Tack till alla sponsorer, utan er har det varit svårt att delta i denna tävling, stort tack,, också ett stort tack till mor o far för all hjälp,,

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Thanks to all my sponsors, it would have been tough to participate in this event without your help, many thanks to all of you, and thanks to my mom and dad for all support,,

Saturday February 12th         Stockholm  – 14 °C

Start at “Gärdet”, Stockholm in lovely sunshine. The participants left for the longest part during the whole rally, almost 1000 km. It was easy at the beginning but between Uppsala and Gävle it became more difficult because the participants had to walk in deep snow to find the controls. Then followed a long part of transportation, about 400 km before they had to turn a bit west. They drove on narrow, snowy and winding roads through forests in the darkness just to find controls. It started even to snow so it was not that easy.
One of the controls was placed on a small mountain top. Just a few of the participants could reach it.
Many hours and lots of controls later the last car arrived at “Pite Havsbad” at 6 o´clock in the morning.
After the first day “Team Up and Under” from England and “Team Energi på Väg” from Sweden are sharing the first place.

Sunday February 13th            Piteå  – 28 °C

Start at ”Pite Havsbad” in lovely weather. Some of the participants just got a couple of hours sleep. The day started with some geochallenges just outside Piteå. They could not be reached by car because of too much snow. There were many people walking in snow for several hundreds of meters and even kilometers!
Then the race continued towards Pajala and before the end of the day some got stuck in the snow and some ran into a ditch. Fortunately nobody was hurt. One team has quit the rally because the vehicle was broken.

Monday February 14th            Pajala  – 32 °C

A cold clear morning in Pajala. Two cars were left in Pajala by start because of mechanical problems, probably caused by the cold! We think they will join us later today or tomorrow. Today´s stage was a lot of highway driving through a beautiful winter landscape in northern Finland and later Norway where you among other things could see the weather phenomena “Halo” which means three suns, a phenomena that happens when the sun shines through clouds consisted of ice crystals.
Some driving through forests with lots of snow for the bravest with a different result. Some cars got stuck in the snow and one car ran into a ditch again. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

Tuesday February 15th            Alta  – 21 °C

Start from Alta. A couple of cars had to stay in Alta for maintenance. The main part of the stage today followed the coast of the Arctic Ocean. It was a long stage but beautiful. We’ve passed Karasjok today. Yesterday, they had -41 °C and the forecast for today sad – 38 °C but when we passed it was ”only” – 32 °C…One team has got problem with there rear axle and they were towed to a workshop. Hopefully, they will join us later in Finland. Two teams are still stuck in Pajala, so tomorrow only 7 teams will start from Kirkenes. After the todays stage, Team Energi På Väg from Sweden is in lead.

Wednesday February 16th            Kirkenes  – 20 °C

Start from Kirkenes. Only 7 teams on the start line. One team has quit the race due to engine problems. The participants went south towards Finland and drove through the wilderness where the only living beings seems to be the reindeers. In Kemijärvi, after a thrilling final due to a time limit, we met Team Rallyeladies again. They have been in Pajala and done some repairs on their car. We hope that Team Pattom will join us tonight after their mechanical problems in Alta. In that case, we will be 9 teams on the start line tomorrow.

Thursday February 17th            Kemijärvi  – 36 °C

This morning, some geochallenges were taken out of competition due to the extrem cold. The temperature was between -35 °C and -40 °C in some places we passed during the morning. A couple of cars had start problem but after a while they could continue. The todays stage went from Kemijärv towards Oulu to the coast. The participants passed the probably longest ice road in Gulf of Botnia, 8 km long on the sea to the island Hailuoto. A fantastic experience! The route continued towards Kajaani with tricky navigation on small roads in the forest.

Team Jeep Club Latvia have unfortunately decided to quit the race due to engine problems. Good news is that Team Pattom has fixed their rear axle in Alta and planning to join us in Stockholm on Sunday. After the todays stage Team Up and Under from England is in lead.

Friday February 18th            Kajaani  – 33 °C

Another cold and clear day. We have had sunny and clear weather since day one. Such a nice weather during so many days and such a distance we will probably never experience again. Unbelievable! Of course, the high pressure has pressed down the temperature to almost -40 °C sometimes, but despite that both people and cars have done it very well. Only one car has quit with mechanical problems due to the cold.

The todays stage went from Kajaani to Tampere. The teams drove on small snowy roads between thousand lakes who is caracteristic for this part of Finland. We have now left the wilderness and passing trough more populated areas, but the snow combinated with the beautiful weather still does it to a great experience. A transport stage was included in the middle. Tomorrow, the participants do the last stage in Finland before the ferry sail away to Stockholm.

Saturday February 19th            Tampere  – 21 °C

The last stage in Finland. Still cold and snowy but the temperature is going up. A few geochallenges before the ferry leavs towards Stockholm at 21:00 tonight.

Sunday February 20th            Stockholm  -8 °C

Finish in Stockholm! After a short stage in Stockholm, the participants crossed the finish line in a beautiful sunny weather after 5000km.

1st  place Team Up and Under                 Andy and Lorna Fewtrell                      England     Volvo XC70

2nd place Team Energi På Väg (TOK)      Tomas Sundquist and Peter Knutsson        Sweden     Chevrolet Colorado

3rd place Team Underdog Motorsports  Linus Beimo and Helena Karlsson             Sweden    Subaru

 

 

follow me and my tiny subaru on this adventure on www norran.se

Äntligen dags för start, imorgon drar äventyret igång. Vi har idag kört ner till Stockholm där starten går imorgon vid 08:00.. Lunch med team ToK hann vi med på vägen ner.  Vi har hunnit med att äta en god middag och just nu laddar vi för tävlingen..

——————————————————————————————-

Finally time for start, the adventure begins tomorrow. We have been driving to Stockholm today where the rally begins, first start at 08.00 tomorrow. Lunch with team ToK on the way down,,  We had the time to enjoy a nice dinner here at the hotel and right now we are preparing for the race..

Äntligen är bilen lackad, reservdäck samt jeepdunkar har fått ett rack där dom sitter stadigt, nu väntar lite eldragning samt montering av diverse utrustning sen börjar det närma sig provkörning,,

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Car finally painted, i built a special mount for the spare tires and jerry cans so they don´t bounce around.. Next up is the electrical stuff and mounting the rest of the equipment,  then finally a test run

Dags att lacka bilen,, förvänta er ingen show lack, jag lackar själv hemma i garaget.. Borde vara klar med lackeringen nu på Söndag..

————————————————————————————————————

Time to paint the car. Don´t expect to much, i´m painting it myself in my garage. I should be finished with the paintwork this Sunday..

Besiktningen av bilen gick över förväntan, UA. Bytte ena framhjulslagret innan besiktningen, byter det andra i skrivande stund, tyvärr strular det med felaktiga packboxar, förhoppningsvis står bilen på hjulen i helgen. Förbereder för  lackering, garage lack ,, Nya fälgar är på ingång i veckan.. Bilder kommer i helgen

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The motor vehicle inspection went really well, they had nothing to complain about and everything was OK,  i changed the right front wheel bearings before the motor vehicle inspection, started to change on the other side but the seals in that kit was to big ??,, new ones coming tomorrow, hopefully i will have the car back on the ground  this weekend, also started to prep it for the paintjob, nothing fancy, garage style,,,,

New rims is on the way,, taking some pictures this weekend