Rally Finland officially got into action on Thursday, with a couple of free practice sessions and finally finished all hair-raising action a...
Rally Finland officially got into action on Thursday, with a couple of free practice sessions and finally finished all hair-raising action at the Qualifying Stage. It was Latvala & then Ogier who were fastest in the first two tests, but it is the Qualifying Stage timing that counts.
Local WRC hero, Citroen's No.1 driver, the birthday boy, Mikko Hirvonen - was the fastest with a time of 2m15.516s and is expected choose to start last of the WRC cars tomorrow.
Sebastien Ogier was the second fastest with a tiny lag of +0.248s, while Thierry Neuville was short of +0.437s behind the leader. Novikov +0.500s, Latvala +0.742s, Mikkelsen +0.974s, Ostberg +1.361s, Hänninen +1.417s, Meeke +1.835s, Sordo +1.906, Nikara +2.673s, Andersson +3.294s, and Prokop with +4.723s finished the WRC class order.
Apart from the top level competition, we get to see the new M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 cars, with Elfyn Evans and Jari Ketoma taking on the challenge, with Robert Kubica to defend against this new breed of car and the most awaited of the return of the former World Rally Champ, Tommi Makinen doing the short SS Killeri. Pontus Tidemand the leader in JWRC class and will be the one to watch in the Junior WRC.With
the good choice of starting position, will Mikko be able to hold on to
the advantage to a victory that has been evading him so long? Read on !
Day 1
Sebastien Ogier opened the first stage win, Latvala came close in second, while Mikko clocked third quickest. The second stage, Torittu 1 got dramatic to VW boys after a bit of drama at the top 2 positions, as Ogier slipped down to get out 5th fastest, and Latvala hit a rock damaging the left-rear suspension and bled a lot of time finishing 35th.
Latvala narrates, "It happened just before the road widened, on a right hand corner over a crest," explained the Finn. "The car lifted and went wide and we hit a stone on the outside which broke the rear suspension." One man's agony is another man's opportunity, M-Sport's Fiesta WRC driver Thierry Neuville literally flew through the stage to claim the stage win, equalling Mikko on the top of the overall leadership status.
In SS3 Koukunmaa, Ogier took the stage victory, but was not enough to reclaim his top overall position. Neuville was very much behind Ogier with under a second and maintained his top rank. The impared VW pair with four more stages to complete without any service, Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila worked on to repair their car frantically. Later, the duo checked into SS3 being 28 minutes late, incurring a 4min 40sec penalty and also adding another vital three minutes after carefully cruising through the stage to finish the day.
Latvala realised that the suspension was getting worse and decided to call it a day at the end of SS4. With the lost advantage of another 2m30s in the repeat of the SS4 Torittu 2, it was inevitable to save the car for atleast tomorrow's action in Rally 2. It was the turn of stage win to Mikko in SS4 and to move upwards to equal first overall held by Neuville, while Ogier slipped to 3rd.
SS5 was the most dramatic, with showers in the middle of the stage, left the downhill part of the stage rutted and filled with water. Mikko lost nearly 16seconds and was left fuming with the situation, after dropping to 5th overall. The situation was almost same with most of the competition, who most of them barely racing in the narrow rainy gravel road section. Ogier, Neuville and most of them experienced fog inside the cabin due to steam arising from the drenched hot parts of the car.
Killeri was the celebrity super special, with Tommi Makinen entertaining the crowd with the classic Mitsubishi Evo3 Grp A rally car. Here again, Neuville took the stage victory and is the overnight leader of he pack. Ogier finished the day at second overall and Mads Ostberg in third. That being two fords in top-3, M-Sport boss should be a happy man.
In WRC-2 category, Jari Ketomaa leads the pack with Robert Kubica under 24 seconds deficit, while Elfyn Evans is right under the former F1 driver nose, a close 2 seconds short.
