WRC Rally Finland

[flying finn]

WRC Rally Finland

Leg 1 : Thursday 02.08 and Friday 03.08 > 11 stages (130.03 Km)
Leg 2 : Saturday 04.08 > 9 stages (188.56 Km)
Leg 3 : Sunday 05.08 > 3 stages (43.67 Km)

Liaison: 1020.27 Km
SS: 362.26 Km
Total: 1382.53 Km

entry list > http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/a...0-23-38253.pdf
home page > http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/en/
preview: http://www.wrc.com/page/WRCAnalysis/...882522,00.html

Championship Standings

1. M. Gronholm (FIN) 6 10 8 8 5 8 10 10 = 65
2. S. Loeb (F) 10 8 0 10 10 10 0 8 = 56
3. M. Hirvonen (FIN) 4 6 10 6 4 6 8 5 = 49
4. D. Sordo (SP) 8 0 0 5 6 3 6 0 = 28
5. P. Solberg (N) 3 0 5 0 8 0 4 6 = 26
6. H. Solberg (N) 0 5 6 0 0 4 5 4 = 24
7. C. Atkinson (AUS) 5 1 0 4 0 2 0 3 = 15
8. J. Latvala (FIN) 0 0 4 2 1 5 0 0 = 12
9. D. Carlsson (S) -- 4 2 -- 3 -- 0 -- = 9
10. M. Stohl (AUT) 0 2 0 3 0 1 2 1 = 9
11. T. Gardemeister (FIN) 2 3 0 -- 0 -- 3 0 = 8
12. G. Galli (I) -- 0 3 -- 2 0 -- -- = 5
13. J. Kopecky (CZ) 1 0 1 -- 0 -- -- 2 = 4
14. M.Wilson (GB) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 = 1
15. J. Hanninen (FIN) -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 0 = 1

[BertMk2]

Gronholm must start this one as favourite but as ever Loeb will be in the hunt and I'd expect him to be 2nd. For the Subarus it's a case of 'can they get to the end in one piece' I really hope so and that Solberg can at least stay in touch with Loeb and Gronholm.

[vorsprung]

Standings after SS4:
1. Mikko Hirvonen 23.19,9
2. Marcus Grönholm +0,1
3. Sebastien Loeb +6,6
4. Chris Atkinson +10,4
5. Daniel Sordo +26,0
6. Petter Solberg +26,8
7. Henning Solberg +29,6
8. Urmo Aava +40,2
9. Manfred Stohl +41,6
10. Guy Wilks +42,0

Latvala was fastest on SS2 and third on SS4 but lost over 2 minutes on third stage. He spun and stalled as window insulation came loose and dropped on his hands

[BertMk2]

After SS7

1. Marcus Gronholm
2. Mikko Hirvonen +00mins 00.8secs
3. Sebastien Loeb +00mins 11.7secs
4. Chris Atkinson +00mins 22.5secs
5. Petter Solberg +00mins 31.6secs
6. Daniel Sordo +00mins 47.0secs
7. Henning Solberg +00mins 48.7secs
8. Manfred Stohl +01mins 08.5secs
9. Xavier Pons +01mins 18.2secs
10. Juho Hanninen +01mins 23.8secs

Guy WIlks is 12th, Matthew Wilson 15th.

Latvala lost a rear wheel and stopped in the stage.

[sihorton]

come on subaru, catch them fords!!

si

[silver bullet]

Originally Posted by sihorton

come on subaru, catch them fords!!

si

[429CJ]

Solberg OUT
Sordo OUT
Both technical reasons.

After SS17
1. Marcus Grönholm Ford 2.11.33,3
2. Mikko Hirvonen Ford +20,5
3. Sebastien Loeb Citroen +44,1
4. Chris Atkinson Subaru +1.59,9
5. Henning Solberg Ford +3.28,0
6. Xavi Pons Subaru +5.23,8
7. Urmo Aava Mitsub. +5.29,3
8. Guy Wilks Ford +6.52,8

[429CJ]

Final results:

1. Marcus Grönholm Ford 2.57.26,1
2. Mikko Hirvonen Ford +24,2
3. Sebastien Loeb Citroen +1.09,9
4. Chris Atkinson Subaru +3.02,8
5. Henning Solberg Ford +4.29,4
6. Xavier Pons Subaru +7.00,5
7. Urmo Aava Mitsub. +7.39,6
8. Mads Östberg Subaru +9.31,9
9. Guy Wilks Ford +9.39,4

[Knowlesy]

Hooray Marcus!

[Notso Swift]

Its disappointing that Solberg didn't restart, if only for some hard charging testing, but I guess he needs another run on that motor, decent from Atkinson, at least, so maybe we have a chance of 3 manufactures genuinely fighting for a win again.
But the end result, well, it if Finland, after all, I know Loeb did it once, but Marcus is virtually untouchable. I think Mikko did very well to stay so close. I think Marcus won 17 stages, says it all really.

[rx-guru]

Does anyone know if there was a new 'yump record'…?

[429CJ]

Solberg's Subaru looked really horrible, squirming like snake on the straight road, I understand completely, why he retired.

