Rally Norway is the Norwegian rally which has been part of the WRC calendar in 2007 and 2009. This rally and

Rally Sweden The Rally Sweden ( sv, Svenska rallyt), formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, ...

are the only two rallies part of the WRC calendar which are mainly held on snow, with the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

also featuring snow on some years. Like the Swedish rally, its stages take place in forest tracks, although tracks in the Norwegian rally are much narrower. The rally springs from Rally Finnskog Norway with base in

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

, but the center of the event will, due to better accommodation and hospitality services, be in

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

. The

Vikingskipet Vikingskipet ("The Viking Ship"), officially known as Hamar Olympic Hall ( no, Hamar olympiahall), is an indoor multi-use sport and event venue in Hamar, Norway. It was built as the speed skating rink for the 1994 Winter Olympics, and has si ...

("The Viking Ship") is used as an indoor service area.

Candidate race

A candidate race was arranged 10 and 11 February 2006 with great success. Start and finish was held at

, while the stages took the rally to Lillehammer,

Sjusjøen Sjusjøen is a cross country skiing destination in the municipality of Ringsaker in Innlandet county, Norway. Situated on the mountain plateau south of Sjusjøen is Hedmarksvidda. The area is located with forest and mountain terrain about abo ...

and

Elverum is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Elverum. Other settlements in the municipality include Heradsbygd, Sørsko ...

. The rally was won by

Henning Solberg Henning Solberg (born 8 January 1973) is a Norwegian rally and rallycross driver. Together with his female co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with cars of M-Sport. Solberg is the older brother of ...

. Throughout the first leg Daniel Carlsson was right behind Solberg, but went off the road at SS12 and had to retire the rally. The young talents Mads Østberg and

Anders Grøndal Anders Grøndal (born 4 March 1984) is a Norway, Norwegian Rallying, rally and hill climb driver. His co-driver is Trond Svendsen. He has so far won: 5 Norwegian championship gold, 3 Norwegian championship silver, 2 Norwegian championship bronze ...

took the second and third place on the podium. The candidate race was by

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

given the grade "B", which outstands several current WRC-rallies.

WRC status

decided 5 July 2006 in a meeting in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

that Rally Norway was to achieve WRC-status. At first for one season, but with the possibility of prolonging of three more years. The first WRC-rally on Norwegian snow was held 15–18 February 2007.

The rally ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

was won by

Mikko Hirvonen Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both ...

, ahead of

Marcus Grönholm Marcus Ulf Johan Grönholm (born February 5, 1968) is a Finnish former rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming FIA World Rallycross Ch ...

and

Petter Solberg Petter Solberg (born 18 November 1974) is a Norwegian former professional rallying, rally and rallycross driver. Solberg debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford World Rally Team, Ford factory team in 1999. The ...

Winners

* WRC Rally candidate

External links

Official websiteFlickr photos
{{Sport in Hamar Recurring sporting events established in 2006 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2009

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...