Hamza Anwar set for Thursday debut on snow

Africa junior rally champion Hamza Anwar makes his debut on ice as Rally Sweden gets underway on Thursday 9 February.

He is the only African representative competing at this year's World Rally Championship (WRC) junior category that will see competitors tackle five challenging rallies on a mixture of surfaces.

Action gets underway on the snow and ice of Rally Sweden before heading to Croatia, home to some blisteringly-quick asphalt roads.

Kenya's Hamza Anwar makes junior WRC lineup for 2023

Hamza has been preparing for his debut since mid-January as he looks the second Kenyan junior to compete in junior WRC after McRae Kimathi who competed last season.

Action takes place at the he university city of Umeå more than 600km up the east coast from capital Stockholm and the roads in the frozen and remote forests of the Västerbotten region are ultra-fast.

So quick, in fact, that last year’s event was the second-fastest Rally Sweden in history as victor Kalle Rovanperä averaged a whopping 121.52kph.

Start ceremony festivities take place at the fan-favourite Red Barn Arena, which is within walking distance of the city center, on Thursday.

Crews tackle a single pass of Umeå Sprint (5.16km) immediately afterwards. The stage includes jumps and sweeping hairpins and will be attended by royal rally fan Prince Carl Philip

Friday’s leg journeys north for two loops of three speed tests, split by a 30-minute service in the city.

First up is Brattby (10.76km). It is followed by Sarsjöliden (14.23km) and a brand-new stage at Botsmark (25.81km), the second pass of which will be driven in darkness.

Another blast through Umeå Sprint (5.16km) brings the day to a halt after seven stages totaling 106.76km.

Saturday follows a similar format and features two brand-new tests. Norrby (12.54km) and Floda (28.25km) were not used in 2022; they precede Sävar (17.28km), which leads the crews back into the mid-leg service halt.

All three stages are repeated once more after lunch before the day ends with Umeå (10.08km), a longer version of the previous two nights’ stages which again ends in the Red Barn Arena. The seven tests add up to 126.22km, making it the longest day of the rally.

Three stages form Sunday’s finale. Back-to-back runs of Västervik (26.48km) - also a new addition - are up first, ahead of another run through Umeå (10.08km) which forms the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage. 

The 18 stages cover 301.18km in a total route of 1194.16 km.

Additional reporting by WRC