Rally Finland 2011

[Barreis]

Miika, please more action.

[Allar]

Hanninen showed a great performance this weekend. If he hadn't slowed down after Tanak rolled he may have beaten Raikkonen, Wilson and Henning. I guess that would have been the smallest gap we have ever seen between WRCar and S2000 on a WRC Rally.
Tänak didnt roll, he just had problems with restarting engine. So it looks like we can see Tänak in SWRC for one more year.

[Sladden]

MikeD.. Do a bit of research. Check out Loeb times in 2002.. First time in Finland is WRC car. 6 mins off leader and +1m over Ouninpoha.

eWRC-results.com - results Neste Rally Finland 2002 (http://www.ewrc-results.com/results_main.php?event=87&stage=1625)

Ogier.. 2009.. First time in WRC car ... Leustu..
eWRC-results.com - results Neste Oil Rally Finland 2009 (http://www.ewrc-results.com/results_main.php?event=396&stage=6785)

Finished +4min off lead
That is correct mate!
But also note that the Xara in 2002 was not developed properly on gravel yet. Were as the C4 in 2009 was. Anyway Ogier and Loeb is and was simply amazing.. true talent. Just like Burns was fighting for victories there in every rally finland after the first attempt in 1998.

[Allar]

you cannot be a rallyfan and not a fan of Loeb....
Im am rallyfan, and im not a fan of Loeb. I just think he makes WRC worse, because he is too good and its getting boring when one man winns 8 years in a row. For me the last interesting season was 2003.

[wrc1600]

Im am rallyfan, and im not a fan on Loeb. I just think he makes WRC worse, because he is too good and its getting boring when one man winns 8 years in a row.
Don't you think it's not he's fault but others can't keep up with him? And you are right it might be boring but again, if it's boring then only because of others.

[Jafry]

http://www.rally-mania.cz/fotogalerie/2011/906/906_rally_finland_2011_9f5d8f301b.jpg

http://www.rally-mania.cz/fotogalerie/2011/906/906_rally_finland_2011_8097e3f70f.jpg

http://www.rally-mania.cz/fotogalerie/2011/906/906_rally_finland_2011_9855bcee7e.jpg

http://www.rally-mania.cz/fotogalerie/2011/906/906_rally_finland_2011_0d62a9afcd.jpg

More photos from podium HERE (http://www.rally-mania.cz/photogallery.php?id=906&fseason=2011)

[N.O.T]

a little payback for the time control issue :D :D

[Tom206wrc]

Full congrats to Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena :bounce:

[Tom206wrc]

Im am rallyfan, and im not a fan of Loeb. I just think he makes WRC worse, because he is too good and its getting boring when one man winns 8 years in a row. For me the last interesting season was 2003.

We can also say what makes rally become worse is the UNABILITY of M-Sport/FORD to make an equal car to Citroën :rolleyes:

[azblk]

yes same as in 2010...

now if he could keep the same attitude in the following events would be nice.

Where has all that speed been since Sweden???

[Motorsportfun]

I was looking at the SS4 multiple-rolls in Hassi. Anyone told anything during the Recce? There was any "signal" from the drivers?

[N.O.T]

recce is limited to 80 km/hr ....the notes change dramatically with the speed.

[WRCfan]

Excellent win by Seb and Daniel. It seems with the new rivalry in the team that little Seb is getting a bit up himself. It's always good to knock him back a peg or two. Loeb drove a masterclass on Day 3 and it was fantastic to see Jari Matti in 2nd place too.

It is a boring season with the Citroen-show winning everything although I was happy Seb snr won this one and not the young lad.

[alleskids]

Don't you think it's not he's fault but others can't keep up with him? And you are right it might be boring but again, if it's boring then only because of others.

Loeb lost my respect in 2009, when he needed Conrad Rautenbach, the slowest man ever in a WRcar, to stop for 13 minuts!!!!!!! to giove Loeb the 1 point that made him world championship

[Barreis]

So what?! Conrad crashed him in Jordan before.

[tfp]

Im am rallyfan, and im not a fan of Loeb. I just think he makes WRC worse, because he is too good and its getting boring when one man winns 8 years in a row. For me the last interesting season was 2003.

:up: +1 No one wants to watch a sport where the same team wins every year. Imagine if Manchester utd won the premier league for 8 years in a row...?
Although I think there have been interesting seasons since petter won the championship, Loeb lost all my respect when he could have joined F1 and made a packet, instead he stayed in a place where he knew he could win and was frightened to go anywhere else, in case he was beaten.

So once again a non nordic driver wins in finland. you could argue that loeb has no competition, and that the current finns havent done a good enough job of carrying the torch for the past drivers (do you thin gronholm would have let this happen?).

Or you could argue that Hirvonen won 13 of 22 stages, and 3 of them he was out of contention. And loeb is still praised, when hirvonen was faster, by miles.

[Rallyper]

Coming home from Finland there are some notes to done:

- Thank you Hartusvuori (and Juha-Koo) for tip where to go on Friday. Spot on! (Not that I like huge crashes, but it was a difficult place for the nonexperienced drivers)
- Hirvonen is the king of Finland when it comes to speed. Last year the car failed him. This year he had a small failure that costed him the victory.
- Citroen has made more progress on their engines during the half year, than Ford. Thats why Latvala has a slight less speed. But remember he´s only tenths of seconds away. Small margins though...
- Petter is neutralized by Citroen, given him factory service but agreed not same car as Sebs, and thats why he complains all the time of course given orders not to tell why he has to struggle....
- A good driver must have some luck. Loeb had it this year having Mikko off pace on Thursday and no disadvantage of starting first on the road on Saturday.

[Tomi]

So once again a non nordic driver wins in finland. you could argue that loeb has no competition, and that the current finns havent done a good enough job of carrying the torch for the past drivers (do you thin gronholm would have let this happen?).

Or you could argue that Hirvonen won 13 of 22 stages, and 3 of them he was out of contention. And loeb is still praised, when hirvonen was faster, by miles.

Who cares as long it's a deserved win, only a absolute top driver, and only top drivers can win here or have been winning in the past, luck plays never a part, Mikko or car made a mistake here and he was out, thats what counts, the rest is speculation. Grönholm did have problems when Märtin did win, still nobody did complain, thats the way it is.

[driveace]

The fastest man was Hirvonen,as said winner of 13 stages,and remember its a FACTORY prepared Citroen against a PRIVATE team prepared car.The private team has to make money,and profit,so all the money has to come from other sources,namely Abu Dhabi etc.Where as Citroens money for the rally team is not creamed off to make a profit for anybody

[Barreis]

Must admit that great roads are here in Finland. The best rally after MC for me.

[N.O.T]

Loeb lost my respect in 2009, when he needed Conrad Rautenbach, the slowest man ever in a WRcar, to stop for 13 minuts!!!!!!! to giove Loeb the 1 point that made him world championship

then i guess you have no respect for any world champion because in the history of the sport there was not even 1 world champion who was not benefited from team orders.....

[wildsir]

The fastest man was Hirvonen,as said winner of 13 stages,and remember its a FACTORY prepared Citroen against a PRIVATE team prepared car.The private team has to make money,and profit,so all the money has to come from other sources,namely Abu Dhabi etc.Where as Citroens money for the rally team is not creamed off to make a profit for anybodyYes Mikko was quick, but was driving with nothing to loose. Don't underestimate a drivers mindset versus his speed. Don't blame Citroen. You only think they can spend money... Wait till VW start.

[makinen_fan]

Latvalas own fault, he hesitated with changing set-up, and when he did it was far too late.

i wonder what the fords were doing for 4 days of testing. and they said they found very good setups...

[focus206]

i wonder what the fords were doing for 4 days of testing. and they said they found very good setups...

Maybe they were busy in chosing what food design put on the roof of the cars... one of the most important thing to have a competitive car.

[emk]

Has there been any pics of Citroen's rear suspensions? Mikko said the factory team had new different looking rear suspension compared to Petter and Kimi, I'd like to see what they have changed.

[Sladden]

Yes Mikko was quick, but was driving with nothing to loose. Don't underestimate a drivers mindset versus his speed. Don't blame Citroen. You only think they can spend money... Wait till VW start.
And also Hirvonen had good road position right? Loeb won it from the front...that is impressive!

[NikoP]

Fantastic rally once again!

We saw a lot of great driving, nice jumps and some crashes.

My photos: Rally Finland (http://nikop.kuvat.fi/kuvat/2011/Neste%20Oil%20Rally%20Finland/)

[Mirek]

I'm back from my first NORF and definitely not the last. What a weekend! Really amazing rally and so was the whole country (except a bit too many mosquitos :) ).

[SubaruNorway]

Not a good rally for me this time, i don't like the long days since it's no time to enjoy and going down to Lahti just made for too many spectators coming from Helsinki. My last Rally Finland for a while...

[samzon]

Some photos from NORF 2011:


http://samzon.kuvat.fi/kuvat/neste-ralli+07.11/

[Markko]

Here are some photos from WRC Finland. More pictures from another camera will be there within few days.
Tango Team (http://www.tangoteam.com)

[tfp]

Who cares as long it's a deserved win, only a absolute top driver, and only top drivers can win here or have been winning in the past, luck plays never a part, Mikko or car made a mistake here and he was out, thats what counts, the rest is speculation. Grönholm did have problems when Märtin did win, still nobody did complain, thats the way it is.

Lol yeah I forgot about 2003 :) Gronholm had a puncture IIRC?

[toniol]

Photos:Neste Oil Rally Finland 2011 (http://www.tonigraphs.com/galleriat/2011/2011072830_norf/index.html)

[vkangas]

Back from rally. We were in Evo, Mynnilä and Leustu 1 & 2. Great Rally and nice to see new cars driven pretty sideways!

Not as much spectators (and traffic jams... :) ) than before. Speaked with two organizers at Leustu and they confirmed it. I wonder if this was because of the new Lahti stages or was there really less people. Did anyone notice the same?

