|
|
| RallyeNewsletter 2008 Rally Finland : WRC Round 9 of 15 : 1st - 3rd August In this issue: 1. Event Preview 3. Other News 4. Team by Team Preview 5. Event statistics 6. Event Schedule 7. Championship Points 1. Event Preview Victory in Finland, the sport's spiritual home, is one of rallying's most sought after achievements and home drivers have a distinct advantage on one of the most specialised events of the season. Only six non-Finns have won the rally in 57 years, and huge crowds flock into the countryside amid the lakes and forests near the host town of Jyväskylä to cheer on their fellow countrymen. It is based on blisteringly fast roller-coaster gravel speed tests and drivers who grew up on this type of road have a clear advantage over 'outsiders' who require several years' experience before they can hope to challenge for a win. Rally Finland boasts five of the six fastest rallies in history, the 2005 round topping the all-time list at a remarkable average speed of 122.86kph. The wide, hard roads are as smooth as a billiard table but technically it is an incredibly difficult rally. Precision driving and bravery are more important here than anywhere else. The awesome stomach-churning jumps frequently hide bends over the crest, so accuracy and delivery of pace notes must be exact and picking the right line before 'take-off' ensures maximum pace through the following curves. 4. Team by Team Preview BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Two Finnish pairings, one of which leads the drivers' standings in the FIA World Rally Championship, eager to claim a maiden victory on their home rally and one of the sport's classic fixtures, competing for a team that leads the manufacturers' title race - the scene is set for an epic contest as Rally Finland (31 July - 1 August) fires the second half of the 2008 campaign into life after a seven-week break. Their rivals will ensure this ninth round of the series is not merely a straight contest between BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, but the internal rivalry will be fierce. However, both pairings are also firmly aware that this event offers the opportunity to stretch Ford's nine point lead in the manufacturers' series with the record-breaking Focus RS World Rally Car. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "I've stood beside these stages since I was a kid watching heroes like Markku Alen and Ari Vatanen driving. My family and friends will all be out watching and it would be a fantastic feeling to stand on the top step of the podium in front of them on the Sunday afternoon," #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "It would be special to win on home ground in Finland. Victory here is more highly regarded than in some other world rallies. It requires solid experience of the rally and I need to be able to drive flat out from start to finish without making mistakes. Anyone hoping to win needs to have completed the full rally - from start to finish - at least twice. I've done that and have started on three other occasions," Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 The second half of this year's World Rally Championship kicks off with the former 'Great Race' of Jyväskylä', later known as the 1000 Lakes Rally from 1954 until 1996, and now officially called the Rally Finland. Citroën Total has entered two C4 WRCs for this year's event which is not only the ninth round of the 2008 WRC but also home soil for the team's main opponents in the series. The two crews are Dani Sordo/Marc Martí and Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena, while Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior and Estonians Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk - who will practically be competing on home soil - will be competing in privately entered C4s run by PH Sport with the support of technicians from Citroën Sport Technologies. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "We have never won this event and that is one of the targets I set myself for 2008. But however dearly I would love to win it, and despite the ground that would enable us to make up in the Drivers' standings, I have no intention of taking any more risks than usual just to add a fresh line to my personal record." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: I have felt comfortable over these fast stages and long jumps on all my previous visits. I enjoy them, and the work we did in July should enable us be even more competitive against the local specialists. I am pleased with the settings we have found for the different types of surface we could well face, and I think we should be competitive with our C4. Our aim is to finish as high up the order as possible with a view to scoring points for Citroën." Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 Finland is only the third event for the WRC's youngest machine, the Subaru Impreza WRC2008, and the first time the championship will use the soft compound Pirelli gravel tyre. Having successfully completed its first two events, which were two of the toughest of the season, the SWRT engineers learned much that has been feverishly put to good effect during the championship break. In contrast to the rough, rocky and inconsistent nature of both the Acropolis and Turkish rallies, the smooth, fast and flowing characteristics of the first non-European event since Rally Jordan in April make it a maximum commitment and confidence rally. Rather than an overriding onus on endurance and reliability in recent rallies, Finland marks a return to flat-out no-compromise competition right from the start. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "I'm looking forward to getting back out again after the break, you know. Finland is a good event, and one that we've gone well on in the past. It's not an easy event, as we have also seen in previous years, but for me it's a proper rally. Fast, flowing, blind jumps, and so many crazy fans! I hope we'll have good pace there and can get another strong finish in the new car. The team have been working hard since Turkey and doing lots of testing, and we all feel that good steps forward have been taken." #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: "I definitely want to get back into competition, so I'm looking forward to Finland. We've done a lot of testing since Turkey and the guys have learned a lot, so I hope we can make some good steps in fine-tuning the car. Finland is a rally of big risks and you have to push hard right from the start to get a good result. We've seen some good and close battles here in the past, and I hope we can be up there this year. It's a great event. The terrain gives the rally a great character, and with the huge support of the fans, it's one of my favourites. It's definitely the rally everyone wants to win most." Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Round nine of the FIA World Rally Championship gets underway next Thursday when the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team heads to Scandinavia for the Neste Oil Rally Finland. Currently fourth in the Manufacturers' Championship the Stobart squad will be looking for some solid results on an event all three crews are very comfortable with. #7 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "I have done this event many times before and it is one I love because of the fast speeds and massive jumps. For the last two years we have finished in the top-five so hopefully we can achieve this again and maybe even finish on the podium. Finland is not so far from Norway so this is an important event where lots of people come from my country to watch and this will help having them there. I have been doing a lot of fitness training during the summer break and the hard work with my trainer should help in Finland which can be quite tough because the concentration has to be at a maximum on these fast roads. There are a lot of good drivers doing this event but it is also very easy to get caught out so the main thing is to keep out of trouble until the end." #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: "I hope that the time will go quickly over the next few days because I have been annoyed sitting at home and not being able to go rallying! We have done this rally many times before and I know it well but it is a bit of a shame that the famous Ouninpohja stage has been cancelled this year because it is one of my all time favourites. It is not going to be easy because Mikko and Jari-Matti will be lightning fast but OK we will try our best and the pace has been very good for us over the last three gravel events, now we just need a bit of luck and a good result. Finland is also a famous rally for all the spectators and there will be lots of Italians there because it is the vacation time in Italy so hopefully most of them will be supporting me. This will be fast, fun and some big jumps but if we can be consistent and stay out of trouble I think we can do well here." #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "I'm really looking forward to Finland and getting back in the car after such a big break over the summer. I've had a bit of time in the car with the a few promotional drives like Goodwood and some drive days which have been really beneficial while there have been no rallies. Scott and I have spent some time recently working on our notes and I think with even more new rally route this year we will need to be onto the ball with our pacenotes; they are such an important aspect of a fast event like this. Finland is going to be quite warm but I have been keeping my fitness level up over the break with the bike ride across Britain and some training back in Cumbria and I am feeling 100 percent ready to get back into the action." Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 Finland is an important rally for Suzuki, as it marks the introduction of the second evolution of the SX4 WRC, featuring a raft of new parts designed to improve efficiency and performance on one of the most challenging rallies of the year. Under the homologation rules, the manufacturers are allowed to update their cars over the course of the year. The new parts introduced will make the SX4 WRC lighter, more reliable, and increase its level of competitiveness. The cars driven by Toni and P-G in Finland will be newly-built at Suzuki's rally headquarters on the outskirts of Paris, and the suspension will be adapted to suit the particular demands of the Finnish stages. On the Monday before the event, both Toni and P-G will test their cars for a day in order to establish the best set-up for Finland. As Finland is such a quick event with so many high-speed jumps, finding the right set-up is absolutely crucial: particularly when it comes to damper settings. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: Realistically, many of our rivals still have an advantage over us in terms of engine power - which is quite an important factor in Finland - but also our local knowledge helps. We've always had good speed in Finland in the past, but equally we've been a bit unlucky. I'm feeling confident though: if we can set some times inside the top five I think that shows we are making progress." #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: "Finland is definitely one of my favourite rallies of the year and I think it suits my driving style. We've always gone well there in the past, and I'm looking forward to competing there in a World Rally Car for the first time. It's one of the rallies that I know quite well, but maybe the fact that there are lots of new roads helps us as well, as it means that the local guys might not have such a big advantage. It would be really nice if we could finish in the points on such a challenging rally, and as long as we have good reliability and keep out of trouble, I don't see any reason why we should not do that." 5. Event Statistics " 58th Rally Finland (July 31-August 3): round 9 of 15. " Surface: gravel. " Base: Jyväskylä. " Tyres: only one type of tyre is available: the Scorpion WRC 205/65R15 Soft. It is possible to carry two Recce: scheduled for Tuesday July 29 and Wednesday July 30 (07.00 until 19.00). Two passes are Shakedown: Thursday July 31 (08.00 until 12.00). Uses the same 3.76km stage as in previous years, " Rally Show: Thursday July 31 (between 16.00 and 16.45. 6. Event Schedule Thursday 31 July: Day 1 Jyväskylä - Jyväskylä Start Jyväskylä Paviljonki 19.00 SS1 SSS Killeri 1 2.06km 19.45 Finish Jyväskylä Paviljonki 20.15 Friday 1 August: Day 1 (continued) Jyväskylä - Jyväskylä Serv A Paviljonki (15 mins) 06.30 SS2 Vellipohja 1 17.16km 07.30 SS3 Mökkiperä 1 11.38km 08.26 SS4 Palsankylä 1 13.90km 09.09 Serv B Paviljonki (30 mins) 10.32 SS5 Vellipohja 2 17.16km 11.47 SS6 Mökkiperä 2 11.38km 12.43 SS7 Palsankylä 2 13.90km 13.26 Serv C Paviljonki (30 mins) 14.49 SS8 Urria 12.65km 16.18 SS9 Lautaperä 7.87km 16.50 SS10 Jukojärvi 22.18km 17.29 SS11 SSS Killeri 2 2.06km 20.00 Serv D Paviljonki (45 mins) 20.30 Finish Paviljonki 21.15 Total 131.70km Saturday 2 August: Day 2 Jyväskylä - Jyväskylä Serv E Paviljonki (15 mins) 06.00 SS12 Himos 15.35km 07.13 SS13 Hirvimäki 10.67km 08.09 SS14 Surkee 1 14.80km 08.34 Serv F Paviljonki (30 mins) 09.33 SS15 Leustu 21.43km 10.46 SS16 Kakaristo 1 20.09km 11.45 SS17 Kaipolanvuori 13.64km 12.26 SS18 Surkee 2 14.80km 13.31 Serv G Paviljonki (30 mins) 14.30 SS19 Kakaristo 2 20.09km 16.13 SS20 Juupajoki 21.13km 17.03 SS21 Väärinmaja 16.25km 17.56 Serv H Paviljonki (45 mins) 19.51 Finish Paviljonki 20.36 Total 168.25km Sunday 3 August: Day 3 Jyväskylä - Jyväskylä Serv I Paviljonki (15 mins) 08.20 SS22 Lankamaa 23.09km 09.38 SS23 Hannula 10.92km 10.44 SS24 Ruuhimäki 6.46km 12.02 Finish Paviljonki 13.30 Total 40.47km Rally total 340.42km 7. Championship Points Full standings http://www.rallye-info.com/points.asp |