Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

At first glance that may not seem the most earth-shattering revelation you have read on Autosport.com, but the news that snow is forecast for the Swedish International Rally will have a major effect on how the competitors will approach this year's event.

In Karlstad, the rally's base, snow is forecast for the first and last day of the event. And with temperatures not expected to rise above freezing throughout the whole three days, the 2001 Swedish Rally is definitely a SNOW rally.

In recent years, the rally has not seen enough of the white stuff to live up to its specialist status. Warmer temperatures meant that stages run on frozen lakes had to be cancelled, and on stages where snow was thin on the ground tyre choice became critical. Melting snow caused areas of the gravel surface below to become exposed and these patches ruined the cars' studded tyres, costing teams dearly in terms of stage time.

However the prospect of running a true snow rally this time round should please the majority of the leading teams. With high snow banks on the outside edges of forest roads, drivers can afford to go into corners at higher-than-usual speeds and simply bounce of these banks without causing extensive damage to their machines. And deep snow in the Swedish forests should eliminate the gravel problems drivers have had to cope with in the past.

Scattered snow showers Max temp -5 deg C Min -10 deg C
Cloudy Max temp -5deg C Min temp -10 deg C
Scattered snow showers Max temp -3 deg C Min temp -6 deg C