Rally Finland 2015

[dimviii]

#RallyFinland Emotions & Speed. Overwhelmed by winning WRC3 by 0.5sec | pic via @EvolutionChick

[Hartusvuori]

Sunday we left hotel 0615 for Myhinpää. Roadsideparking on P4 and mobilehomes for about 1K. When leaving later it was roadsideparking for 3,5 K. (Teemu - Hartusvuori - had roadsid parking for 4,7K on P3

Actually, we parked the car at 2,7 km before the stage 1,5 hours before 1st car. When we drove back, the furthest cars were at 4,7 km. I bet they had to hurry for the first run.

[b3637853]

#RallyFinland Emotions & Speed. Overwhelmed by winning WRC3 by 0.5sec | pic via @EvolutionChick

I wonder what Gilbert's next step could be. I think he is gonna win JWRC this year. Do you guys think any works team can be interested in him? I mean he is French, quite young and fast.

[SubaruNorway]

Was this the first time there was 2 min between all cars included WRC3? Took forever to watch a stage.

[donlorean]

Was this the first time there was 2 min between all cars included WRC3? Took forever to watch a stage.

I think so... Organisation send new WRC regulations just before rally and there was that start order... So it would be like that in every rally, not just NORF... Only privateers and DMack Fiesta's was 1min gap

[MartijnS]

Yes, that was about the only annoying thing in the entire weekend, besides the mosquitos haha. Takes way too long to watch the entire field like this.

However we had a great rally again. Arrived in Jyvaskala on Tuesday night. Wednesday we went to see the recce of the Shakedown and drive Myhinpaa, Surkee and Horkka that morning/afternoon. Nice dinner in city center at night, always a nice atmosphere there! Like the place.
Shakedown can't be bad if they use that stage and expectations were met at the first jump. Some good speed/hight and easy marshalls so the normal spectators could stand wherever they wanted for a long time and thats always sweet! Lazy afternoon in our appartment and than went to see Hurja. Stood at a 90" left corner, pretty fun.

Friday start at Pihlajakoski. Nice fast section few hundred meters after the hairpin halfway, some nice passes there. Left shortly after the WRC's. Than to Ouninpohja, parked our car 30 meters from the stage for probably one of the best spots of the rally for us. Flatout jump, than almost flat left into another small jump at about 18.5 km into the stage. Only 5 other people there besides us! Incredible speed there from the topguys.

Back to Pihlajakoski for a fast left corner, on which they get launched a bit due to the speed and drop, just before the hairpin. Last year we went there too, but this year security was a bit more strict so more difficult to get some decent shots, but still a nice spot!
Watched the same cars again, than back to Ouninpohja again. Nice left corner a bit before the finish. Some good drifts there.

Saturday we had some startup issues, due to the first 5.5 km of Mökkiperä being forbidden for spectators. Had 2 corners noted, both not, at last not easily reachable. So we ended up at the straight with the number of jumps. By that time we had seen enough jumps, so was not so special there. Some good air though from some of the guys.
Quickly left to Surkee for also a great viewing spot. Just before they reach the big spectator spot at 8 km another flatout spot. First a top, on which some cars made some air and than a really fast left corner after it.
Not interesting for photos, but to watch a stage is good fun too I found out haha.
After the entire field there, back to Mökkiperä, some good spot gladly. Back to Surkee again, sweet open spot, about 70" left few km after the start, but really fast. Nice sideways action!

Sunday we did one run of Myhinpää on fast part, not that special, but all we could find without seeing another jump. After the entire field, we had to go to catch our flight in Helsinki again!
So 10 stages on the best roads in the world once again. Definitely going back again next year.
My photos are online now!











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[dimviii]

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.p...6&fotograf=394

[Hartusvuori]

I've recovered enough to give a few thoughts on this event. Rally Finland as an event is more than just Thursday to Sunday for me. This year I had time to visit few pre-event tests the week before. M-Sport test was odd as Tänak and Evans drove the same car on the same day. At least it was possible to see their huge difference and it was also along very nice fast road in Jämsä, spectated in a point some will remember from Rally Finland 2011 SS Hassi. The next day Latvala started his tests just nearby my in-laws house. It was a rainy day, but I still saw what I wanted, confident driving and some huge jumps.