[Juha_Koo]

Bloody hell, what a rally. It was a lot more tough what I anticipated, three days with minimal sleep but luckily the overall awesomity kept me awake. :)

If the itinerary is like this next year, some adjusments has to be done. Camper van starts to feel like a must have, so long liasons that it caused some troubles for our group. Every day waking up before 5 am and very very long days, even over 16 hours. Lots of driving and walking. Not much time for sleeping.

Nice rally, a deserved win for Loeb. JML very disappointed to lose. Me too. I was sad and even a little bit angry because of Mikko's mishap, I knew it would be win or crash this year, but on the first stage... Damn. Also, many complete failures by Finnish drivers: Ketomaa, Rantanen, Lindroos. Rallying is raw.

Very serene on the stages... Our group was surprised by the number (=lack) of spectators. Okay, over the years we have usually been in rather quiet places which we have scouted, but still, we didn't even see a single traffic jam. Only the "place" in Hassi's small road was totally full. Very surprised to saw only one minor off there by Sousa. Now it's just this very empty feeling. Many weeks waiting, doing recce, spectating tests, rally itself and then it's over. The Saturday finish feels to me like it ends so quickly. All in all, a very nice event, though battles in many classes. Excellent competition. Enjoyed it, once again, for the 18th consecutive time. :)

[Barreis]

Very nice info, you should be a journalist. ;)

[Nuts]

And my photos:

nutspix.com - rallikuvia (http://nutspix.com)

[uranium]

recce is limited to 80 km/hr ....the notes change dramatically with the speed.

Are you sure all of them obey the rule?

I just saw on IRC Yalta how Neuville overtook us on the liaison like we were standing, despite we were moving with speeding... He also crossed over solid line..
Probably it depends. I don't know

[Juha_Koo]

Are you sure all of them obey the rule?

I just saw on IRC Yalta how Neuville overtook us on the liaison like we were standing, despite we were moving with speeding... He also crossed over solid line..
Probably it depends. I don't know

I don't know about IRC, but in WRC recce speed is enforced with a GPS-based unit which measures the speed. All speedings are recorded and they lead to sanctions.

[dimviii]

I'm back from my first NORF and definitely not the last. What a weekend! Really amazing rally and so was the whole country (except a bit too many mosquitos :) ).

Waiting for FULL comments :D

[OldF]

I'm back from my first NORF and definitely not the last. What a weekend! Really amazing rally and so was the whole country (except a bit too many mosquitos :) ).

Nice to here that you enjoyed you’re staying. Which stages were you on?

Busy weekend with the rally and today the christening of my grandson.

For us it was only two different stages (Hyväneula & Surkee) because we missed Mynnilä due to traffic jams :( . It was slow to move around with the old camper van so it was difficult to plan the days. It would have bee better if Hyväneula had been in the beginning of the day.

It was nice to watch the new WRC cars :) . The most spectacular performance was on the second round of Surkee by Karl Kruuda and Kimi. Mikko had good pace but his mistake on the first stage was not good. Also for JML to find the right set-ups so late is mystery for me.

Esapekka Lappi and Jukka Korhonen had good speed compared to the WRC Academy drivers (none finished). AFAIK the first appearance of Twingo R2 in a WRC rally.

[HarriK]

Esapekka Lappi and Jukka Korhonen had good speed compared to the WRC Academy drivers (none finished). AFAIK the first appearance of Twingo R2 in a WRC rally.

Academy cars ran only the first leg of saturday and then their race was finished. Winner was Breen and second was Kaur.
Times after Isojärvi 1.:





J.Korhonen Fiesta R2: 2:17:11.4
E.Lappi C2R2 2:17:13.4
C.Breen 2:20:11.7
E.Kaur 2:20:14.0
Van der Marel 2:23:33.7

[bluuford]

Academy cars ran only the first leg of saturday and then their race was finished. Winner was Breen and second was Kaur.
Times after Isojärvi 1.:





J.Korhonen Fiesta R2: 2:17:11.4
E.Lappi C2R2 2:17:13.4
C.Breen 2:20:11.7
E.Kaur 2:20:14.0
Van der Marel 2:23:33.7

You are wrong, They run 18 stages and Kaur won third time in a row:
Lamppi 2:37:55.7
Korhonen 2:38:29.9
Kaur 2:41:24.7
Breen 2:41:27.3
Kaur did not need to push more,he has now 52 points lead over Reeves and Breen.
Kaur won 5 stages and Breen won 5 stages
Academy guys are also using Pirelli control tires, which are way slower than local guys were using.
In Rally Estonia Kaur showed already that he was approximately 1.5 minutes faster than Kumpumägki and nearly 2,5 minutes faster than Breen over one day (unfortunately Kaur started with superally on day 2 because he retired befor stage 1 due to electrical problem.

[OldF]

Academy cars ran only the first leg of saturday and then their race was finished. Winner was Breen and second was Kaur.
Times after Isojärvi 1.:





J.Korhonen Fiesta R2: 2:17:11.4
E.Lappi C2R2 2:17:13.4
C.Breen 2:20:11.7
E.Kaur 2:20:14.0
Van der Marel 2:23:33.7

Thanks for the info. I stopped my comparison after Hyväneula 1, when something happened to Fisher on the next stage that’s been the fastest so far. Still about 3 min difference after Isojärvi 1.

[Bobcat]

The fastest man was Hirvonen,as said winner of 13 stages,and remember its a FACTORY prepared Citroen against a PRIVATE team prepared car.The private team has to make money,and profit,so all the money has to come from other sources,namely Abu Dhabi etc.Where as Citroens money for the rally team is not creamed off to make a profit for anybody
In fact, the Ford Abu Dhabi team isn't a private team. The private team is the FERM Power Tools team and so on.

"Where as Citroens money for the rally team is not creamed off to make a profit for anybody" Citroen has a big budget from Total and Red Bull etc..

driveace, the Ford problem is that it's really better to have a quicker engine with more horsepower and more torque than the mega posh hospitality... Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/bestofrallylive/status/97236330102267904) / New hospitality facilities for Ford | Best of Rally Live (http://www.best-of-rallylive.com/en/2011/07/30/new-hospitality-facilities-for-ford/)

[AMSS]

Hello everyone

Thought I give my Rally Finland report, first time for me looking at the new 1,6t WRC live so after 9 stages here`s what I concluded.
First of all if we compare the three manufactores and starting with the Engine.
Citroen clearly again has the best engine, my guess from looking at them on the stages would be that they have alot more torque than Ford but hp not so big difference. And Mini, well what`s there to say, everyone looking at the same cars I did should notice that they clearly lack in power compared to the other 2 teams.
A good indication of this is that of all the places we were out looking at than the Mini never got to 6th gear whereas both Ford and Citroen got ( Citroen around 100m on average earlier than the Fords btw.)
Chassis and suspension than, in my opinion Ford and Citroen equal the Fords dampers seems to be working really well whereas Citroen has something really good in the geometry wich I honestly couldn`t figure out because never got a good look at them on service.
Mini quit neutral, no highs or lows. Only major difference is that they don`t have nearly as much travel as the other 2 but everyone has seen that. Also their setup of the dampers doesn`t seem as soft as C and F and the car bounces alot more.

Of the drivers than, well on Saturday morning 1 man was in a class of his own and the final result shows who( fully deserved victory).
Otherwise just how they appear to the eye than Ogier looks the fastest, Hirvonen looked alot better last year before his crash than this year and Latvala has never really impressed me personally in Finland.
Loeb so tidy and neat but really stunning clean driving that you can`t never praise him enough, but nothing new there.
And the best performance based on pure speed goes to Ott Tänak that`s how you should drive in Finland IMO, at only 20 years of age than must be a future star in the rising!
There it is, don`t know if anyone wants to read it but wrote it any way.

[PMM]

Photos from Neste Oil Rally Finland:

:: www.rallikuvat.net (http://rallikuvat.net/2011/norf/index.php) ::

Photos from Lahti Historic Rally:

:: www.rallikuvat.net (http://rallikuvat.net/2011/lahtihistoric/index.php) ::

[HarriK]

You are wrong, They run 18 stages and Kaur won third time in a row:
Lamppi 2:37:55.7
Korhonen 2:38:29.9
Kaur 2:41:24.7
Breen 2:41:27.3
Kaur did not need to push more,he has now 52 points lead over Reeves and Breen.
Kaur won 5 stages and Breen won 5 stages
Academy guys are also using Pirelli control tires, which are way slower than local guys were using.
In Rally Estonia Kaur showed already that he was approximately 1.5 minutes faster than Kumpumägki and nearly 2,5 minutes faster than Breen over one day (unfortunately Kaur started with superally on day 2 because he retired befor stage 1 due to electrical problem.

OK, i got wrong info. Result are those what you said.

But Korhonen did use pirelli tyres. Lappi used Michelin, but those are much more heavier and not so fast in small engine car. Only reason for those use was that Michelin stand up much more impacts and can be run in flat much more.

[Jeppe]

You are wrong, They run 18 stages and Kaur won third time in a row:
Lamppi 2:37:55.7
Korhonen 2:38:29.9
Kaur 2:41:24.7
Breen 2:41:27.3
Kaur did not need to push more,he has now 52 points lead over Reeves and Breen.
Kaur won 5 stages and Breen won 5 stages
Academy guys are also using Pirelli control tires, which are way slower than local guys were using.
In Rally Estonia Kaur showed already that he was approximately 1.5 minutes faster than Kumpumägki and nearly 2,5 minutes faster than Breen over one day (unfortunately Kaur started with superally on day 2 because he retired befor stage 1 due to electrical problem.

Well, I have to correct this thing, ´cause you are sooo wrong in the issue..
Jukka Korhonen drove with exactly same kind of Fiesta and same kind of tyres Pirelli K4 with whole rally.. Apparently he is a lot faster than the A-boys. But it is his home soil - so he should be. Esa-Pekka Lappi used BF tyres in his C2 Max ´cause it´s the tyre what the Citroen recommends for it. ..and yes, he was faster also ;) ;)

Congrats for both of the new Finnish Young Guns!!

