One common cold-weather survival technique common in Nordic countries is to urinate on your hands, if your fingers are in danger of frostbite. “There are lots of people taking the piss round here,” said a seasoned member of the press on Rally Sweden. “So that would be about right.”
He suggested that one of them was Red Bull’s eight-time World Champion, Sebastien Loeb. Despite finishing ‘only’ sixth in Sweden, the Frenchman still leads the drivers’ championship by seven points from his new team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen.
The Finn didn’t quite manage to make it three wins in a row on Rally Sweden, even though he was doing his best to out-psych the opposition: principally his former team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala, who went on to win the event.
“We’re still good friends,” said Latvala. “But we just play mind games with each other now rather than talk about set-ups. So it’s more fun.”
Hirvonen agreed. “I was trying to wind Jari-Matti up whichever way I could,” he said. “Asking him when the last time he got laid was... that sort of thing!”
But the insinuations about Latvala’s sexual antics didn’t pay off. In fact, it was Hirvonen whose “tyres were completely shagged” at the end of day two, because of loose gravel coming through the snow. The Red Bull Citroen driver promised not to give up though on the final day. “Of course I’m going to keep trying but I’ve been flat-out all the time and Jari-Matti is still getting away from me; so I’d need a miracle to win,” he said.
GEPA Pictures/McKlein
That miracle nearly came in the form of a rock with two stages to go. Latvala hit it and punctured: suddenly his lead was reduced to eight seconds. “Things changed like a thunderstorm; I think I need a heart check-up after this rally,” said the Ford driver.
Unbelievably, the other factory Ford of Petter Solberg – running third – hit exactly the same rock, losing a podium that was practically in the bag.
“I wasn’t cutting the corner but it was in the middle of the ruts and I just couldn’t avoid it,” explained Solberg. “It’s incredible that Jari-Matti hit it too.”
Equally amazing was the fact that Loeb went off on the first day before having a spin and a puncture on day two.
“I’ve either never got on with this rally or it hasn’t got on with me,” said Loeb. “The result isn’t fantastic but I’m happy just to finish.”
Another Red Bull athlete pleased to reach the end was Nasser Al-Attiyah, making his debut in a Citroen DS3 WRC. The Qatari explained: “I didn’t even see snow for the first time until I was seven or eight and came to England. So this wasn’t an easy place for me to learn the car.”
But the final word goes to former football manager and now rally driver Paulo Nobre from Brazil, who was his own harshest critic. “If this was a football match,” said the MINI driver, “I really should have been shown the red card by now…”
Want more?
- Visit the Rally Sweden event page
- Official site of the WRC
- Five things you never knew about Mikko Hirvonen
- Watch videos on the official WRC YouTube channel
- More Red Bull Motor Sports
GEPA Pictures/McKlein
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