Day 2
Today was a perfect example to explain about Sebastien Ogier and his veteran compatriot Loeb. It takes loads of patience, perhaps even large quantities of skill combined with a super intelligent mind to take it towards the victory. Competitor after competitor, stage after stage the carnage of the gravel GP took its toll, yet Ogier was the one who fought like a knight to take a 5.2 seconds overnight deficit to a 38.1seconds lead on the penultimate day. To make story easier, all tiny details are better explained below!
A morning rally stages in a cool damp Finland @15C, with overnight rain and light drizzle still, meant slippery roads! Opening stage for the day, SS7 Jukojärvi 1 with a total stage distance of 21.9 km was the first challenge and almost everyone got through safely on the top order cars, but not so lucky with Elfyn Evans. He had to tackle with a damaged front right suspension of his Fiesta R5 rally, and fix it at the end of the stage.
SS8 Palsankylä 1 - 13.92 km, and the WRC carnage started to with Novikov's crash [yet makes it to the service later, without serious damage, amazing!]. In the process of completing the stage, he showering with gravel to the Citroen DS3 WRC driver Kris Meeke, who was quickly behind. Meeke certainly not happy, as Novikov's car blocked him, unable to overtake.
SS9 and the drama keeps coming, now it was Hanninen's mistake and a rally end to him, for the day after clipping a rock alongside the road.SS10: No tragedies, but Meeke remarks "When I've got nobody in front I'm really, really enjoying it", hinting the frustration in SS8
SS11, marks end of road to Martin Prokop who was forced to retire after a water pump failure.
SS12 Mikko has damage to the front, although not serious but with had a front left puncture from his moment.
SS13 & this time Thierry Neuville picks up a front left puncture near the start, he drops nearly 20 seconds.
SS14 & it's Andreas Mikkelsen this time into trouble, shows up with his 3 wheeled Polo. Literally! He lost a rear left wheel completely off with the damper, to the floor dragging to the finish. But the drama didn't end there, quickly Mads Ostberg arrived with a front left puncture.
With just one super special stage to end the day, it was a moment of truth as to who would be the opener of the final day. Sebastien Ogier! Not to miss it, but what a class performance by Neuville!The young Belgian fought with the odds back to 2nd overall by the end of the day. Laudable! The same cheer goes to Kris Meeke who despite being first time in a WRC car in Finland finished the day in top 5.
Now by the end of the day, it is VW 1 & Ford 2 & 3.. Check EOD timings here.
Final Day [3]
On the final day with only 8 stages left, totalling to 130.20 km, and with the first stage SS16 Surkee 14.95 kms scheduled at 8:26 local time. Overnight the rally stewards decided to change the stage time for Chris
Meeke, as he was blocked by Evgeny Novikov in SS8, yesterday and hence lost a lot of time, also with a damage to the front of his car and windscreen.
SS16 Surkee 1 - 14.95 km, and it was Mini WRC driver Riku Tahko who was the first into the stage, "Was nice , no problems, quite nice to drive there," said the local boy at the of the stage, after a clean run. Next was Jari-Matti Latvala, "We touch something
on the right hand corner going uphill… The main thing is to enjoy
driving, it is nice to get to the Ouninpohja," says the VW's Flying Finn.
It was much of a clean run for most of the drivers, except to Kris Meeke who had a 360 spin,
"At the last junction I lost maybe 10-seconds. I think it was the right
decision (Stewards decision to change his time on stage 8), but
yesterday was yesterday and today is today." Mads Ostberg took the stage win with a 2 seconds gap from the Finns', Mikko, while Sebastien Ogier with 5.5secs down said, "I am not in a
position to take a risk, I took a bit of time to start my day. The first
one I prefer to start like that and get the rhythm."
SS17 Leustu 1 - 9.65 km, Volkswagen driver Latvala was not quite confident with his car and says, "Its okay, generally happy with everything. On this stage I was trying to be more
precise with the driving style. I realise that I need more kilometres in
the car on fast roads." Meeke, Mikko and Mads were feeling better than the other guys who drove through earlier, while Thierry Neuville enjoying his outing in the Finnish forest roads to a stage win, said, "The rhythm is very good,
that was a very good stage, not perfect but it was good. There are small
mistakes in the stage, over the jump the car went sideways and I had to
lift the throttle, I lose 1 or 2 seconds. Now we should fight once for a
good position."Again Ogier was cautiously picking up his speed and rhythm, as he had a good gap between the nearest contestant.