Then came the Rally Week. I started it with a visit to Lukyanuk tests. When I heard from marshall's walkie talkie that the driver now has a helmet on, I started to walk right. Had I walked left, I would've seen the crash. Oh well. That was a huge accident and a huge blow for the event to miss its only wild card WRC entry. This matter was discussed thoroughly last week. Anyway. Hyundai did its VIP drives this Monday on the same test road. There are some incar footage available. If they started at the same place with Lukyanuk, it took Paddon 55 seconds to reach the crash corner. Less than a minute in a WRC car. During the week I didn't meet anyone who'd understand what Lukyanuk were doing. After that test stage was over quick, I drove to Keuruu for P3 drivers' test, only to accidently drop by at Citroen DS3R3 tests (+ Lefebvre) on the way. It was very nice this year that the recce started only on Tuesday and that Monday was still a full on test day with one open to public test stage. I'd appreaciate this kind of concept for future - and other - events as well. Tuesday was a get together day with friends.

Wednesday started with visiting the start of the recce in SS Surkee, getting the first chance to talk to the drivers and see in what mood they are. Out of VW drivers Mikkelsen was very serious, even stressed-looking, keeping it to himself in the car. Same for Ogier, but for him only concentrated. Latvala however was very relaxed, talkative, like it was any other day. Big difference. It was also nice to meet Juho after a long time. Later in the day we drove to the Service Park to meet the drivers at the same time they had this Meet the Kids thing (kids were we too last week). Meeke was looking very concentrated and even stressed, even when they were on the podium platform for the group picture with kids. During the visit to SP I had nice chance to talk with a number of drivers and also met a handful of other friends known from previous rallies or social media. Very nice evening altogether.

The rally itself:
Shakedown - 500 metres from the start, newly cut forest on tight downhill right with a tree stub lying in await at the exit if you go wide. Mikkelsen spun right away. Apart from that Bertelli and Pärn managed to escape the tree stub in high speed by less than half a meter.
SS Harju 1 - downhill right to S-curves into finish. It was nice place to spectate and it would've been even nicer with a little more rain prior to the stage start. However, I preferred this place over the downhill on gravel which we spectated last year.
Ouninpohja 1 & 2 - only stage we did on Friday as there were some desired corners we wanted to spectate and the no-service schedule left less room for driving between stages. Well, we've never done Rally Finland like this, staying on one stage the whole day, so why not give it a go. First run, a fast over crest left. It should've been faster, no hot moments now. Vetomies and second run we did on tighter overcrest left where had been close calls on the first run. Nothing notable on the run except it is a nice place to spectate.
Mökkiperä 1 - junction! Again, something for a change. This junction however is a tricky, fast one which one can drive almost directly on a correct line, but only on a correct line. Sordo approached way faster than cars prior to him, almost hit the bank on the inside, but managed to save it into a halfspin. Bertelli had similar idea. Rest of the time I talked with Guy Wilks who at that time had come to spectate just next to us. Some nice stories there.
Horkka 1 - faster, faster, faster. Whereas everyone else walked 500 metres further from us to see the Novikov jump, we stayed at the tightening left after the long straight after the jump. A few wide lines on very high speed, Lefebvre was already touching the grass roadside, but I think he didn't even noticed anything weird. Novikov / Visala jump seems to have a strong reputation still and also on this opposite direction. A lot of people were walking towards it even after the top crews had passed. Some were walking back already as there was no good places to spectate left.
Jukojärvi 2 - we went to see the rut that almost stopped Latvala from winning last year. Now the road had a big rut too after the first passage and it started to rain heavily just before the first cars. Quite a high speed place and few cars jumps out the rut on the soft. First car we didn't spectate was Nikara and friend told he jumped off the rut there. Just a little later he pulled over to retire.
Horkka 2 - back to Horkka and now to the jump what we call Juho's Jump. My favourite place. We were in a big hurry eventually, but managed to made it less than 2 minutes before Kubica made a huge, I'd say around 35-40 metre jump. There's a fast right corner just after the jump and this year it was lined with pile of logs. Last year we though it was possible for driver's to go off there, but now with the logs we hoped everything stays intact on the jump, it would've been nasty to hit those logs.
Myhinpää 1 & 2 - Hate is a strong word, but I could say I don't like Myhinpää being driven on Sunday. For us it's the furthest stage of the event, almost a two-hour drive. Also, as it was now the only stage, there are big crowds. We were early enough, but still had to walk a long way and a long way back. We were in a place with limited vision to a big jump on the approach which continued into overcrest left and right after a tight downhill right. Nice place to compare driver's techics. For example Tänak, Evans, Sordo, Neuville approached the last tight right more nose end first, turning, turning and turning and Latvala and Ogier threw the car sideways and right away started to accelarate while the car was sliding down soon pointing at the exit and next straight. Last car of the field, a C2 R2, jumped on its nose in the big jump and then approached the tight right far too fast, went wide and rolled. Second run we watched a little further, S-curves with nice sideways approach. Then it was time to start the walk to the car, drive to home and prepare to start work again.

