[WRC] Neste Rally Finland 1st-4th August 2019

**Ide** · 6th August 2019, 10:00

It was very cold during the rally. The coldest rally Finland since I’ve been there from 2001.

I just published my rally Finland 2019 photo gallery:
https://www.ilkansivu.net/en/photos/...y-finland-2019

There are photos about 7 special stages and the podium ceremony.

**Fast Eddie WRC** · 6th August 2019, 10:09

Originally Posted by Gregor-y

The C3 has looked scary in the air for a few years. Does the rear wing have some passive aero that depends on speed? The car takes off flat but as it goes through the air (and slows down with drag) something tips it up as if a pilot was pulling back on the controls after a while. At similar speeds on smaller jumps it seems fine.

There's also an aero issue still to be resolved with the C3 R5 . This lead to Østberg not entering Rally Finland.

**Mirek** · 6th August 2019, 10:42

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

There's also an aero issue still to be resolved with the C3 R5 . This lead to Østberg not entering Rally Finland.

To be honest I find this his reasoning a bit cheap. By raw speed he was the fastest WRC2 driver nearly everywhere and it was only his mistakes what prevented him from winning the events. He would be fast in Finland too, maybe not as fast as Rovanperä but for sure fast enough to fight for the podium.

**AnttiL** · 6th August 2019, 11:07

Originally Posted by Mirek

To be honest I find this his reasoning a bit cheap. By raw speed he was the fastest WRC2 driver nearly everywhere and it was only his mistakes what prevented him from winning the events. He would be fast in Finland too, maybe not as fast as Rovanperä but for sure fast enough to fight for the podium.

Also pretty wise tactics not to drive against Rovanperä in Finland. Rovanperä has now driven seven events, Østberg only five. Østberg can get easier wins later in the season (with Kalle not starting).

EDIT: I was wrong, drivers can drive all events they want, eight best count, so it's likely that Kalle will do most of the remaining rallies.

**denkimi** · 6th August 2019, 11:21

Originally Posted by Ucci

Do not look the difference behind Ott; if Ott would push like others did, he would at least 90 sec ahaed...100% sure. Ott was on a sunday drive, read the comment from EstWRC who was spectating....

I don't think so. Just because it looks like a sunday drive doesn't mean he's not close to the maximum speed possible.
In contrary, wilder and more spectacular driving is usually slower and pushing beyond whats comfortable creates errors.

**cali** · 6th August 2019, 11:39

Ott himself said that he was pushed to the max. No need to doubt his words. The competitors have stepped up their game. That's his words.

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**the sniper** · 6th August 2019, 13:19

Originally Posted by EstWRC

We started with the shakedown on Thursday, at this place youtu.be/ibFUATF4kb0?t=88. I have to tell the place is 100X times awesome in real life, the speed was insane. We drove it through the night before with like 50km/h but i guess these guys have something like 160km/h at there?
Suninen was most spectacular there, very sideways and throwing the most amount of rocks at us.

Yeah that is a nice spot. I finished the session there this year, having worked my way up the 'straight' prior to this, but stood on the inside as I didn't fancy getting shot blasted on the outside! I was there last year too, when it seemed less busy down this way. I think more people ventured west beyond the jump this year, having seen the onboards from last year.

So just to add my experience. Yep, it was a really great this year. Personally, I much preferred the weather this year. It made walking around much nicer! Plus having a coat/pockets meant I didn't have to lug a bag about. I have to admit I was shivering waiting for the cars to arrive some of those mornings though! I did Shakedown, Urria, Kakaristo, Ruuhimäki and went to the podium ceremony. One of the highlights for me was on Urria at Hirvonen's jump for SS4. I got a clear view from near the crossing after the jump. Before the stage started, I couldn't believe it when the Solberg family turned up and stood right behind me! Petter, Oliver, Pernilla and Oscar! I got to talk to Oscar Solberg (seemed surprised I knew who he was!

) about his rallying and he talked about Henning's experience with the new Fabia. I also had a quick chat (I didn't want to bother any of them too much) with Petter about Rally GB. It was nice to be able to thank him for doing it in person! I have to admit that I took the chance to have a picture with Petter and another later with Oliver and Oscar together, which I was going to do as a selfie but Petter offered to take it for me! That alone was pretty surreal/amusing, looking at Petter taking my picture!

The atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed (that's Scandinavians for you though!) considering their presence in the crowd and they were really friendly. A great memory for me.

Otherwise, I did a 50/50 mix of public 'tourist' areas and nice spots off the beaten track, so to speak. Considering I had done less preparation than I'd have liked to, I was happy with the spots I ended up in and had a great time overall. I think I'll have to go again next year now... I did it as a one off last year, but it's a very addictive event!

I'll try and add some photos below...

Small gallery:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/An8tssrJiv5ZHpD6A

Sequence in the gallery. Not many moving shots as my phone camera is up to anything special.

**reff92** · 6th August 2019, 15:13

Another Neste Rally Finland is done. This year we were out with a sofa which was very useful on powerstage first pass , because weather was so cold.
We were on Harju first pass , then we were moving to Moksi stage where we stayed night and two passes. When Moksi was done we set our target with sofa to Päijala stage to see this faimous corner(1.7km from our camp) where every year is crashes and this corner didn't let our hopes down. After first pass on Päijala we moved sofa back to camp and traveled to Ruuhimäki stages( we were learned from last year that after second passs its impossible to get out from päijala). Around 23 o'clock we moved our sofa from camp to tribune to be ready for powerstage - which was big mistake(rain) . After moving sofa to tribune then we get our blanket and sleeping bags and that load covering plastic to protect our sofa and ourselfs from rain. Night was not so cold to sleep almost open sky but before ruuhimäki first pass weather changed and wind was blowing and temperature dropped tramaticaly. Now we were very glad to have sleeping bags and cover with along us to keep us warm. Thats was nice weekend and hopefully not the last one with traveling with sofa along the rally stages

I add some pictures to keep some extreme fans awake and i am very thankful when somebody can share to me some pictures from our journey with sofa - because we didnt saved all that.