Despite a small entry of only three SUBARU cars in the season-opening Swedish Rally, drivers Patrik Flodin and Anders Grondal secured the top two spots in the Production class after three days’ rallying in the snow.

Right from the opening stages on Friday, local driver Flodin maintained his position as leader of the P-WRC, never having to push too hard to stay in the top spot. New suspension settings on the morning of Day two made the car very bouncy at the front, but this was safely remedied at the lunchtime Service. Flodin’s stage times throughout the second day were extremely close to the much lighter S2000 cars, illustrating just how quick the Swede was on home ground. Gravel coming through on sections of the final day’s stages wore down the studs on the drivers’ snow tyres, meaning a huge loss of grip, and was a talking point among all competitors.

Anders Grondal had a less auspicious start to his rally, the Norwegian spinning on the second stage of the event, and then getting caught behind another car for the remainder of Friday morning. He went on to set two fastest stage times, on SS5 and SS6, though losing his light pod later on meant he fell back slightly on the final stage of Day One. Contact with a snow bank on the morning of Day two froze his air filter, losing power and as a result, pace. Grondal was happy with his car overall, remarking on how pleased he was with it compared to his regular mount, a World Rally Car! Anders took a more cautious approach to the afternoon stages, until the last test of the day where he really flew. His final day was marked by a lack of grip, for the same reason as Flodin, excessive tyre wear.

Gianluca Linari of Italy went onto SupeRally on Day One, and spent the following day regaining confidence in the snow. He had an off on Day Three’s SS18, but was helped back onto the stage by spectators.

The other competitor running an Impreza (though outside of the P-WRC) was Ott Tanak, the Estonian posting some very impressive times apart from an excursion into a snowdrift that cost him five minutes. Day two saw some minor drama in the form of a power steering failure, followed by a small engine fire. He suffered a puncture on the last stage of the event, a subsequent visit to a snow bank convincing him to call time on his effort. Although he didn’t achieve his goal of finishing among the top Production entries, he set some very impressive stage times throughout the three days.

Patrik Flodin said “It feels fantastic to start the season with a win and now I really hope I can do the whole P-WRC season. It’s great to win my home rally so it’s good for me in every way.”