I would say technically the best driving performance was done by Esapekka Lappi, absolutely. There was nothing extra, always on a good speed and perfect line. Second run in Ouninpohja, the place we were had that jump over crest where one could jump wide into the ditch. It continued to long, round right where there were a rock in the line in the inside, after first run. Many drivers before Lappi, WRC drivers too, had to turn left on the right hander to avoid touching the rock. Lappi jumped just enough on the right and then continued to the right hander with a single turn, placing the nose of his Fabia R5 just next to the rock but not in danger of touching it. Just perfect. This was definitely the best of Lappi I have ever seen. Also, his stage end comments were so confident that as long as his driving meets his words, he'll be unbeatable.

Of course Latvala's performance was also without room for critic. On Friday morning it seemed he'll have a tough time with Seb, but on Ouni 2 he replied in such a manner that he got the upper hand and kept it. Latvala did one day of his testing in a heavy rain also, just like Jukojärvi 2. Ogier tested only on dry. This might have helped. Ogier's tests were otherwise interupted too as he on the first day crashed slightly into a field and the second day was prematurely ended after Ogier broke the car in a jump. Latvala was very, very well-prepaped and that paid off.

Paddon seemed very fast too, though I didn't get to see many passages from him. Meeke was mainly clean and effective, but maybe not as super quick as last year. The biggest disappointment must be Neuville. Didn't he get a clean run? He was not convincing at any place. 2013 he was way ahead of his current shape. Tänak was very nice once the car was back in one piece. Pretty much the biggest shame of the event he broke it so early on. Hänninen understandably was picking up the pace as the event went on. His car seemed also lacking power on some stages, some stages it was better. He followed a good tactic and once so many faster guys retired, he got a nice result. Also nice stage end comments. After Myhinpää 2, radio commentator asked are you going to attack on the Power Stage. Juho replied that considering their whole WRC season these power stage points aren't that important, so he would keep the same pace as until then. :-)

On WRC2 the biggest and most nice surprise was Pedder. Nice to spectate and apparently quite effective too. On the other hand, Brynildsen, Gröndal, Koci - they're going nowhere. Breen - such unlucky driver at the moment.

Altogether, again a very nice event. Some changes to the route are needed for the next year like always. I'd swap Sunday with a longer Thursday for example. Still, an amazing event.

Here's my friend's photo gallery: http://rallirinki.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Nes...+Finland+2015/

[dimviii]

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.p...6&fotograf=119

[Hartusvuori]

One thing I'd like to add to my review. Not necessarily good in the long run, but moving around and between stages is easier year after year. Maybe also less spectators every year. This year we had to pay for parking twice, €5 each, and we parked our car seven times. One of the most surprising things happened when approaching Ouninpohja. We used the private roads North of Ouninpohjantie knowing we need to walk a little. The road was blocked one junction earlier than expected and we had some 2 km walk ahead. While parking a worn out 4x4 stopped and continued. After walking for some 15 minutes similar 4x4 stopped, a young guy jumps out and was cursing that we had left our car so quickly that they didn't have time to offer a ride. They insisted we packed our stuff in and save our legs from walking. So, soon it was six persons in the car, road changed into a forest path which changed into a field which again changed into a small road. We saved 30 minutes with nothing but generousity of this local guy and his mates.

Also, number of marshalls was very limited. Only in Myhinpää we were asked to walk in the forest about 1 hour before first car, but after a while we got back on the road. On Horkka 2 we walked in the forrest on our decision, due to safety, because we were so damn late. Apart from Myhinpää, there were marshalls only every few hundred meters. Common sense helped choosing places in general. In this respect, Rally Finland to me is more appealing and likeable. Especially on Finnish forums people are accustomed to complaining about fenced spectator zones and their limited visibility. That's correct, they exist, as a choice for people who don't want to make an effort in looking first on the route and places they'd desire. If you make make that effort, it's also possible to watch on most of those places.