SS18 Ouninpohja 1 - 33.01 km, the legendary stage with blind crests and super-fast gravel road in a World Rally Car, and it happened to be a bit of a slippery conditions to Novikov, Tahko, Juho Hanninen, and Latvala,and Dani Sordo had a little moment on a hairpin, had to reverse to continue. A.Mikkelsen was happy with his drive and said, "To drive it in the
Volkswagen is amazing, the amount of grip you have with this tyre is
amazing. Hopefully next year we can go maximum attack!", so did Kris Meeke who was for the first time in a WRC car, that too after a gap of 7
years, said, "I
always dreamt of Finland in a world rally car and the Citroen have given
me the chance."
Mikko was okay with his outing, and Thierry had a small scare, as he explains, "I just hit very slightly the barrier, otherwise good time." Mads was not really happy with his pace through the stage and Ogier was loving it, "I said I dream to do
this stage in a world rally car and that was just amazing… We can go
even a bit faster this afternoon," and took the stage win to his kitty.
SS19 Painaa 1 - 7.49km, was last stage left to mid-day service, and most importantly the second run of this stage was the final Power Stage of the rally so it became a priority test for everyone. But not very good omen for Tahko, as he hardly had any rubber left on this wheels, Juho was enjoying the stage, and so did Latvala and the rest of the cars. The podium contenders had mixed outcome on their first outing, and it was Mads once again, who took the stage win. Ogier was not clear on his real motive here, as he said, "I just drive through.
We will see, I don't think we need anymore points (from the power
stage)."
After a much needed good service break, both cars and crews, the first stage of afternoon, SS20 Surkee 2, and it was Riku Tahko in his Prodrive John Cooper Works Mini WRC who started the re-run of the morning stages, and was a bit okay and not! Juho explains, "Okay rough, but this is
normal, more than 100 cars went through… For sure you can do much
faster." Latvala was gaining confidence as he progressed through the day and was feeling better at the end of SS20. PG Andersson had his car a bit tweeked setup and was gaining confidence too.
Evgeny explains his setup, "We changed the diff (in service)." Sordo was a bit too cautious due to his soft tyres, said "Little bit of this stage very
broken, the car touch everywhere (bottoming)." Mikko had his share of scare, "Its alright. There is so much
rock, we hit one rock, we did not know it was there. We did the gamble
with the tyre and hopefully it will help us." Weird feeling for Thierry "I thought I had a
puncture, rear left. I had to be a bit more careful towards the end, I
was not sure. I was pushing and I felt something on the rear, so I slow
down a bit." For Mads and Ogier it was okay stage as they were more into car saving mode, though funnily Ogier was the quickest through the test.
 |
| JWRC podium ceremony |
SS21 it was quite a disaster for Jarkko Nikara who knocked his front right
wheel off his Mini WRC, said "There was something in the ruts, I try to take quite carefully
but I hit something." It was a scary ride for Mikko said, "We nearly rolled, it is
so bumpy, it was just one rut, it was a massive hole. It jumped
completely on 2 wheels..", Mads, "We had a half spin at a
junction, I just don't know what happened. That was not good. It felt
like I lost the power", Sebastien Ogier, "It's okay, no problem
at all, but for sure there are some sections that are so rough", Neuville, "Thats good, we try, but it
is very rough, we have to be careful in some places, We must do really
well there (next stage). We have some tyre wear with the new
differential, I struggle a little bit with this", and takes the stage win.
