Recent Comments

    Rally Finland – SS1 – TOYOTA YARIS WRC BEGINS THE ‘FINNISH GRAND PRIX’

    By Linda Hirvonen 7 years ago
    Home  /  WRC  /  Finland  /  Rally Finland – SS1 – TOYOTA YARIS WRC BEGINS THE ‘FINNISH GRAND PRIX’

    Rally Finland got underway this evening with a short 2.31-kilometre special stage at Harju, following shakedown in the morning at Ruuhimäki: a classic Rally Finland stage with compacted gravel roads and big jumps. The special stage was less typical, with mixed surfaces and tight chicanes.

    All three Toyota Yaris WRC drivers concentrated on getting a clean run to the finish in Harju. Jari-Matti Latvala is currently the highest placed of them in fifth overall, ahead of team mates Juho Hänninen in seventh and Esapekka Lappi in 13th, who hit a chicane that had been moved by a previous competitor. However, this caused no lasting damage and all three drivers feel confident ahead of tomorrow.

    Tom Fowler (Chief Engineer)

    “Shakedown went very well. The main target was just to make sure that the engines were calibrated correctly for this rally. We had one small setback when Juho hit one of the bales on a chicane, but we got the car back and were able to repair it, and we achieved everything we needed to. Tonight’s stage was tricky because it mixed gravel and asphalt and was very tight in places, so it was totally uncharacteristic of the rest of the rally. For the drivers, it was just a case of getting through safely and then the proper fight starts tomorrow. We are really confident about the ‘proper’ stages. We feel we’ve got a really good setup for fast rallies, and Finland is the fastest of them all.”

    Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)

    “It’s a fantastic feeling to start the rally. Harju is always a difficult stage. I think I lost a bit of time on the first corner; I should have taken a little bit less speed and then I was struggling a couple of times with the gears. But generally, it was clear, no touches or anything, and now we can start the rally properly. It was great to see so many fans out on the stage as well. Tomorrow we should have good weather and then on Saturday it might rain, so it’s definitely going to be an interesting weekend.”

    END OF DAY 1 (THURSDAY):

    1 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1m44.1s
    2 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1.1s
    3 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1.5s
    4 Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC): +1.6s
    5 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2.2s
    6 Hayden Paddon/Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2.5s
    7 Juho Hänninen/Kaj Lindström (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2.7s
    8 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen C3 WRC) +3.0s
    9 Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3.1s
    10 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +3.5s
    13 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +5.7s

    Press release TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC

    Categories:
      Finland, WRC
    this post was shared 0 times
     000
    About

     Linda Hirvonen

      (268 articles)