Construction Equipment
Europe
Swecon Sweden will once again sponsor Rally Sweden, part of the World Rally Championship (WRC), in 2018. Sweden's largest public sporting event takes place in Värmland, Sweden between 15-18 February.
Rally Sweden is part of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), and is considered by many to be one of the most challenging races of the series. It is home to one of the rally world's most famous jumps, Colin's Crest, named after legendary driver Colin McRae. It is also where Norwegian driver Eyvind Brynildsen set the longest jump record in 2016 – flying 45 meters before landing safely back on the ground.
In 2016, Rally Sweden approached Volvo CE dealership Swecon Sweden and asked them to become official Arena Naming Partner. Swecon had been in cooperation with Rally Sweden for several years and gladly accepted the offer.
During the 2017 competition, Swecon built the ‘Road to Rock Arena’ from an old quarry in Torsby, which enabled spectators to get closer to the action than ever before. Swecon will partner with Rally Sweden again in 2018, and the breathtaking arena will once again provide spectators with an awe-inspiring perspective on the race.
“Rally Sweden will be our biggest public event next year,” said Fredrik Rigö, Head of Marketing Communication at Swecon in Sweden. “Many of our customers are interested in motorsport, and therefore visit Rally Sweden; it is a great opportunity to reconnect with them. We also use the event scout for people who might be potential Swecon employees in the future.”
New demonstration area
As a dedicated sponsor and partner, Swecon has tried to broaden the audience experience in 2018. In the Swecon demo area, a handful of Volvo CE machines will be available for testing during selected hours of the rally, with Volvo experts and Swecon specialists in place to provide assistance.
“In total, we will have 30 employees in place during the competition, meaning someone will always be available to answer any questions,” said Rigö.
Strong partnership
Last year, Swecon worked together with third-year students from nearby specialist tech school Södra Viken to create the Torsby stretch and the Swecon Road to Rock Arena.
"This year, we have prioritized the roads to and from the arena, so that the audience gets the most out of the race action. We wanted to create an arena that is easily accessible and just as exciting as Colin's Crest,” said Rigö.
Rally Sweden's CEO Glenn Olsson said: "We are incredibly proud and pleased that Swecon has chosen to develop its already extensive collaboration with Rally Sweden. We intend to continue our relationship with Swecon for a long time to come.”
Rally Sweden Facts
• The Swedish rally is Sweden's largest rally competition and has been running as a winter competition since 1965. The competition is part of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and is known as Rally Sweden since 2010.
• Rally Sweden runs over 300 km of rally roads in Sweden and Norway, over 19 special stages.
• There are around 200,000 visitors in the Swedish and Norwegian forests during the rally, and approximately 4,000 volunteers to make sure everything runs smoothly.
• The closing stage of the rally is broadcasted to over 100 million unique TV viewers worldwide. Swedish Television (SVT) broadcasts over 10 hours of the action, with a number of special stages broadcasted live.
• Rally Sweden has only been cancelled twice in history. The first was in 1974 because of the oil crisis, and the second was in 1990, due to a particularly mild winter.
• The last Swedish winner was in 1997, when Kenneth Eriksson won the rally in a Mitsubishi. Since then, Finnish drivers have dominated the race with twelve wins.
• The 2017 title went to Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala, who was driving a Toyota.
• In terms of race wins, Swedish driver Stig Blomqvist holds the current record, having won seven races between 1971 and 1984.