| 2008 Swedish Rally 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Round 2 of the 2008 World Rally Championship
| |||
| Host country |  Sweden | ||
| Rally base | Karlstad, Sweden | ||
| Dates run | February 7 – 10 2008 | ||
| Stages | 20 (340.24 km; 211.42 miles) | ||
| Stage surface | Snow/Ice-covered gravel | ||
| Overall distance | 1,440.08 km (894.82 miles) | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Crews | 61 at start, 49 at finish | ||
| Overall results | |||
| Overall winner |  Jari-Matti Latvala BP-Ford World Rally Team | ||
The 2008 Swedish Rally, officially 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, was the second round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally took place during February 7–10, beginning with the Super Special Stage placed in the rally's base, Karlstad. The rally was also the first round of the Production Car World Rally Championship this season.
Even though it snowed before the rally, eliminating the threat of calling the event off, the mild temperatures caused cancellation of stages 12 and 18, shortening the overall competitive length.[1][2]
The rally was won by BP Ford World Rally Team's Jari-Matti Latvala; the first of his championship career. Latvala's teammate and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen was second and Stobart VK M-Sport Ford's Gigi Galli completed an all-Ford podium. Subaru World Rally Team's Petter Solberg was fourth, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen, Dani Sordo, Toni Gardemeister, Juho Hänninen, Mads Østberg and Jari Ketomaa. Fifth-placed Matthew Wilson ran into technical problems with throttle on the penultimate stage and had to retire.[3][4] Sébastien Loeb crashed out and rolled his car while running third, then retired again, after restarting under SupeRally and winning two stages, because of the damaged engine.[5] Henning Solberg inherited the third place, but later suffered a puncture causing him to slip further down and then crashed while running fourth and was forced to retire for the second day;[6] after rejoining the fight under SupeRally format Norwegian was the fastest driver on day three, winning all the remaining stages.
With his debut win, the 22-year old Latvala became the then-youngest winner in the history of the WRC, breaking Henri Toivonen's record from the 1980 RAC Rally;[7] his own record would stand until the 2021 Rally Estonia where it would be broken by the 20-year-old Kalle Rovanperä.
- ^ "Swedish Rally: SS12 - cancelled". Crash.net. 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Second stage cancelled". Crash.net. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "NEWS FLASH: Wilson Jr loses fifth". Crash.net. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Throttle issue robs Wilson Jr". Crash.net. 2008-02-11. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Loeb: Engine was on its last legs". Crash.net. 2008-02-09. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "NEWS FLASH: Henning goes off". Crash.net. 2008-02-09. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Latvala claims historic Swedish win". Autosport. Archived from the original on 11 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-10.