[Jeppe]

Harri was faster..

[HarriK]

Kimi's crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5B38Fz77rw

[Mirek]

Nice to here that you enjoyed you’re staying. Which stages were you on?

First day we did shakedown. We were moving around through almost all length. Really great warm up. The huge jumps are great but frankly I liked one place before them even more because You could see better the difference in drivers and their speed (combination of right, short left over a crest and long right). Here I realized I should watch Mikko Pajunen in the future...

Than we chose SS1 Lankamaa. We walked through for some 3 km to a very nice place where we were almost alone. We were walking counter stage direction from a spectator place with junction left in the last part of stage (Mikko must have gone off close to that cause I saw some child with Fiesta rear wing after the stage ended). Our place was fast left one in a distance, than straight and a difficult left one over a crest, than downhill straight, another crest and tight right one, road was rather narrow there for Finnish standards. For top runners we were on top of the first crest but for last cars we moved down because the top made huge ruts in braking zone. The funny thing was it was hidden behind the crest so almost all last cars had big moments there. From top drivers I liked Rantanen and Tänak most in this place. On the other hand Araujo, Oliveira and Rene Kuipers were very very slow. Nikara looked fastest from gr.N drivers. As we can't see from distance who drives which Academy Fiesta, we supported heavily all black ones (waiting for Černý) and they made some nice action there like Evans, Reeves or Breen taking the crest sideways.

For second day we chose to go only to SS6/9 Hyvaneula. The main reason was that with no real darkness we went to bed too late :D Anyway we again decided to walk in the stage direction from a junction rather close to the finish (from wide to more narrow road with helicopters stationed there). We were in a fast left-right combination completely alone. Close after that in another spectator point we saw a crash of Plangi. Hunt had a minor off there also. This we could see from distance. In our spot Mikko and Tänak looked fastest. From 2WD I was rather impressed by Korhonen and Lappi.

For second run we went back to the junction. It was a spot where You can see a long approach in the fields with wide left corner, than heavy braking from high speed and fast and very wide right junction around a pole. It was because we wanted to leave sooner as it was a long road back. Here definitely the best one was Ogier who was sideways maybe 50 meters before with no correction at all. That was just incredible. Prokop was wide too much and made some photographer to eat the gravel :D The other memorable one was Nikara.

Same problem occurred the other night :D Again we went to bed too late, so we decided to go to SS15 Jukojarvi. Here we chose a small jump in the left corner with heavy braking into the left junction in a spectator point. On top of the crest we could see the whole place including quite a long approach. Here Loeb, Latvala and Hänninen looked fastest to me.

After Tänak we moved to the finish of SS17 Leustu to the two jumps with braking into tightening left one. Here both factory Citroëns were jumping much less than Fords or Petter Solberg who all were flying much further. René Kuipers for some reason went much faster than anyone else into the left one below the jumps and rolled. Meeke was already very slow and it was clear the car had no power. By the way the connection road to this spot was just amazing rollercoaster :)

Than we went back to the same spot of SS20 Jukojarvi. It was even better in second run because now all good rivers were jumping into the corner. The craziest one was Tänak. Than we went back to Jyvaskyla for a finish ramp making a short stop to wave our flags to Juho Hänninen coming shortly after us. I must admit I was completely dead when we were waiting for a plane leaving early morning from Helsinki. I slept like a baby tonight :D

Altogether it was great. I know we could do much more stages but I don't regret the way we did it. We had great fun, some bathing in a lake, barbecue etc. Next year we are definitely back!

[HarriK]

Does someone has video/photos from Esapekka Lappi in SS12 Leustu1 half way of the stage?
He had big moment there. Exact place was just before the turn to right small road.. as I heard...he drove a long way with 2 wheels and managed to stay on road.

[makinen_fan]

Does someone has video/photos from Esapekka Lappi in SS12 Leustu1 half way of the stage?
He had big moment there. Exact place was just before the turn to right small road.. as I heard...he drove a long way with 2 wheels and managed to stay on road.

kimi?

[Barreis]

Kimi's crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5B38Fz77rw

THX.

[HarriK]

kimi?
No, I mean number 71 Esapekka Lappi with his citroen C2R2Max. Almost rolled there...

[Roy]

Can somebody help me with a pic of car #66 Kari Hämäläinen?
K. HÄMÄLÄINEN (FIN)/ A. AHONEN (FIN) FORD Fiesta S2000

Thnx

all WRC actions from ESPN you can find on: www.rallypulse.com (http://www.rallypulse.com)
Enjoy!

[Barreis]

THX.

[Hartusvuori]

Back from the dead. I think the main thing to remember from this year's Rally Finland was long days after short sleeps. I counted over 50 hours on the rally route over three days with around 12 hours of sleep over three nights. At that point it had been around 800 kms on the car and around 30 kms by foot. On Saturday afternoon we had to say enough is enough on Surkee 2 and head home instead of Jukojärvi 2.

Pretty much everything has been said on the rally already. I though it was clear before the rally that Citroens will set the pace and so it pretty much was. Of course Mikko was notably fastest on Day 2 and 3, but was that because he had nothing to lose, we never know.

Positives:
- Hänninen's mature speed over the rally. Ha made no mistakes and could be that with his increased speed on Friday he pushed Tänak to do his mistake.
- Tänak's approach to the rally. On Lankamaa (barnbend) and Hassi (powerlines) he was practically flying.
- Mikko Pajunen's times. He was faster on a 2WD car than many good drivers on 4WD cars.
- Latvala and Hirvonen gaining places at the last loop.
- And even if Loeb is the most boring choice of a winner he definitely deserved it, showing more character and guts than on pre-event interviews.
- Lots of nice people on the rally route. Sometimes we spend hours on the stage waiting for the 1st car (or the last, as it was on Mynnilä stage with Czech fans waiting for Cerny): with nice people time went past faster.
- Must add on the spot we were on at Mynnilä: Most relaxed place to see rally cars ever. View of say 500 metres with braking to tight left-hander, uphill bends and then straight. Not a place to see action, but Most Relaxed :-)
- Seeing lot of classic places that I haven't been to previously: Lankamaa's barnbend, Hassi's powerlines and Leustu's Novikov jump.
- Seeing Carlos Sainz and Markku Alen. Stopping before Urria to chat with Latvala, Hirvonen, P. Solberg and Östberg. Having a chat with Hänninen on Thursday, asking him does he know what it means, that on 2009 he was 3rd in Barum and last year 2nd. He replied in humorous, frustrated tone: "Yes, we know what that means...".
- Weather.

Negatives:
- Tactics. We saw how it ended. What the hell were they thinking?
- Ketomaa, Lindroos and Rantanen all failed miserably. Better not to think about it more.
- Even if the top 3 had tight finish, the fight was not evident on the stages.
- Petter Solberg. A mere shadow of last year's performance.
- Friday's loop so far away from Jyväskylä. Stages themselves were okay, but next year we will heavily reconsider our schedule. From my experience it was also evident that there was lack of spectator's on the southern loop. We were on Koukunmaa, walked in to the stage from the start and it looked like many of the spectator's were there to see their first stage of the rally. I even overheard a teenager asking his father: Who the hell is Loeb? I think you can't forcefeed rallying to the modern youth.

Also must add that on Hassi stage it was first time for me when I started to take step away from the crashing car. Not exactly the nicest feeling. Brynildsen's car changed course about five meters away from us. By the way - has there been any news on Riku Tahko's stolen wallet? It was taken from the crash scene. Such a coward thing to do! On this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww9tr9i8jvQ&feature=related) you can see Tahko in black overall running away from Saliyuk's car while he was searching for his wallet, I heard.

[Miika]

Full-stage incar+onboard view of the three fastest drivers in stage 5 Evo (Hirvonen, Loeb and Ogier):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md43_cBTVqU

[Miika]

By the way - has there been any news on Riku Tahko's stolen wallet? It was taken from the crash scene. Such a coward thing to do!

They mentioned pretty soon after the incident that the wallet was returned, don´t know if it was returned volunterily or after a bit of negotiating.. Also heard someone caught the thief on tape, haven´t seen it anywhere so far though.

[Hartusvuori]

They mentioned pretty soon after the incident that the wallet was returned, don´t know if it was returned volunterily or after a bit of negotiating.. Also heard someone caught the thief on tape, haven´t seen it anywhere so far though.

Thanks. Must add on the negatives that our faithful rally radio receiver failed us, so we didn't catch all the news. And you don't have the handsfree with you to listen radio when supposed to, etc...

[Juha_Koo]

I even overheard a teenager asking his father: Who the hell is Loeb? I think you can't forcefeed rallying to the modern youth.

:D

Some of the most memorable quotes overheard in this year's route:

"Is it here where they accelerate?"
-Young lady walking on a straight road after a corner

"Kimi is the best, Kimi will win!"
-Young guy in service park

"Do you have a dick in your mouth?" ("dick"="an egg", same meaning in Finnish)
-Rally radio reporter asked this from his female colleague when on air (It made it to the tabloids)

"Saatanan vehkeet!" = "Bloody machinery!"
-Jarmo Lehtinen on SS1.

"Perkele!"
-Ketomaa when the car was rolling.

"Follow them and you'll find the best spectating spot on this stage!"
-Old lady working as a marshall in SS8 instructed us to a field adjacent to a flat straight road. Had to wade in very difficult forest "track" for 450 metres before sneaking back to the road and continuing to our place.

"Araujjjjjjo. Armindo Araujjjjjjjo. Araujjjjjjo."
-Tony Melville (university language teacher) from Finnish rally radio on spelling of Armindo's surname.

[focus206]

"Kimi is the best, Kimi will win!"
-Young guy in service park


Classic :D Like the people who thinks Block is a world champion or something like that.

