BFGoodrich Cars Win Swedish Rally

Finland’s Marcus Gronholm dominated the 2006 Swedish rally by winning the first five of the day’s seven special stages. His nearest rival, four-times World champion Sebastien Loeb, won the remaining two to reduce Gronholm’s lead to 25.1sec. Gronholm, who drives for Ford, said after Loeb won stage six: “That was about as fast as I could go – the tyres were finished at the end – but I am enjoying this fight.”

Loeb won the event’s longest stage, by shaving 2.3sec off Gronholm’s lead. “I had the tyre choice right and I knew what Marcus was on,” Loeb said after Vargasen 2.

The top two positions were taken by the BF Goodrich-quipped Ford of Marcus Gronholm and Citroen of Sebastien Loeb. Local driver Daniel Carlsson took third, while fourth position was taken by the Pirelli equipped Mitsubishi of Gianluigi Galli.