien Ogier were quickest so after shakedown we went back to the service park in Torsby and they were the ones that we saw interviewed. As we were walking through the service park we saw Ogier in the Toyota tent chatting happily to somebody on the phone – not looking too preoccupied about the rally!

In the evening we got taken to Karlstad to watch what was supposed to be shakedown but ended up being just a drive-through: a bit of a mud bath, with some competitors trying harder than others to put on a bit of a show for us the spectators.

Friday morning we started off quite early again and went to watch the Finnskogen stage. The buses were parked near a very nicely frozen lake in Skasenden (loooked like a holiday village) and we walked from there. Again, very nice atmosphere, most people having a fire on, eating, having what looked like a good day out (despite the cold).

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From there we got taken to Torsby again to walk through the service park and then watch Torsby Sprint (part of it set around a quarry so offering reasonably good views of the cars). They had 3 excavators moving as if they were watching / following the cars which was quite funny and entertaining. One of the Italian juniors in a Fiesta (Ruffi) rolled, but apart from that it wasn’t much fun. We stayed for long enough to be able to see all the cars through and then have a short walk around the service park as well.

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Saturday was pretty much a re-do of Friday just a few degrees colder and we went a bit further into the stage and managed to see most of the cars through as we stayed longer. We stayed in a different place for Torsby sprint / closer to the end of the stage and where Ruffi had rolled the previous day, but there was no more excitement.

Sunday we started a bit later – not the best day for spectating, 8 degrees, pouring down with rain, muddy… We went and watched the Likenas stage and then got taken back to the service park to watch the podium. It was very windy so there was a bit of excitement in the service park as one of the metal frames got blown away and landed on two Toyota team members.

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Elfyn Evans & Scott Martin won, and Mads Østberg & Torstein Eriksen won WRC 2. This was Kalle Rovanpera’s second WRC – he came third and won the power stage.

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Here is a short video.