[Hartusvuori]

"Do you have a dick in your mouth?" ("dick"="an egg", same meaning in Finnish)
-Rally radio reporter asked this from his female colleague when on air (It made it to the tabloids)

This was reported all wrong. It was Melville asking Juusela, both males, do you have egg/dick in your mouth while he was eating his breakfast.

I liked the part on Saturday when one of the stage end reporters, Olli Ikäheimo I think, interviewed Wilson and when Wilson didn't leave the TC soon, he calmly said in Finnish: "Acceleration is the one on the right".

[focus206]

I liked the part on Saturday when one of the stage end reporters, Olli Ikäheimo I think, interviewed Wilson and when Wilson didn't leave the TC soon, he calmly said in Finnish: "Acceleration is the one on the right".
Haha :D This just made my day :D

[Miika]

Here´s the original audio clip of the dick/egg in the mouth -incident, Juusela trying to spell Arrajjjaujo´s name while eating his breakfast:
Näin se Ralliradion munajuttu meni | YLE Keski-Suomi | Toista | YLE Areena | yle.fi (http://areena.yle.fi/audio/1312013588942)

Naturally Ilta#&"¤ made a story where it was Juusela who asked the female reporter if she had an egg in the mouth. Quality journalism.

[Mirek]

Tänak didnt roll, he just had problems with restarting engine. So it looks like we can see Tänak in SWRC for one more year.

Juho told me something like it was gravel in exhaust pipe which caused the problems for Tänak after his spin.

[HarriK]

Can somebody help me with a pic of car #66 Kari Hämäläinen?
K. HÄMÄLÄINEN (FIN)/ A. AHONEN (FIN) FORD Fiesta S2000

Thnx
you can find photos : Printsport Pictures : Rally 2011 (http://printsport.smugmug.com/Rally2011)

[Juha_Koo]

I could add my "complete report"...

For our group, the rally started with a visit to the service park on Thursday noon. We had calculated prior to the rally that we should skip the shakedown because of a) in Ruuhimäki it's always crowded b) the day would be exessively long. Nothing special in the service park, saw some familiar faces from the internet like Colin Clark, Becsy, Zdenek Hruza, Petr Elias, Atko, Heidi Koppe, etc. Had some small chats with different people and basically just let the rally fever to rise. Only minus was that I couldn't get a hold of those paper/cardboard helmets of Mikko and JM even though I searched the whole service park and waited in front of Ford's service area for a long time. Those helmets were actually really cool. :D

Thursday continued with SS2, Laukaa. We were in the legendary "ferry corner" but as expected, the corner didn't provide any special action, just some wide lines and nice driving by the top guys. Over the years there has formed a strong positive camber and that has made the corner easier. Pretty much spectators, but not too much. It was okay. Two rally sausages and coffee+donut were cheap and tasty. :) After all cars, back to home to get some sleep. Not much, because we were back somewhere around 23:00, got to bed somewhere around 00:30 and next morning wake up at 05:00.

On Friday we started the day with SS4, Hassi. In my spectator recce, I found a "place" on the end's small road. When we arrived there about two hours before the first car, it was already totally full with lots of professional spectators. I had high hopes. Well, many cars (JML, Tänak, Gassner, Wilson, etc.) had veeeery wide lines. Tänak dropped rear wheel in the ditch. Eventually, Sousa was the only one to have a minor off (he saved it by letting it slide wide to a small opening behind the road) before the stage was stopped. We decided to leave at this point.

We headed for SS8, Koivukehä. After a very long liason section we took a small road to the stage to find out only a minimal amount of spectators, which I profiled as people living nearby etc. After a small incursion to the forest (ordered by the marshalls) we took it back to the road and walked about 1,5 kms to a flat out entry to a long crest-> dropping long right with a barn building blocking the view to the exit of the corner and a bale inside. Also, an old barn outside the corner in the exit. This place had caused some moments in historic rally (Thanks Tinke ;) ). Again, very little people, only some locals and 1 to 4 guys which I think were pro-spectators. Loeb with a veeeery wide line. Some cars sliding a bit wide on the exit but no major moments. Ketomaa and Lindroos crashed some 2 kms before and drove past us very slowly. Overall, a nice place and very close to the action.

We decided not to continue to SS11, Mynnilä, because of difficulties reaching home from there (we would have needed to go around whole Lake Päijänne). Instead, we enjoyed the historics and our food. Very serene and relaxing, big fields of gold everywhere, nice historic cars and lot's of bread, coffee, buns, etc. :) Then left the stage, drove home and planned for Saturday. Again, at home somewhere around 23:30, bed at 00:30 and wakeup around 05:00.

On Saturday we went to SS13, Surkee 1 and SS20, Jukojärvi 2. On SS13, we wanted to see some raw speed and went to a loooong uphill left hander over a crest in the end. Top crews really amazed me. The speed is incredible. Not much people on the field. From there, we headed to SS20. There's a place where we have been in many years (first in 2003 or something like that). Pretty tight left, very near to a lake. Many rowboats on the lake with people spectating. Not much people. Very idyllic place and very close to the action. Some action also, for example last year one Abu Dhabi R2 Fiesta went off. No offs this year, but some very wide lines, e.g Nikara was totally incredible. Also a nice feeling, because your basically standing on swamp (dry though) and when the cars pass, sometimes you can feel the ground shaking... In 2009 we started our rally from this place, so now it was nice to end it in there. On the way home, listened to rally radio and the finish of the rally. The 2011 edition of Rally Finland was over.

It was a nice trip, once again. :up: Five stages was pretty okay, although I'll aim for six or seven (SD incl.) next year. Very long days, my father said that it almost felt like he was back in the 70s-80s. But hey, it's only once in a year. For next year, a camper van or a tent is in consideration. It would allow more sleep and possibility to visit more stages.

[HarriK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_br_SEPSF0

[Dragu]

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/7717/96295064.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/593/96295064.jpg/)

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/4595/94814715.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/94814715.jpg/)

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/5120/60970877.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/695/60970877.jpg/)

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3081/170hc.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/232/170hc.jpg/)

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7854/200tav.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/200tav.jpg/)

More pics : www.jp-rallyfotos.be (http://www.jp-rallyfotos.be)

[Hartusvuori]

Juha, shakedown was far from crowded. We expected that too, woke up at ridiculously early, reached Ruuhimäki jump about 3 hours before first car and for about 1,5 hours there were only half a dozen other spectators.

[Barreis]

Nice photos.

[RallyPhotographer]

We headed for SS8, Koivukehä. After a very long liason section we took a small road to the stage to find out only a minimal amount of spectators, which I profiled as people living nearby etc. After a small incursion to the forest (ordered by the marshalls) we took it back to the road and walked about 1,5 kms to a flat out entry to a long crest-> dropping long right with a barn building blocking the view to the exit of the corner and a bale inside. Also, an old barn outside the corner in the exit. This place had caused some moments in historic rally (Thanks Tinke ;) ). Again, very little people, only some locals and 1 to 4 guys which I think were pro-spectators. Loeb with a veeeery wide line. Some cars sliding a bit wide on the exit but no major moments. Ketomaa and Lindroos crashed some 2 kms before and drove past us very slowly. Overall, a nice place and very close to the action.
ation. It would allow more sleep and possibility to visit more stages.

Was I one of the pro-spectators? ;)
I was taking pictures in the bale-corner standing on the outside of the old barn and wearing a white tshirt and red cap.

Check out ...::: Rallyfoto.se :::... (http://www.rallyfoto.se/) for some pics that me and my brother took during the rally. Btw the page is in Swedish so click "Besökta tävlingar" to see the pics...

[dimviii]

Full-stage incar+onboard view of the three fastest drivers in stage 5 Evo (Hirvonen, Loeb and Ogier):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md43_cBTVqU

Thanks Miika !!very interesting the different lines between Sebs at last part.
Waiting for moooaaarrrr!!

[Juha_Koo]

Juha, shakedown was far from crowded. We expected that too, woke up at ridiculously early, reached Ruuhimäki jump about 3 hours before first car and for about 1,5 hours there were only half a dozen other spectators.

Damn... Well, next year then. We were there few years back spectating Pirelli Shootout and there was quite a lot of spectators so I thought this time it would be totally full.


Was I one of the pro-spectators? ;)
I was taking pictures in the bale-corner standing on the outside of the old barn and wearing a white tshirt and red cap.

Check out ...::: Rallyfoto.se :::... (http://www.rallyfoto.se/)

Nice! Even found myself in the photos. ;) Not many were there with a proper camera, I saw you and then one guy which I also saw in JML's test plus a guy with a camcorder. So few people that I could have imagined to be in some small local rally.

[N.O.T]

The rally showed that the future of finnish rallying is pretty grim....maybe too much faith in the managers all these years is proving to be wrong. Ok after Loeb retires the lesser drivers might snatch a title or two for the finnish country but the future is definately not very bright. Ketomaa did absolutely nothing and crashed...rantanen also and i think VW are still crying for letting a nobody like lindroos drive the car...

maybe its time to let the true drivers rise and not listen to millionare managers and maybe in a decade or two there is true champion again.

[uranium]

What about Hanninen? Does he have future in WRC car ?

[Tomi]

The rally showed that the future of finnish rallying is pretty grim....

Compaired to what other countries? It seems that you dont understand the idea with manager, the manager makes it possible for young drivers to drive its not about beliving in manager or not.
They are not there for charity but to make profit, and no driver is randomly choosed either.

[Juha_Koo]

What about Hanninen? Does he have future in WRC car ?

I believe yes. He seems to be very mature driver and has a Loeb-style speed reserve always. He also has an incredible tarmac speed.

[N.O.T]

hanninen looks like a safe bet...but he spends too much time with an inferior car and inferior championship fighting with Loix and has beens...he needs to move fast....

