| The Frenchman - partnered on each occasion by Daniel Elena - has established an impressive track record on this event, still fondly known as the “Rally of a 1000 Lakes”. In 2001 he won the Junior category for Citroen; in 2002, on his debut in an Xsara World Rally Car, he was 10th; 5th in 2003; 4th in 2004; 2nd in both 2005 and 2006; 3rd in 2007.
This year he was locked in a fierce - but mutually respectful battle - with Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and the result was not settled until the final metre of the famous Ruuhimaki stage, from which Loeb emerged as winner by a mere nine seconds. At the post event Press Conference, in the host City of Jyvaskyla, Loeb commented. “If I had to choose one Rally to win, then it would be Finland”. This performance moves Loeb to within one point of Hirvonen, who leads the Drivers category in the WRC.
Hirvonen, with Jarmo Lehtinen, recorded six fastest times and returned their unmarked BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus WRC, giving no signs of the high speed nature of this event which is the fastest in the World Rally Championship, with an average speed in excess of 120 kph.
Their team-mates, Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila crashed out of the event in Stage three – Mokkipera - after hitting a rock and breaking the steering. Ironically, this stage has been their downfall in the last three years. They restarted under SupeRally rules and finished 39th.
Chris Atkinson (Subaru Impreza) added another Podium place to his improving season. He was languishing in ninth place on Friday’s opening Day, but improvements to the handing of his car and the resulting gain in confidence saw him fight his way up the order, eventually overhauling Dani Sordo just two short stages before the finish.
Sordo and Marc Marti (Total Citroen C4 WRC), had held third for much of the rally but decided to not to take any undue risks and conceded the place to Atkinson, ensuring substantial Manufacture points for Citroen, who now close to within three points of current leaders, Ford.
Norwegian brothers Henning and Petter Solberg claimed fifth and sixth places for Ford and Subaru, respectively. Henning was as high as third, but gradually slipped back as others increased their pace. Petter, with co-driver Phil Mills, did not appear at ease with the handling of his car over the fifth and sixth gear roads of central Finland and worked hard for their result.
2006 Finnish Champion, Matti Rantanen, was best “privateer” in seventh after consistently posting Top-10 stage times. He is a member of the AKK’s (Finnish equivalent of the Motor Sports Association) driver coaching programme.
An “Off”, gear selection problems and loss of power steering frustrated Suzuki’s Toni Gardemeister, who finished eighth, one place and 18 seconds ahead of Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin in their Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Focus WRC. The 21 year old Cumbrian upheld team spirits after Gigi Galli crashed his similar car out of third place in Stage 16. It was an equally disappointing rally for the Munchi’s Team, whose cars retired on stages 20 (Car 9 Villagra) and 21(Car 10 Companc).
Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen C4 WRC) co-driven by Britain’s David Senior described the stages and “awesome” and with little experience of this technically difficult rally was satisfied with his 10th pace after a relatively trouble-free run.
Durham’s Guy Wilks, on his sixth attempt at the often titled “Finnish Grand Prix”, used all his experience to take an empathic victory in Class A7, first 2WD car and 18th overall in the JAS Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R R3.
“We have been close to success twice before with the team – this time we were able to deliver”, said Wilks, who was partnered by David Moynihan. This was the young Irishman’s first competitive visit to Finland.
For Neste Oil Rally Finland results and news; http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/
For latest standings in the FIA World Rally Championship, news, video clips, etc; http://www.wrc.com/
WRC Manufacturer Team websites;
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; http://www.bpfordwrc.com/
Citroën Total World Rally Team; http://www.citroen-wrc.com/
Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team; http://www.munchis.com.ar/
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team; http://www.stobartmotorsport.com/
Suzuki World Rally Team; http://www.suzukisport.com/wrc
Subaru World Rally Team; http://www.swrt.com/
Other WRC websites;
Pirelli - WRC; http://www.pirellityre.com/web/motorsport/rally/wrc/default.page
The next and 10th round of the 15-round FIA WRC is the ADAC Rallye Deutschland 15th to 17th August; http://www.rallye-deutschland.de/
Ends.
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