Roses and chocolate are the most common ways to turn on the romance for Valentine’s Day. We prefer speed and adrenaline to turn up the heat. On February 14 the biggest rally event of the season will take Valentine’s Day from 0 to 100. We’re obviously talking about Rally Sweden. The only winter race in the World Rally Championship, and we’re proud to be working together with the Citroën rally team.
Öhlins + Citroën, it’s a match!
Since 2016 we’ve been proud to work with the Citroën WRC team, and during 2017 and 2018 we’ve put in blood, sweat and tears (mostly sweat) to develop, test and perfect the ultimate shock absorbers for the drivers. With most of 2018 consisting of nothing but endless hours of testing and perfecting, we finally developed the optimum shock absorber building on the original Öhlins TPX absorber. Compared to other racing series, the importance of a perfect shock absorber plays an even bigger role in rally racing. With small rocks, sharp turns and other surprises along the track, our rally drivers need the best of the best to achieve top performance. During Rally Sweden our riders will be driving through snow and ice, taking the WRC to a whole other level.
Kicking off on February 14, Rally Sweden will start off in Karlstad to continue over the Norwegian border, to come back and cross the finish line in Torsby, Sweden. Since the start in 1950 Rally Sweden has been one of the 14 parts of the World Rally Championship, standing out as the only distinctive winter race since 1965. The four day event comes packed with speed, snow, ice and the legendary Colin’s Crest. Bring an extra set of warm clothes because you don’t want to miss out on this!
Driving on Öhlins with Citroën this year we have Esapekka Lappi and Sébastien Ogier, world rally champion for the sixth time in a row. Do we dare to hope for a seventh champagne shower? Ogier is now back with Citroën and this time together with Öhlins. Weeks in advance our technicians have worked closely with the team to make sure every setting and detail is perfectly fitted.
Öhlins Rally history
Öhlins have a long history with rally racing going back to 1991. We are proud to have been, and still are able to work closely with the WRC. We’ve worked together with Tommi Mäkinen driving for Mitsubishi, taking home four World Rally Championships, and the Toyota team with drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Marcus Grönholm, Didier Auriol and Armin Schwarz. Over the years we’ve also worked with BMW Mini and now the Citroën team. The rally future for Öhlins is only looking bright!