[OldF]

We had a small incident on Thursday evening after arriving to Hyväneula at spectator area I if I recall it correctly (forgot my spectator guide in the camper van). There was parking beside the road but we found a nice parking lot near the stage.

When we had been there for few hours there came four marshals and said that we have to move the car because it was after the ticket selling point. By that time also our driver had had few bears and was not sure if he would dare to drive immediately but a friendly marshal offered to move our car.

After that they moved the ticket selling point again and then we were again after the ticket selling point but now we didn’t have to move the car anymore.

On our way home one guy noticed that he had been using a last year rally pass. This years pass was still in it’s original package. :D

[rp]

The rally showed that the future of finnish rallying is pretty grim....maybe too much faith in the managers all these years is proving to be wrong. Ok after Loeb retires the lesser drivers might snatch a title or two for the finnish country but the future is definately not very bright. Ketomaa did absolutely nothing and crashed...rantanen also and i think VW are still crying for letting a nobody like lindroos drive the car...

maybe its time to let the true drivers rise and not listen to millionare managers and maybe in a decade or two there is true champion again.

I guessed that... How about then other countries? I am not worried at all about the future.

We have in Finland many, many drivers with the good speed. Juho Hänninen is already now ready to fight with the top five in the WRC. Jarkko Nikara is without the doubt one of the fastest and most gifted driver and if he is able to get more support and maybe new manager (they have terminated the co-operation with the former manager Teijo Lahti) he will step to the new level.

AKK Motorsport´s current rally coaching members (by the way earlier three drivers were Hänninen, Nikara and Rantanen) Esapekka Lappi, Jukka Korhonen and Mikko Pajunen showed great speed and they all completed the rally route. Pajunen won the spirit of the rally award and Lappi and Korhonen took two first places in their class.

Also Ketomaa, Lindroos and Rantanen have not said yet their last words. The truth is that it is possible to improve the reliability of the driver, but if you are not fast enough your speed will never rise to the top level...

[rp]

On our way home one guy noticed that he had been using a last year rally pass. This years pass was still in it’s original package. :D

That was good :-) Kannattaa pitää aikaisempien vuosien rallipassit tallessa...

[Tomi]

(they have terminated the co-operation with the former manager Teijo Lahti) he will step to the new level.

Thats good news, I know Teijo "tuhatsuu" Lahti from long time back when he was driving, he started about same time as Bosse. Hopefully Kimi Vatanen could help a bit, he seems to get things done.

[Rallyper]

NORF is Rock´n roll, bossanova, tango, Arja Koriseva, ja Topi Sorsakoski all in one! NORF really is hot!! Lot of people this year as well I think. And more people on Ruhimäki then when it was Pirelli shoot out. No doubt.

[Gregor-y]

hanninen looks like a safe bet...but he spends too much time with an inferior car and inferior championship fighting with Loix and has beens...he needs to move fast....
Given the quality of competition in the WRC versus the IRC, the number of events that switched to allow longer events including night runs and let's not forget live TV coverage I wouldn't be so quick to call it an inferior championship. I'd be more for seeing a series using the R-types over S2000 and WRC so there's no real advantage for either series.

[RallyPhotographer]

Nice! Even found myself in the photos. ;) Not many were there with a proper camera, I saw you and then one guy which I also saw in JML's test plus a guy with a camcorder. So few people that I could have imagined to be in some small local rally.

Nice! :)
There was some guys standing next to me, one or two of them had proper equipment...

I agree with you. It was more like a local rally and not a WRC event. But I don't like crowded places so why complain... :D

[Luis Pacheco]

"Araujjjjjjo. Armindo Araujjjjjjjo. Araujjjjjjo."
-Tony Melville (university language teacher) from Finnish rally radio on spelling of Armindo's surname.

Not bad...

Rally Radio likes to call him Ármundo Araujo.

[Juha_Koo]

I agree with you. It was more like a local rally and not a WRC event. But I don't like crowded places so why complain... :D

Yes, I agree. :) It's pretty normal for our group to be in more quiet places, I really don't like those "beer tourists" who cheer for Kimi and tell how they would drive faster than SWRC/PWRC top guys. ;) But this year was exeptionally quiet. I don't complain.

Maybe the fact, that there was only a few stages (basically Saturday) driven twice, had some impact. People were maybe divided to a bigger area and not in couple of concentrations like previous years

[Barreis]

After all, french flag won and I'm happy.

[donlorean]

Few points after rally...

Loeb: Show the kids that who is the king of this hill...
JM: Close but not enough...
Ogier: Close but not enough...
Mikko: Something is missing now...
Petter: You can't buy a winning car in WRC
Mini's: 2nd rally in WRC and it really looks good. Speed was good level in this point...
Juho: Need a WRC car and fast.
Tänak: Future champion. Just beautiful driving...
Paddon: Exellent driving every place where I saw him...

And Young Finns:

Lindroos: In test's 1,5 sek/km faster than Mikkelsen but in rally... I'm disappointed.
Rantanen: I think that this was he's last chance.(I realy hope that I'm wrong)
Ketomaa: Same as Rantanen
Nikara: First good result in NORF...
Pajunen: I know that he is good but this was more than I expected...

[Tinke1979]

.....
Thursday continued with SS2, Laukaa. We were in the legendary "ferry corner" but as expected, the corner didn't provide any special action, just some wide lines and nice driving by the top guys. Over the years there has formed a strong positive camber and that has made the corner easier. Pretty much spectators, but not too much. It was okay.
....


And they have cut down the small "forest" from the inside of that corner.. So drivers can see "through" the corner now and it is more easier to drive through.. Too bad.. It was nice crashcorner a few years ago...

My rallytrip:

First we go to Lankamaa stage (with million others) on THAT famous barn-corner.. Nothing special there this year.

On friday we decide not to go to Hassi stage because it was far away from other fridays stages. Therefore we go to Hyväneula stage and watch almost every car there (not the historic cars). Then we move to the next stage Koukunmaa and get there just before Loeb goes by :D so we manage to see SS6 AND SS7 nicely.. No action on our places.. Then we move to Mynnilä stage (SS11) but made a wrong choice of spectating spot.. My option was to go near first junction, but my friends wanted to go near stage finish.. The first place offered alot of action including Harry Hunts crash (and we were not in there).. Nothing on our place.

Saturday we decided to make it easy and spectate on Urria stage twice. And that was good choice. On Urria2 we see Nobre´s huge crash. And one of historic cars minor off in same place.. Then back to Jyväskylä to see some podium celebration...

Nice trip for me :) Six stages and a lot of good moments to think back and remember :) "Herran rauhaa!" :D

[Mintexmemory]

Few points after rally...

Loeb: Show the kids that who is the king of this hill...
JM: Close but not enough...
Ogier: Close but not enough...
Mikko: Something is missing now...
Petter: You can't buy a winning car in WRC
Mini's: 2nd rally in WRC and it really looks good. Speed was good level in this point...
Juho: Need a WRC car and fast.
Tänak: Future champion. Just beautiful driving...
Paddon: Exellent driving every place where I saw him...

And Young Finns:

Lindroos: In test's 1,5 sek/km faster than Mikkelsen but in rally... I'm disappointed.
Rantanen: I think that this was he's last chance.(I realy hope that I'm wrong)
Ketomaa: Same as Rantanen
Nikara: First good result in NORF...
Pajunen: I know that he is good but this was more than I expected...
Very balanced and accurate summary. Anyone who has noticed my posts over the last 18 months know that Tanak and Paddon are my big tips for future WRC success. Both were doing their second NORF and while Juho is a cut above the current competition in IRC on neutral ground he has been second best to Ott, which means he has to get a WRC drive before Ott beats him to it (Both for VW?). I was disappointed Ketomaki wasn't quicker in PWRC but perhaps Paddon has raised the bar in that class. WRC Academy is interesting, watch Breen go on tarmac but Kaur has done better than I expected. Finally, I can't wait to see Sordo and Meeke on ADAC Deutschland, I just love the look and sound of that car

[Juha_Koo]

on neutral ground he has been second best to Ott, which means he has to get a WRC drive before Ott beats him to it (Both for VW?).

Tänak has a some sort of deal with Ford already.

[Barreis]

5 year deal.

[Mintexmemory]

5 year deal.

After what we've read in Herr Warmbold's blog I hope Marko has read the small print on his behalf. I'm sure a transfer could be arranged like in Football cos he should be there next year and NOT in a 'Stobart' (or whatever the second team is called) car. The boy is worthy of a manufacturer team place.

[danon]

Juho Hänninen will set the pace sooner or later in a WRC car.
He is on his way to the WRC crown.
Ain't no doubt about it.
Mark my words.

[focus206]

After what we've read in Herr Warmbold's blog I hope Marko has read the small print on his behalf. I'm sure a transfer could be arranged like in Football cos he should be there next year and NOT in a 'Stobart' (or whatever the second team is called) car. The boy is worthy of a manufacturer team place.



Juho Hänninen will set the pace sooner or later in a WRC car.
He is on his way to the WRC crown.
Ain't no doubt about it.
Mark my words.


Absolutely agree with both of you.

[N.O.T]

Juho Hänninen will set the pace sooner or later in a WRC car.
He is on his way to the WRC crown.
Ain't no doubt about it.
Mark my words.

quite likely but we must see him winning against some real competition...so far his competition was Loix and Kopecky...taking into account he has about the same age as ogier he has a big mountain to climb.

the positive thing is that he is an all rounder so we will skip the part "if you know how to drive on gravel it takes 2-3 events to learn to drive on tarmac" which 80% of the time we get results like rovanperas.

But as i said if WV has no plans of running a wrc next year i guess time will run out for Hanninen. He already spent too much time on a s2000 facing medicre opposition.

[Plan9]

I was thinking he would be a bit like Nasser A-Y and move to another manufacturer. I am quite sure he could get something with Citroen or Ford. Somehow I don't think he will be at Mini. I do not see what he has to gain be staying in a s2000 inspired skoda any longer than he needs to.