[flying finn]

Rally Finland - Results

1. Gronholm Rautiainen > Ford Focus > 2h57'26"1 (121.8 km/h)
2. Hirvonen Lehtinen > Ford Focus > 2h57'50"3 (+ 00'24"2)
3. Loeb Elena > Citroen C4 > 2h58'36"0 (+ 01'09"9)
4. Atkinson Prevot > Subaru Impreza > 3h00'28"9 (+ 03'02"8)
5. H.Solberg Menkerud > Ford Focus > 3h01'55"5 (+ 04'29"4)
6. Pons Amigo > Subaru Impreza > 3h04'26"6 (+ 07'00"5)
7. Aava Sikk > Mitsubishi Lancer > 3h05'05"7 (+ 07'39"6)
8. Ostberg Unnerud > Subaru Impreza > 3h06'58"0 (+ 09'31"9)
9. Wilks Pugh > Ford Focus > 3h07'05"5 (+ 09'39"4)
10. Wilson Orr > Ford Focus > 3h08'39"5 (+ 11'13"4)

11. Perez Compac Volta > Ford Focus > 3h09'26"4 (+ 12'00"3)
14. Villagra Perez Compac > Ford Focus > 3h15'33"3 (+ 18'07"2)
DNF. Sordo-Marti > Citroen C4 > Mechanical SS15
DNF. Stohl-Minor > Citroen Xsara > Went off road SS13
DNF. P.Solberg-Mills > Subaru Impreza > Mechanical SS16
DNF. Latvala-Anttila > Ford Focus > Went off road SS7

Championship Standings

1. M. Gronholm (FIN) 6 10 8 8 5 8 10 10 10 > 75
2. S. Loeb (F) 10 8 0 10 10 10 0 8 6 > 62
3. M. Hirvonen (FIN) 4 6 10 6 4 6 8 5 8 > 57
4. H. Solberg (N) 0 5 6 0 0 4 5 4 4 > 28
5. D. Sordo (SP) 8 0 0 5 6 3 6 0 0 > 28
6. P. Solberg (N) 3 0 5 0 8 0 4 6 0 > 26
7. C. Atkinson (AUS) 5 1 0 4 0 2 0 3 5 > 20
8. J. Latvala (FIN) 0 0 4 2 1 5 0 0 0 > 12
9. D. Carlsson (S) -- 4 2 -- 3 -- 0 -- -- > 9
10. M. Stohl (AUT) 0 2 0 3 0 1 2 1 0 > 9
11. T. Gardemeister (FIN) 2 3 0 -- 0 -- 3 0 -- > 8
12. G. Galli (I) -- 0 3 -- 2 0 -- -- -- > 5
13. J. Kopecky (CZ) 1 0 1 -- 0 -- -- 2 0 > 4
14. X. Pons (SP) 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- -- -- 3 > 3
15. U. Aava (EST) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 2 > 2
16. M.Wilson (GB) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 > 1
17. J. Hanninen (FIN) -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 0 0 > 1
18. M. Ostberg (NOR) -- 0 -- -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 > 1

[cg7aa]

After years of wanting to do this rally, I finally went along this year. It was certainly interesting. The forest roads are simply fantastic, they are narrow undulating with crests and camber galore. The drivers must have the time of their lives driving the stages.

Although I would recommend it to others, when I asked myself if I would go back next year I couldn't say a definate yes or no. Don't get me wrong, it was an interesting experience overall but it kinda still left me wanting more.

I suppose the start wasn't particularly great, the Killeri super special stage could have been so much better, instead, it left me a bit frustrated. It is a horse track of some sort and by no means suitable as a super special stage in my opinion. The place feels too small and spectators are forced into a narrow section along the start-finish. High fencing not to mention being on lower ground compared to parts of the track (as well as being quite far) meant viewing wasn't great by any means.

I couldn't understand why there were no temporary bankings so spectators could see better and why there were no provisions made to have spectators view from all around the circuit (like in a stadium) as opposed to herding them into one section while the remainder was reserved for enormous advertisement hoardings! I suspect the lucky ones in the grandstand enclosures had spectacular views though!

I did enjoy it when we were out on the stages proper. Luckily, the tour company have previous experience and so knew exactly what to do in terms of what time to get to the stages etc. The terrain doesn't make for easy viewing at times (lots of trees!). I think if you go to the rally as an ordinary spectator with the idea of taking pictures, get to stages early and find the few unrestricted spots or you will be frustrated. Of course, all the standing around and early mornings are worth it when a car flies off a crest past you! Stunning. Its strange how time flies by and the tired legs go out of mind when the cars are actually coming though.

One thing which baffled me a bit is that, they had designated spectator areas presumably because they cannot patrol the entire length of all the stages. The end result was that the areas we were allowed to stand in usually consisted of a few kilometres around the start and finish zones and certain portions of the stages further in. Needless to say, it gets quite busy when access is restricted like this. There were some open (relatively speaking) places in my view where people could watch without being in great danger but you could not go to such places.

I don't remember such measures when I was in Catalunya in 2005 for the rally. I think you could walk quite far into the stages if you got there early enough as long as you were not posing any danger when the cars were due to be running. Sometimes it was a bit of a struggle to see more than a few metres either side of where you stood!

I hope I haven't been too negative. Overall, it was worth it and if anyone gets the chance to go and see it. Do take it. I can now say I've been to Ouninpohja.

[BertMk2]

Finland is on the list of rallies I want to go and see 'live' - I guess it's a case of knowing what to expect and accepting the fact that you will be limited in what you can see and how many stages you can get to. How do they stop people wandering off to find better vantage spots?

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

...I guess it's a case of knowing what to expect and accepting the fact that you will be limited in what you can see and how many stages you can get to...

Absolutely!

I don't know how they would stop spectators wandering off further into the stages away from the designated areas but when the marshalls were around (they were on the stages pretty early, way before any of us got there), any attempt to move to non-designated areas were met with a shake of the head followed by loud words in Finnish.

I suppose if you were brave enough and got to a stage ridiculously early so you could find an isolated spot away from the masses, the marshalls in the safety cars would spot you on their various run through the stages and move you on anyway or you will have the safety delegate in the helicopter shout at you via the loudspeakers to move on.

That happened in Spain once when I was there when some idiots insisted on staying around some dangerous areas. The chap in the helicopter gave some warnings and threatened to cancel the stage which they did later on!