The final day of Rally Sweden will comprise just one run of the Likenas stage, with the planned first pass being cancelled.
Organizers have been battling to create a workable itinerary throughout the event and its build-up as mild weather conditions risked damage to the stages.
Sunday was scheduled to feature two runs of the Likenas stage, the second as the powerstage, but on Saturday morning organizers announced that the opening pass was being called off “due to warmer weather coming in”.
DirtFish understands that temperatures as high as eight degrees celsius are expected in Likenas overnight, along with heavy rain.
That would guarantee a lack of snow and ice on the stage, meaning the road would get churned up by the studded tires on the opening pass and be in very poor condition for its live TV run as the powerstage.
The cancellation of the first Likenas pass means Rally Sweden will ultimately be decided over just nine stages.
The initial hope was that an 11-stage route could be salvaged, but Likenas 1 joins Thursday night’s Karlstad superspecial in also being called off once the event was underway.
The originally planned Friday itinerary has ultimately been spread across Friday and Saturday – with three full-length stages followed by the Torsby sprint running on each day before the Likenas decider on Sunday.
Although the Friday/Saturday stages have not featured a great deal of snow, there has been a sufficiently hard ice base to ensure they could run successfully.