[Hartusvuori]

Tanak and Paddon - - -Both were doing their second NORF.

Tänak's 3rd NORF start. In 2009 he however went off road already on SS7. But this is only to put stats right.

[Timole]

Timo Anis (http://rallyphotos.net.ee/index.php?page=1&gallery=0&lang=) My work from Finland is available on my site.

[Mintexmemory]

Tänak's 3rd NORF start. In 2009 he however went off road already on SS7. But this is only to put stats right.
Much obliged, what was he driving in 2009? Nonetheless, rapid evolution from then to be outpacing WRC cars in experienced (if not the quickest) hands

[Walach]

Impreza N14

[Mintexmemory]

Again, thanks. Clearly good preparation for his Pirelli year.

[Hartusvuori]

Sordo had bit of Novikov style, landing on the rear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfjhMvtoH-U

[Barreis]

Nice jump.

[KKSF]

Jumps & speed.
KKSF video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGUtxBIwxZY

[Allar]

Tänak's 3rd NORF start. In 2009 he however went off road already on SS7. But this is only to put stats right.

If i remeber correctly then he broke fishbone in ruts and car was impossible to contorll and he went off.


Impreza N14
Impreza built in TMR, N14 shuld be from Prodrive.

[Walach]

Sorry I´ve forgot that :)

[logic]

and Ketomaa's pace

[Juha_Koo]

Just watched some short onboards from wrc.com and I heard one detail. When telling splits, both Elena and Ingrassia refer to JML as "Jean-Marie". :p :

Jean-Marie Latourette? :D

[ProRally]

Few points after rally...

Loeb: Show the kids that who is the king of this hill...
JM: Close but not enough...
Ogier: Close but not enough...
Mikko: Something is missing now...
Petter: You can't buy a winning car in WRC
Mini's: 2nd rally in WRC and it really looks good. Speed was good level in this point...
Juho: Need a WRC car and fast.
Tänak: Future champion. Just beautiful driving...
Paddon: Exellent driving every place where I saw him...

And Young Finns:

Lindroos: In test's 1,5 sek/km faster than Mikkelsen but in rally... I'm disappointed.
Rantanen: I think that this was he's last chance.(I realy hope that I'm wrong)
Ketomaa: Same as Rantanen
Nikara: First good result in NORF...
Pajunen: I know that he is good but this was more than I expected...

I agree 100%....

[ProRally]

Just watched some short onboards from wrc.com and I heard one detail. When telling splits, both Elena and Ingrassia refer to JML as "Jean-Marie". :p :

Jean-Marie Latourette? :D

F*#k Sh*t c%nt f*#k

[Allar]

I allso liked Neikšans speed, faster then all PWRC guys with a PWRC car.

[cali]

I allso liked Neikšans speed, faster then all PWRC guys with a PWRC car.

Yes, Neikšans was a surprise for me as well :up:

[Juha_Koo]

Yes, Neikšans was a surprise for me as well :up:

I agree. Very brave and wide lines. Used handbrake quite a lot, on many corners I heard and saw back wheels locking.

[dimviii]

Jumps & speed.
KKSF video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGUtxBIwxZY
Very nice video! thank yoy!

What about Salos speed? in some stages was very fast,maybe a well driven R4 have close the gap with s2000?

[darkstar]

onboard with paddon on stage 17: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c47FtlwJ9zU

[RS]

quite likely but we must see him winning against some real competition...so far his competition was Loix and Kopecky...taking into account he has about the same age as ogier he has a big mountain to climb.

the positive thing is that he is an all rounder so we will skip the part "if you know how to drive on gravel it takes 2-3 events to learn to drive on tarmac" which 80% of the time we get results like rovanperas.

But as i said if WV has no plans of running a wrc next year i guess time will run out for Hanninen. He already spent too much time on a s2000 facing medicre opposition.

There's no need to be so negative. I think up to this point, the last couple of years have been great development for Juho. There are other fast guys around as well (Ketomaa, Tanak) but I think Juho is the more complete driver.

I agree he now needs to progress more but testing of the Polo WRC and a fullish WRC programme with a Fabia next year to continue to learn the events would do fine IMO. I'd rather see that than him end up in a customer Ford.

[N.O.T]

The problem is that these drivers who are considered fast (and they are) are used to drive against opposition which is inferior and they adapt their limits to them, so when they enter the big boys fight they usually cannot follow the leaders because their limits are not that high....see the times of Ketomaa when the top drivers actually began to drive properly and you will see that is easy to dominate in IRC PWRC ects but to be up there and fight with Loeb and Ogier is a different story.

[Barreis]

+1

[uranium]

fight with Loeb and Ogier is a different story.

For fight with them appropriate team needed, including money.

[uranium]

Currently there is problem with such teams.
Privately you cannot win from factory team, which now is Citroen.

[N.O.T]

For fight with them appropriate team needed, including money.

it was a figure of speech....the problem is ketomaa was losing to peter solberg as well a 37 year old whos inalnd was never his favourite event...what i ment is that once you adapt yourself into beating lesser competition then when it is required to find that little extra it is very very hard.

[danon]

The problem is that these drivers who are considered fast (and they are) are used to drive against opposition which is inferior and they adapt their limits to them, so when they enter the big boys fight they usually cannot follow the leaders because their limits are not that high....see the times of Ketomaa when the top drivers actually began to drive properly and you will see that is easy to dominate in IRC PWRC ects but to be up there and fight with Loeb and Ogier is a different story.

I see... they (Loeb and Ogier) were born uniquely developed with skills no one can match :ninja:

Everyone's goal is to keep up with the best one in the competition first.
Once there, this same person can set his own limit all next to follow.
As simple as that.
But NOT easily done.
And no one is irreplaceable but may just be unforgettable.

[N.O.T]

Loeb/Ogier and all the champions spent their learning years facing real competition and adapted their limits according to true champions (Even gronholm who came late into the wrc had outing in WRC events in WRC cars). Hanninen will spent most of his time trying to win against Has beens like loix, Never beens like Kopecky and other ladys cup competitors....He has to move into a wrc car very soon or he will end up being another talent with potential who never achieved anything.

[wildsir]

I see... they (Loeb and Ogier) were born uniquely developed with skills no one can match :ninja:

Everyone's goal is to keep up with the best one in the competition first.
Once there, this same person can set his own limit all next to follow.
As simple as that.
But NOT easily done.
And no one is irreplaceable but may just be unforgettable.

Don't talk non-sense

I don't think Ogier is any better than JML for instance.

Watch the incar videos on wrc.com and both factory citroens are talking 0.5s off the fords from the start line to the first corner. Hardly incredible talent flooring a car off the startline

[uranium]

Hanninen will spent most of his time trying to win against Has beens like loix, Never beens like Kopecky and other ladys cup competitors....He has to move into a wrc car very soon or he will end up being another talent with potential who never achieved anything.

It is your imho nothing more.

1. IRC is very good series with good and fast drivers.
2. Loix is very fast and good driver.
3. Easy to blab "move to wrc car", but to what? To win WRC is possible with factory team only. There are three teams only so far. I don't want to talk about Stobart etc. VW future is unclear. So, how to move to WRC? Kill somebody from drivers?
I think there are a lot of reasons, whu teams has chosen drivers. And money behind the driver are not the last nuance.
Let's see VW. They looks vacant so far. But they have chosen to review Mikkelsen for Finland. But Hanninen beats Mikkelsen very easy.
So why not Hanninen?

There are a lot of think behind scene we will never know...

[wrc1600]

Don't talk non-sense

I don't think Ogier is any better than JML for instance.

Watch the incar videos on wrc.com and both factory citroens are talking 0.5s off the fords from the start line to the first corner. Hardly incredible talent flooring a car off the startline

Don't forget JML is in WRC car since 2007 or so while for Ogier is only 3rd season. There have been few guys in both works cars for few seasons and they didn't get nowhere near Ogier or JML. So it's not only about flooring a car.

[mm1]

JML is in a WRC car since 2004 or 2005.

[traxx]

Just watched some short onboards from wrc.com and I heard one detail. When telling splits, both Elena and Ingrassia refer to JML as "Jean-Marie". :p :

Jean-Marie Latourette? :D

Yes, they always use this name ! I don't know if it's the right translation for Jari-Matti ! :)

[Mintexmemory]

Yes, they always use this name ! I don't know if it's the right translation for Jari-Matti ! :)
Nope Georges - Matthieu is the translation so we have an example of hugely amusing French humour in calling him Jean (or more likely, Jeanne :rolleyes :) -Marie. Oh, they are a barrel of laughs those Frenchies :o hplease:

[uranium]

WRC: Volkswagon Rally Finland Event Summary (http://www.motorsport.com/#/wrc/news/wrc-volkswagon-rally-finland-event-summary/)

[uranium]

Or this link

2013 WRC countdown begins: Volkswagen Motorsport completes first rally event in Finland - Volkswagen Motorsport (http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/web/news/index.php?&flash=no&lg=e&st=588&id=4596)

[kirraaaa]

There's my footage from Neste Oil Rally + Lahti Historic Rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFC_duD_AIE

[Hartusvuori]

There's my footage from Neste Oil Rally + Lahti Historic Rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFC_duD_AIE

Welcome to the forum, kirraaaa! It's about time to introduce your crash-worthy videos to the world. That one Y-corner at Laukaa stage had a lot of mistakes. Were there no tape put on the wrong turn?

[Rom1]

Some of my photos:
More to come in next few days...

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/283067_191835924214216_150114141719728_541916_7081 464_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/282472_191836004214208_150114141719728_541917_3000 238_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/285177_191836067547535_150114141719728_541918_1034 245_n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/283937_191836184214190_150114141719728_541919_5646 549_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/223717_191836307547511_150114141719728_541920_6258 667_n.jpg

[Juha_Koo]

Nope Georges - Matthieu is the translation so we have an example of hugely amusing French humour in calling him Jean (or more likely, Jeanne :rolleyes :) -Marie. Oh, they are a barrel of laughs those Frenchies :o hplease:

But Jean-Marie is a male name? Politician Jean-Marie Le Pen for example...

