WRC Rally of Finland

[flying finn]

WRC Rally of Finland - Jyvaskyla Finland

Total Kms : 1466.68 km
Liaison : 1124.60 km
SS Kms : 342.08 km
Special Stages : 24

Thursday 31.07 > 1 stage (2.06km)
Friday 01.08 > 10 stages (128.63 km)
Saturday 02.08 > 10 stages (169.95 km)
Sunday 03.08 > 3 stages (41.44 km)

Home Page > http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/en/
Itinerary > http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/a...9-45-31294.pdf
Entry List > http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/a...3-12-10253.pdf
Rally Guide > http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/a...7-25-48253.pdf

Citroen preview > http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...=300163&FS=WRC
Ford preview > http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...=300159&FS=WRC
Subaru preview > http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...=300160&FS=WRC
Munchi's preview > http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...=300161&FS=WRC
Suzuki preview > http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...=300162&FS=WRC

Championship Standings

1. M. HIRVONEN (FIN) > 59
2. S. LOEB (F) > 56
3. J. LATVALA (FIN) > 34
4. C. ATKINSON (AUS) > 31
5. D. SORDO (E) > 30
6. P. SOLBERG (N) > 20
7. G. GALLI (I) > 17
8. H. SOLBERG (N) > 16
9. M. WILSON (GB) > 12
10. F. VILLAGRA (RA) > 8

[BertMk2]

Aaaah Finland Got to be one of the best events of the year. Hirvonen, Latvala or maybe even Solberg for the win here - can't let Loeb win this one as there are a lot of tarmac events to come.

[gomick]

Results after Leg 2...

1. Sebastien Loeb F Citroen C4 2:33:43.5
2. Mikko Hirvonen FIN Ford Focus 2:34:01.7
3. Chris Atkinson AUS Subaru Impreza 2:36:47.1
4. Dani Sordo E Citroen C4 2:36:48.1
5. Henning Solberg N Ford Focus 2:37:15.1
6. Petter Solberg N Subaru Impreza 2:37:42.2
7. Matti Rantanen FIN Ford Focus 2:39:38.7
8. Toni Gardemeister FIN Suzuki SX4 2:41:12.1
9. Matthew Wilson GB Ford Focus 2:41:38.0
10. Conrad Rautenbach ZWE Citroen C4 2:43:12.6

[BertMk2]

Plenty of action and some big offs but Loeb takes the win - great result for him, that's got to make him favourite for the title. Impressive drive from Atkinson as well I thought.

[flying finn]

1. Sebastien LOEB (F) > Citroen C4 > 2:54:05.5 (+0:00.0)
2. Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN) > Ford Focus > 2:54:14.5 (+9.0)
3. Chris ATKINSON (AUS) > Subaru Impreza > 2:57:22.5 (+3:17.0)
4. Dani SORDO (E) > Citroen C4 > 2:57:36.4 (+3:30.9)
5. Henning SOLBERG (N) > Ford Focus > 2:58:03.2 (+3:57.7)
6. Petter SOLBERG (N) > Subaru Impreza > 2:58:09.6 (+4:04.1)
7. Matti RANTANEN (FIN) > Ford Focus > 3:00:16.6 (+6:11.1)
8. Toni GARDEMEISTER (FIN) > Suzuki SX4 > 3:02:24.2 (+8:18.7)
9. Matthew WILSON (GB) > Ford Focus > 3:02:42.8 (+8:37.3)
10. Conrad RAUTENBACH (ZWE) > Citroen C4 > 3:04:36.4 (+10:30.9)
39. Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN) > Ford Focus > 3:39:59.0 (+45:53.5)

DNF. Gigi GALLI (I) > Ford Focus RS WRC 07 > SS16 off road
DNF. Federico VILLAGRA (ARG) > Ford Focus > SS20 off road
DNF. Luis PEREZ COMPANC (ARG) > Ford Focus > SS21A medical - co-driver injured
DNF. Per-Gunnar ANDERSSON (S) > Suzuki SX4 > SS16 off road

Championship Standings

M. HIRVONEN (FIN) > 67
S. LOEB (F) > 66
C. ATKINSON (AUS) > 37
D. SORDO (E) > 35
J. LATVALA (FIN) > 34
P. SOLBERG (N) > 23
H. SOLBERG (N) > 20
G. GALLI (I) > 17
M. WILSON (GB) > 12
F. VILLAGRA (ARG) > 8

> Loeb finally wins in Finland - but only just
> good results for Stobart and Suzuki
> Hirvonen needs good results in the tarmac rallies to stay in touch with Loeb
> post rally press conference > http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...ges/conf2.aspx

[BertMk2]

Loebs win certainly puts the pressure on Hirvonen - he's got to score some big points on the tarmac events to have a decent chance of the title. Sordo could come into play here as I'd expect him to be well up on the sealed surfaces.

[gomick]

good to see atko get the subaru to the finish again & score a podium

loeb 42 career wins, freakish...

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by gomick

loeb 42 career wins, freakish...

An impressive tally but you do get the impression that the opposition isn't as good as it once was - look at todays driver lineup and compare with even 10 years ago......

[cg7aa]

Well, that was a fairly interesting rally.

I wonder what the mood is like in the Finnish rallying press (if there is one), is Mikko being portrayed as the Finn who could not quite deliver what was expected on home turf or is it a case of 'it was a close run thing so fair play to Seb'?

Perhaps the rally showed just how ferocious Gronholm's pace was in Finland in the past.

The top two finishers this year were in a league of their own completely. I believe several stage records were beaten and by some margin too. Neither driver/co-driver pairing could afford a single lapse.

I think Sordo was quite impressive on this event. He did well on a very specialised gravel event.

See post 14 in this thread for my thoughts on the rally when I was there last year:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...hlight=finland

Watching the event on TV reinforced some of my thoughts from back then i.e. the drivers have a ball, not so sure about the spectators given the seemingly restricted viewing areas on some of the stages.

[cg7aa]

I forget to ask this, does anyone know if the P-WRC and J-WRC rally highlights are shown on any channel in the UK? They used to be on Motors TV last year if I remember correctly.

I suppose if the main WRC series is struggling to make it onto mainstream channels then the so called lesser categories haven't got a chance!