SS22, Ouninpohja 2, the re-run of classic and Latvala explains his experience, "Its very difficult,
it was a pretty good stage for me. The tyres started moving towards the
end. It was one of my best runs through Ouninphja." Andersson explains, "I was quite careful as I
clipped a rock early on and this is one of those stages where you don't
want to have a flat turning in." Russian Rocket Novikov, "Of course we tried, but you
have to be very confident here with the pace notes to drive 100%."
It was a rally disaster for Kris Meeke as he rolled his Citroen DS3 WRC, his follower Mikko Hirvonen explains, "It was just slippy, it
was still damp in some places, especially in the small road in the end.
We had to slow down a little bit where Chris (Meeke) was off." Mads Ostberg explains his scare "Maybe 25 kilometres into it,
there was a massive rock in the road, so I had to go off the road to
avoid it. The stone was far too massive and I had to avoid it otherwise
it would have been the end of the rally."
Thierry Neuville who was flat-out all the rally, says "It was very, very fast
everywhere, but then I got the split from Mads (Ostberg) and when I see
the car of Chris (Meeke) off the road, I slow down. There is possibility
to be quicker. It is very easy to drive, I just love this car." Sebastien Ogier had a big hit on a front
tyre but still inflated, says "A lot of tyre but the tyre were completely
gone at the end. Still we got the (stage) record here. The rear of the
car was sliding a lot." and took the stage win to his records.
In the WRC2, Jari Ketomaa was enjoying, though a bit cautiously, Hayden Paddon said "Just thought we had a
puncture… Quite a funny feeling with the car moving all over the
place." Former F1 driver Robert Kubica says, "We driving safe mode. Everything okay."
Finally in the Power Stage SS23 Painaa 2, the re-run of the morning stage, Thierry Neuville goes pedal2metal and win's the bonus 3 points "Unbelievable the feeling, I
think we have done a very good job. A good clean run, smooth run. We
can do a big party tonight. I could not imagine, but the car was so
nice, with this budget to beat the Citroen and the other Ford team it is
unbelievable."
Jari-Matti Latvala takes the final bonus point, said "It's not going to give me 3-points… " Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) 3:50.8 "We overshot 2 junctions alittle bit, but it is finished now. We had our moments, we got to the
finish in the end."
A much happier Mads Ostberg with his roller coaster ride to a third on the podium, "It has been a very good
weekend and it has been good to be back and fight for a rally a whole
weekend. We end up being 3rd, still it is very nice to be back and build
the confidence back up. I was really looking forward to Finland, it has
been difficult season so far. It has been fantastic."
Sebastien Ogier takes the two bonus points and most importantly, the Rally Victory says, "I am so happy to joinDidier (Auriol) for the French one (non-Finnish rally winners). It has
been a fantastic weekend. This weekend is just perfect, another big step
to the title!"
It is a shame of what happened with Kris Meeke, who showed his potential but hit a DNF. Despite his first outing in 7 years, and first in a WRC car, he has shown the incredible speed, and definitely deserves a pat on the back. Well done! And what a performance by the young Belgian, who by just with 20 WRC starts has started commanding a podium finishes. Well done Thierry!
Final Top 5 Results [source: wrc.com]
| Pos | No | Driver | Time | Diff Prev | Diff 1st | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 8 | S. OGIER | 2:43:10.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| 2. | 11 | T. NEUVILLE | 2:43:47.0 | +36.6 | +36.6 | |
| 3. | 4 | M. ÖSTBERG | 2:44:08.0 | +21.0 | +57.6 | |
| 4. | 2 | M. HIRVONEN | 2:44:32.0 | +24.0 | +1:21.6 | |
| 5. | 3 | D. SORDO | 2:49:18.9 | +4:46.9 | +6:08.5 |
Top 5 Standing after Round 8 [source: wrc.com]
| Pos | Driver | Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | SEBASTIEN OGIER | 181 | ||||
| 2. | JARI-MATTI LATVALA | 91 | ||||
| 3. | THIERRY NEUVILLE | 91 | ||||
| 4. | MIKKO HIRVONEN | 73 | ||||
| 5. | DANIEL SORDO | 69 |
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