Also, they call Mikko as "Hirvo".

[Rom1]

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185256_191836347547507_150114141719728_541921_1946 566_n.jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262797_191836460880829_150114141719728_541922_5292 015_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/262927_191836557547486_150114141719728_541923_5029 291_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/223757_191836797547462_150114141719728_541924_4056 458_n.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262973_191839840880491_150114141719728_541927_5441 509_n.jpg

[Mintexmemory]

But Jean-Marie is a male name? Politician Jean-Marie Le Pen for example...

Also, they call Mikko as "Hirvo".

I haven't heard the soundtrack but the male and female equivalents are similar, although as you say it is common for French males to have a female saint's name as the second hyphenated name. We need a francophone to tell us whether the pronounciation is a male or female inflection. (Too subtle for my schoolboy French to distinguish I'm sure)
Plenty of us Brits call Mikko "Hirvo" too

[Barreis]

Also JML has some female mimics.

[uranium]

Also JML has some female mimics.

What about orientation? ;-)

[Tinke1979]

Welcome to the forum, kirraaaa! It's about time to introduce your crash-worthy videos to the world. That one Y-corner at Laukaa stage had a lot of mistakes. Were there no tape put on the wrong turn?

Yes there was tapes, but they were so far away :D

[focus206]

What about orientation? ;-)

Aaah, come on!

[GigiGalliNo1]

Don't talk non-sense

I don't think Ogier is any better than JML for instance.

Watch the incar videos on wrc.com and both factory citroens are talking 0.5s off the fords from the start line to the first corner. Hardly incredible talent flooring a car off the startline

How can you say that the Citroen boys were flooring it from the start line in the stage? Ford were taking it easy when the light went green?! I don't think so, they'd be flooring the pedal to the metal as well,.... But are the Fiesta's as fast off the line as the DS3's????

[Barreis]

What about orientation? ;-)

What did he do to Malcolm Wilson after all that crashes to save the seat?! ;)

[Juha_Koo]

Ladies and gentlemen... Mikko and Jarmo in Hassi, SS 4:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2LIE0onlKk


Pardon my language... F*cking awesome! :up:

[dimviii]

How can you say that the Citroen boys were flooring it from the start line in the stage? Ford were taking it easy when the light went green?! I don't think so, they'd be flooring the pedal to the metal as well,.... But are the Fiesta's as fast off the line as the DS3's????
splits didn t show that diferences from start.Even splits at about less than a minute(about 1,5-1,8 km distance.

[Mirek]

A hint from a friend. If You're so annoyed by Dirt3 videos while searching for Rally Finland in youtube like me, just put this behind Your searched words:


-dirt3

[HarriK]

JML close to exit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSI7Dy4OoG0

[Rallyper]

JML close to exit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSI7Dy4OoG0

What stage was that? ANd about where on it?

[OldF]

Ladies and gentlemen... Mikko and Jarmo in Hassi, SS 4:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2LIE0onlKk


Pardon my language... F*cking awesome! :up:




This also raises some memories from the previous years.

I was watching at about 00:15 were it 2008 or 2009. Mikko did the most spectacular run throwing the car sideways before the turn. My first thought was that now he will crash. All the other ones drove with a straight line true the turn.

The place that begins at 1:25 I said to my friends that is the place I would like go and watch by what I found out when doing the “recce” with rally-maps.

At 5:18 the old Ouninpohja starts but now in opposite direction. Ouninpohja continued in the junction to the right.

When Ouninpohja was driven in the opposite direction there was an interesting jump at 5:48 followed by a right turn at 5:45. When Kankkunen was driving the Hyundai, he turned the front wheels to the right direction when he still was in the air.

At 6:00 the old Ouninpohja ends. The small / narrow road was interesting the watch. Not many straights.

[HarriK]

What stage was that? ANd about where on it?


same place after JML:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9jiVBSvJjU

so it's SS9 Hyväneula and ~1km from start line.

[Ide]

Here are 200 photos gallery about this year rally Finland.
Neste Oil Rally Finland 2011 (http://www.ilkansivu.net/NORF11/)

[SubaruNorway]

Here's my video from Finland!

Looking back at it now maybe i didn't have such a bad rally after all even though i screwed up two stages.
I got jumps and a fast combination in shakedown and Lindroos hitting a big rock, mailbox thrashing in Evo and jumps in Leustu 1, enjoy :)

WRC R8 Rally Finland 2011 (http://motorsportfilmer.net/2011/wrc-r8-rally-finland-2011)
Connexion | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150246219447624&comments)

http://www.raceinfo.no/temp/tn_Skjermbilde%202011-08-03%20kl.%2023.16.57.jpg

[tfp]

Does anyone have a link to the post finland press conference? I missed it due to work commitments :(

[Barreis]

Miika, any new video?

[N.O.T]

Here's my video from Finland!

Looking back at it now maybe i didn't have such a bad rally after all even though i screwed up two stages.
I got jumps and a fast combination in shakedown and Lindroos hitting a big rock, mailbox thrashing in Evo and jumps in Leustu 1, enjoy :)

WRC R8 Rally Finland 2011 (http://motorsportfilmer.net/2011/wrc-r8-rally-finland-2011)


Connexion | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150246219447624&comments)

http://www.raceinfo.no/temp/tn_Skjermbilde%202011-08-03%20kl.%2023.16.57.jpg

very nice video...the best action i have seen from finland so far.....the fact that the spectators or the marshals didn't move that rock that Lindroos hit show that they are plain stupid.

[tfp]

Does anyone have a link to the post finland press conference? I missed it due to work commitments :(

Damned link on wrc.com has decided to work now...

[MartijnS]

Indeed a very nice video! Some good spots. Flying Finish part is fast! :)
You made a few good changes of position to stand during the stages to make it much more spectacular, especially SS5 after the first few cars I almost clicked through to next stage :) Same with SS11. Good shots after the beginning ;)

[Barreis]

Sordo was very fast on short stages. Maybe more confidence and concentration needed for longer stages.

[sollitt]

Thankyou SubaruNorway, nice video. Nice to see Paddon at the end. Agree about the rock NOT.

[Camelopard]

"Ladies and gentlemen... Mikko and Jarmo in Hassi, SS 4:"





Cool, at 11:28 you can see me and my Aussie flag!

[Miika]

Really nice vid, SubaruNorway. Much more enjoyable than all the official material put together.

[Rom1]

Here is a short preview of my photos:

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262973_191839840880491_150114141719728_541927_5441 509_n.jpg

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/215109_191840617547080_150114141719728_541935_6296 654_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/282472_191836004214208_150114141719728_541917_3000 238_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/285177_191836067547535_150114141719728_541918_1034 245_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/223757_191836797547462_150114141719728_541924_4056 458_n.jpg

Everything on my FB page (see my sig)

[clem126]

I haven't heard the soundtrack but the male and female equivalents are similar, although as you say it is common for French males to have a female saint's name as the second hyphenated name. We need a francophone to tell us whether the pronounciation is a male or female inflection. (Too subtle for my schoolboy French to distinguish I'm sure)
Plenty of us Brits call Mikko "Hirvo" too

Daniel does say "Jean-Marie" as the male pronounciation!

[SubaruNorway]

Indeed a very nice video! Some good spots. Flying Finish part is fast! :)
You made a few good changes of position to stand during the stages to make it much more spectacular, especially SS5 after the first few cars I almost clicked through to next stage :) Same with SS11. Good shots after the beginning ;)

Thank you everyone, it was harrrrrd work!

Marshals drove me crazy, that's why i was able to change location in those places sneaking past them. Like the inside on SS11 and SS5 was not allowed for some reason... And Ruuhimäki jump was hard to get too, so not many cars there. Had to hide in bushes to get the Leustu jump from the best angel :P

And yeah some photographer walked past the rock and tried to get a marshall to move it but no, and then there just wasn't time for me to get it before Lindroos came. Suspension seemed ok, just bent it so that the driveshaft popped out.

Youtube link if someone wants that. Watch in 720p.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZS2kRLY40Q

[6789]

Yeah seems unfair to leave a massive rock/house right on the line.

Great photos and top video Subaru Norway. By Aussie standards the marshals are awesome in Finland. Australia sucks!!

[denjos]

You can see my pictures on my website www.rallyjos.be (http://www.rallyjos.be) .

[Mirek]

Another nice video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuid-Ps48BE&feature=channel_video_title

[pino]

Thank you everyone, it was harrrrrd work!

Marshals drove me crazy, that's why i was able to change location in those places sneaking past them. Like the inside on SS11 and SS5 was not allowed for some reason... And Ruuhimäki jump was hard to get too, so not many cars there. Had to hide in bushes to get the Leustu jump from the best angel :P

And yeah some photographer walked past the rock and tried to get a marshall to move it but no, and then there just wasn't time for me to get it before Lindroos came. Suspension seemed ok, just bent it so that the driveshaft popped out.

Youtube link if someone wants that. Watch in 720p.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZS2kRLY40Q

Pity we ( A.F.F and myself) didn't meet you, it could've been great to watch a stage in your company...next year ? ;)

[MartijnS]

Another nice video:

Corner of for example 1.09 is great! :)

[SubaruNorway]

Pity we ( A.F.F and myself) didn't meet you, it could've been great to watch a stage in your company...next year ? ;)

Yeah last year was good so shame we didn't stumble across each other this year too hehe.

Not sure if I'm doing Finland next year, depends on what format they run.
I like Wales this year with Shakedown on wednesday, 3 stages on thursday and then 3 normal days where you can just take your time and enjoy and still se many stages. (Maybe I'm getting old)

Something like Norway/Sweden, Greece, GB and Italy next year maybe :)

[OldF]

I don’t remember if this link has been already posted here or can these been found also on youtube. But anyway now it has.

