WRC-Neste Oil Rally Finland 2012

[Mirek]

Neste Rally Finland 2012 l SS18 OUNINPOHJA NIKARA # 51 BIG SAVE l nokanmov Filmed August 2012-08-04 - YouTube

WTF???

[stefanvv]

Neste Rally Finland 2012 l SS18 OUNINPOHJA NIKARA # 51 BIG SAVE l nokanmov Filmed August 2012-08-04 - YouTube

Is he drunk?

[Ide]

Here are my 229 photos about the rally.

[stefanvv]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6igfuD96KmY

[A.F.F.]

Neste Rally Finland 2012 l SS18 OUNINPOHJA NIKARA # 51 BIG SAVE l nokanmov Filmed August 2012-08-04 - YouTube

I'm not sure but the chances are that idiot was very drunk

[AMSS]

On my way back home. 10 stages behind us. What's there to say, Citroen has again found something interesting as the are visibly less sideways than the Fords at least all stages we were at.
And mr. Loeb once again proved why he's the best car driver in motorsport history ALL classes inclluded..
Great rally otherwise but thought there was less people than previous years?

[stefanvv]

On my way back home. 10 stages behind us. What's there to say, Citroen has again found something interesting as the are visibly less sideways than the Fords at least all stages we were at.

I think this is the way Citroen goes, some Rallies ago threatened Hirvonen they will remove his handbrake (joking ).

[bttmsport]

Most positive results (bit with finnish eyes but if you disagree, give good argument...!): Speed of Esapekka Lappi; unbelievable 13th place of Nikara brothers (aged Evo9, tyre brand Y... beating the whole S2000 group in some stages); but even with disappointing retirement, obviously not even his own fault, Mr Ken Block got a huge supporter club from Finland and with his first outing here, nobody expected that he got such speed.

And in 2WD class some good results also from foreign guys, Dubert from France and Koci from Slovakia, their stage times were totally respectable against 2WD top who have driven here years before.

For the rest, rally was zero. I really look forward to get a proper R2 or R3 world championship if this does not get any better. It seems that in 2WD classes there may be up to ten guys fighting for podium, cars are much more interesting to follow than for example GrN.

[RS]

Only followed this rally casually online, so some questions:

- Was this Neuville's first time in Finland? Times were very impressive before the crash.

- Was Ketomaa on D-Macks? His times were really disappointing.

- Why does it seem that Finns are better in Sweden than they are at home? Are Rally Sweden conditions more difficult to adapt to for a non-Scandinavian that those in Finland. Ok, they didn't exactly do badly here but Mikko was beaten by his team mate and even though he managed to not crash for a change Latvala was barely quicker that Solberg.

[vkangas]

++ Nikara. Amazing speed with that old evo 9 whale. Consistently beating top S2000 drivers and even some WRC drivers.
+ Lappi. Expectations were high and he was great. He has great potential and good that it has been noticed as he just made a contract with Even Rally.
+ Loeb. The master. What else can you say. It's not his fault if the championship is going to be little bit boring. Citroen gave Mikko a fair chance to win but somehow the master was able to squeeze those foew seconds when needed. As NOT mentioned true Finnish rally fans have great respect for him.
+ Neuville. Good speed vs. experience.

- Salo. It seems that he was not able to adapt to S2000 after ~13(!) years with Mitsubishi Lancer.
- Factory Ford / Ford drivers. They seemed to miss that last bit of something. For example we were at Lankamaa's end in a fast crest+bend combination. Citroens cut hard, drove straight and applied brake when approacing the bend so that they were able to stay straight around the corned. Both Fords drove sideways and were visibly slower. They did not apply brake but let the car go much more sideways. Impossible to say is it the car or driving style, setup etc. issue.

Funny accident during weekend: We were staying at friends cottage at Laukaa. Before our arrival (maybe wednesday or thursday) certain gentleman arrived to the cottage asking wheather he could park his boat to the shore and watch the rally with us by the cottage. The cottage is just by the stage. Only my friends sister was there then (does not watch rally) and she said that's not maybe a good idea as she does not own the cottage etc. etc....later we heard that this gentleman had been Juha Kankkunen. What a pity!