Some call it The Rally of the 1000 Lakes, some call it the Finnish Grand Prix. Anyway: it’s time 70th edition of Rally Finland.
The event returns after a year of absense due to the pandemic, albeit in an unusual time of the year. Normally, Rally Finland is run in late July or the beginning of August could mix things up. Organizers obted to switch to this weekend to give fans “the best possible chance” to attend the rally. A good decision in hindsight, as it’s now time for one of the most prestigious rallies in the world.
A big announement for the event today as WRC Promotor confirmed a contract extension with Rally Finland organizer AKK Sports which keeps the event on the WRC calendar for at least two more years (2022 & 2023).
Rally Finland: The stages
The event is spread over three days. Tomorrow morning, the event starts with the Vesala Shakedown stage at 08:01 local time. In the afternoon, the real action starts. Friday consists of six stages. Harju, in the city of Jyväskylä, is the opening stage of the rally. Then the crews head to Ässämäki and Sahloinen – Moksi which are both run twice. The day ends in proper darkness with the Oittila stage. Oittila is 19.75 km long and is only run once in the rally. There is no service during the day.
Saturday is the longest day of the event with over 150 kilometres of competitive stages. The Kakaristo – Hassi, Päijälä, Arvaja and Patajoki loop is run twice with a mid-day service break in between. Kakaristo features parts of the original Ouninpohja stage. The day ends with the second pass through Harju at 20:00 local time.
The final day of the rally consists of four stages. Laukaa and Ruuhimäki are both run twice and are unchanged compared to 2019. Expect some big jumps the end of the Ruuhimäki Power Stage. The total amount of competitive kilometres is 287.11.
Entry list
There a total of 10 WRC-car entries for Rally Finland. The most remarkable entry is 2017 Rally Finland winner Esapekka Lappi. The Finn drives a Toyota Yaris WRC this weekend and will be the final WRC-driver on the road which could be a strategic advantage. Takamoto Katsuta is also back this weekend after having to withdraw ahead of Acropolis Rally. The Japanese driver competes with ex-Solberg co-driver Aaron Johnston next to him this weekend. Adrien Fourmaux also has a new co-driver this weekend after splitting with Renaud Jamoul. Alexandre Coria, who was reading the pace notes for WRC3-driver Yohan Rossel this season, is Fourmaux’s new co-driver.
Mads Østberg tops the WRC2 entry list. A big weekend ahead for the Norwegian as Andreas Mikkelsen and Marco Bulacia are not competing in Finland this weekend. Further contenders for the top spots in WRC2 are Teemu Suninen (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5), Oliver Solberg and Jari Huttunen (both Hyundai i20 N Rally2). Solberg Jr. also splitted with his co-driver (Johnston). Craig Drew, who competed in the American ARA-Championship with David Higgens, reads the pace notes for Solberg this weekend.
Itinerary
Find the itinerary of Rally Finland here. Times are local. CET is -1 hour, BST is -2 hours.
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool