The unexpected can catch out even the very best drivers, and this time it happened to reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera. It looked as though the Finn was set to prove he was the absolute master over the last three rallies run on the fast and slippery dirt roads of Northern Europe, thanks to his usual sage attention to tyre management. However, a large piece of stone made contact with his Toyota on the penultimate number 19 stage, where drivers had reported the presence of deep ruts. His car left the road and that put an end to any thoughts of a Baltic hat-trick. At the end of what was an exciting and spectacular rally, victory therefore went to his team-mate Sebastian Ogier. It means that despite not having a full programme this season, the Frenchman finds himself fighting for the title behind Neuville, who moved up to the second step on the podium following the Finn’s retirement. Adrien Fourmaux was third for Ford.
The race was less hectic, but just as thrilling among the WRC2 competitors, with Oliver Solberg taking firm control right from the start in his Skoda Fabia, finishing ahead of the Toyota driven by the Japanese company’s team principal, Jari-Matti Latvala, back behind the wheel for his home rally. Third was another Finn, Lauri Joona.
THE CHALLENGE
As always, the rally based around the lakes in the Jyvaskyla region was fun and spectacular, with its long jumps, the road surfaces made even more slippery by intermittent and occasionally heavy rain, combined with high average speeds, often exceeding 130 km/h (the maximum recorded was 135.3 by Rovanpera in SS16 Ouninpohja 2). There were plenty of incidents and crashes apart from Rovanpera’s, with the Toyota drivers Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans knocked out of the fight for the podium places, while Hyundai’s Ott Tanak spoilt his chances of a top place as early as SS3, as did Esapekka Lappi , who also had a couple of misadventures before fighting back to win the Super Sunday.
As predicted going into the event, the tyre strategy was clear-cut: whether on the longest stages on Sunday, or the shorter ones, come rain or shine, the only choice for ensuring grip and performance was the soft compound Scorpion, with all crews choosing 5 on all days of the rally with the exception of SS1 run in the city on Thursday evening.
PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager: “Looking at it from the outside, Rally Finland looks easy, but that’s far from the case for the drivers, even very talented champions like Kalle. The only aspect that was easy for them was tyre choice, because the soft compound Scorpion, thanks to its versatility, is the best compromise in rallies like this one. I’d say that, after proving itself in previous events, in Finland the Scorpion passed the sternest test of all, with its combination of high speeds and heavy landings after the very long jumps, especially in the double pass through Ouninpohja, the longest stage of the rally. These conditions put a lot of stress on the tyres, cars and drivers, for whom the slightest error is paid for with a high price, as was seen throughout the weekend. After these three Nordic rallies dominated by the soft gravel tyres, the next event in Greece will mark the return of the hard compound, facing very different but no less demanding challenges.”
