Quote Originally Posted by dimviii View Post
having grip at snow,is not similar to gravel.If it was similar we had seen plenty south Europe drivers to succeed at Sweden.
actually with "pretty good" tires its better grip.. I cannot imagine what it would be like with fresh new Nordic spec winter studs on a car..But I was in Sweden to learn a profession and I did a lot of very serious training with "pretty OK" moto-cross tires with 300 rally studs and I tell you it was much better than summer for grip..
Indeed it taught me a lot about what I was doing wrong in summer..

I think the differences is what I was saying above, the narrowness and high speeds, and of course the depth of good drivers in a given start field..
I have seen Finnish F-cup events where in the "senior" class 1st thru 56th, the entire class on every SS was within 1 minute SS time. I don't see that kind of depth in other countries.. hell here in Merikuh we see minutes between cars in same class per stage...

Good point at the end..It was big news the first time somebody other than a Swede or a Finn won in Sweden---or Finland and only a very few have ever..