Neste Oil Rally Finland 2011 | WRC HD (http://www.wrchd.com/hd-videos/neste-oil-rally-finland-2011/)

[Barreis]

Very nice video. Imprezas are big laugh.

[makinen_fan]

AUTOSPORT PLUS - How Loeb has won over the Finnish WRC fans (http://plus.autosport.com/premium/feature/3730/how-loeb-has-won-over-the-finnish-wrc-fans/)

does anyone have access to the above to give us a brief review of the article? thx

[hsmed]

Actually there is not much in the article about how Loeb has won the hearts of the Finnish fans. It is 'explained' in the text below, which is cut out from the article:

....it's worth explaining how he won over the hearts of the thousands of Finnish hardcore at the podium celebrations. From the noise, you'd have sworn a local was standing on the top step.

"I told the crowd that this year, maybe because of the performance, that I felt I had a lot of supporters," he says. "It felt different from 2008, when I beat Mikko [Hirvonen]. Then I felt some people were a bit angry against me, but this year I didn't feel anything like that. This year I had good support from the public. Everybody was waving and saying things were good. It felt nice on the podium. It was good sport."

Finally, the Frenchman appears to have won over the Finns – and they're about the hardest audience for him to play in front of. Finland is a proud nation with an exceptional history in the sport; the Flying Finns are rallying's All Blacks – they don't take defeat well, especially not at home, and their supporters are the most partisan of them all.

But, last weekend, they finally got Loeb. Yes, he spoiled their party, but it was like they appreciated, acknowledged and accepted that Loeb really is the king of their sport.


...and that's it. The rest of the article basically deals with who can stop Loeb from winning. And the answer is (based upon the result in Finland): Nobody, really - for the moment.

[Leon]

Actually there is not much in the article about how Loeb has won the hearts of the Finnish fans. It is 'explained' in the text below, which is cut out from the article:

....it's worth explaining how he won over the hearts of the thousands of Finnish hardcore at the podium celebrations. From the noise, you'd have sworn a local was standing on the top step.

"I told the crowd that this year, maybe because of the performance, that I felt I had a lot of supporters," he says. "It felt different from 2008, when I beat Mikko [Hirvonen]. Then I felt some people were a bit angry against me, but this year I didn't feel anything like that. This year I had good support from the public. Everybody was waving and saying things were good. It felt nice on the podium. It was good sport."

Finally, the Frenchman appears to have won over the Finns – and they're about the hardest audience for him to play in front of. Finland is a proud nation with an exceptional history in the sport; the Flying Finns are rallying's All Blacks – they don't take defeat well, especially not at home, and their supporters are the most partisan of them all.

But, last weekend, they finally got Loeb. Yes, he spoiled their party, but it was like they appreciated, acknowledged and accepted that Loeb really is the king of their sport.


...and that's it. The rest of the article basically deals with who can stop Loeb from winning. And the answer is (based upon the result in Finland): Nobody, really - for the moment.

thanks

[Xsara Fan]

Video from ALM RUSSIA Team (http://www.almrally.ru/news-command/info/5966/)

[Rallyper]

Video from ALM RUSSIA Team (http://www.almrally.ru/news-command/info/5966/)

Very nice vid!!

[makinen_fan]

Actually there is not much in the article about how Loeb has won the hearts of the Finnish fans. It is 'explained' in the text below, which is cut out from the article:

....it's worth explaining how he won over the hearts of the thousands of Finnish hardcore at the podium celebrations. From the noise, you'd have sworn a local was standing on the top step.

"I told the crowd that this year, maybe because of the performance, that I felt I had a lot of supporters," he says. "It felt different from 2008, when I beat Mikko [Hirvonen]. Then I felt some people were a bit angry against me, but this year I didn't feel anything like that. This year I had good support from the public. Everybody was waving and saying things were good. It felt nice on the podium. It was good sport."

Finally, the Frenchman appears to have won over the Finns – and they're about the hardest audience for him to play in front of. Finland is a proud nation with an exceptional history in the sport; the Flying Finns are rallying's All Blacks – they don't take defeat well, especially not at home, and their supporters are the most partisan of them all.

But, last weekend, they finally got Loeb. Yes, he spoiled their party, but it was like they appreciated, acknowledged and accepted that Loeb really is the king of their sport.


...and that's it. The rest of the article basically deals with who can stop Loeb from winning. And the answer is (based upon the result in Finland): Nobody, really - for the moment.

thanks!

[Hartusvuori]

Ott Tänak's three long minutes in SS8 Koivukehä.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBUcqkSRLMA&feature=related

[Fomchenkov Andrey]

My photo from rally finland (http://www.fomchenkov.com)

[DonJippo]

Ott Tänak's three long minutes in SS8 Koivukehä.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBUcqkSRLMA&feature=related

And co-driver surely did put seat belts on before they continued driving...

[Hartusvuori]

And co-driver surely did put seat belts on before they continued driving...

Can't say that thought didn't cross my mind too.

On those Andrey's photos, I'd like to how that historic Escort (pic. 24) landed on that Jokimaa jump. Looks lot of air to me for 40 years old car...

[Hartusvuori]

Another nice video from Finland. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDfwg3Ava4&feature=share)

You've got to love these (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDfwg3Ava4&feature=player_detailpage#t=81s) Skoda's bangs!

[julkki]

My photo from rally finland (http://www.fomchenkov.com)

Absolutely beautiful pics!

[tolis]

Maybe it's offtopic, but the competitor with #151 Carlo Covi is the Venetan politician (Carlo Covi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Covi)) ?

[MTA]

Thank you everyone, it was harrrrrd work! ...



Nice video as usual from you!
On Evo as we stood just a few 100 meters after you.
We wanted to be on the straight after the curve you filmed
first but where driven away by the marshals so we
went to the curves of the field just when you stopped filming.

On Leustu 2 so we stood right next to each other.
I was the guy in the white shirt who was photographed when they came around the barn
(you can see me 14:35 into the movie) and my brother was standing higher up on the outside of the curve.
Were not you in the company of the girl who was standing right next to me with a Sony and a Canon camera?

I think my brother has posted this already but otherwise is the link
...::: Rallyfoto.se :::... (http://www.rallyfoto.se) and then "Besökta Tävlingar"

[SubaruNorway]

Nice video as usual from you!
On Evo as we stood just a few 100 meters after you.
We wanted to be on the straight after the curve you filmed
first but where driven away by the marshals so we
went to the curves of the field just when you stopped filming.

On Leustu 2 so we stood right next to each other.
I was the guy in the white shirt who was photographed when they came around the barn
(you can see me 14:35 into the movie) and my brother was standing higher up on the outside of the curve.
Were not you in the company of the girl who was standing right next to me with a Sony and a Canon camera?

I think my brother has posted this already but otherwise is the link
...::: Rallyfoto.se :::... (http://www.rallyfoto.se) and then "Besökta Tävlingar"

Thank you!
On Evo we were thinking of staying where Lindroos went of 800m before that, atleast we got three cars hitting the mailbox instead :)
I see, shame we didn't try the jump before the junction. I didn't think they would keep flat over it but it sounded quite good, but difficult for pictures anyway i guess.
That's my girlfriend :) She's a photojournalist for Handbreaks & Hairpins.

Good pictures!

[Miika]

A few more vids:

SWRC class Highlights + interview with Juho:
SWRC Highlights - WRC Rally Finland 2011 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWcJSpilqCo)

PWRC class Highlights:
PWRC Highlights - WRC Rally Finland 2011 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTWjKWnzV_w)

Volkswagen Motorsport team in Finland:
VW Motorsport in WRC Rally Finland 2011 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6fMALxoZxI)

[Barreis]

Thanks Miika.

[tolis]

Is there any mistake in the WRC Academy classification after Day 2( World Rally Championship - Results - Neste Oil Rally Finland (http://www.wrc.com/results/2011/neste-oil-rally-finland/day-results/?category=awrc&leg=2)) ?
Because Kaur won, but the classification says that Breen is first.

[Franky]

Is there any mistake in the WRC Academy classification after Day 2( World Rally Championship - Results - Neste Oil Rally Finland (http://www.wrc.com/results/2011/neste-oil-rally-finland/day-results/?category=awrc&leg=2)) ?
Because Kaur won, but the classification says that Breen is first.

Yep, it's a system fault. Typically Academy doesn't drive on the third day but because Finland is basically a two day event, then they also drove quite many stages on the so called third day, but the system takes the results after the 2nd day only.

[tolis]

Yep, it's a system fault. Typically Academy doesn't drive on the third day but because Finland is basically a two day event, then they also drove quite many stages on the so called third day, but the system takes the results after the 2nd day only.
Thanks for your reply Franky!
Btw, congratulations for your very nice job!

[vino_93]

Hi !
I'm looking for pictures of all cars to number 74 to the last number (164 I think), except PWRC cars. Thx to the people who could help me :)

[tolis]

Hi !
I'm looking for pictures of all cars to number 74 to the last number (164 I think), except PWRC cars. Thx to the people who could help me :)
Have a look here: http://reissumies.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ralli/2011/20.+NORF2011/EK1/

[Hartusvuori]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/379061_325772834118339_124998597529098_1240042_160 9780165_n.jpg

2nd Prize: photo by Tommi Jalava

YLE Ralliradio's photo contest for Rally Finland is finally done and the best pictures published. There's a gallery of top 30 in their Facebook page with some normal driving pictures as well as many special moments, like the one above :-) Professional photographers get great pictures, but in a gallery of dozens of amateur/semi-pro photographers you get a different and more widely spread image and feeling of the event, lots of small moments captured. Only 7,5 months until the shakedown...

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.325772574118365.94014.124998597529098&type=3 (https://www.facebook.com/#%21/media/set/?set=a.325772574118365.94014.124998597529098&type=3)

[HarriK]

Seb with scooter is taken by me :)