HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS will be featuring the Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team this weekend by posting news, pictures and stage times of their crews as they power to the finish line on Saturday for the Neste Oil Rally Finland. You can follow these updates from H&H on TWITTER, FACEBOOK or via our WEBSITE.
COMPETITION: Read the article below to stand a chance to win a Stobart M-Sport Rally Team t-shirt!
The Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team will welcome four-time FIA World Rally Champion Juha Kankkunen to the Cumbria-based squad at Neste Oil Rally Finland this week.
To mark the event’s sixtieth jubilee, Kankkunen will contest the eighth round of the WRC in a Ford Focus RS WRC alongside long-time co-driver Juha Repo. The 51-year-old driver started his professional rallying career at Rally Finland in 1979, but the Finn has not competed in the hugely popular event since 2002.
Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor will also be back behind the wheel of a Ford Focus RS WRC after contesting the previous WRC round in a Ford Fiesta Super 2000. Last year at Rally Finland Solberg sustained damage to his front suspension, which dropped the Norwegian from fifth position and caused Solberg to compete under SupeRally regulations on the final day.
Regular Stobart M-Sport drivers Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin will lead the way for the Cumbria-based team in Finland. This will be the British duo’s fifth outing at the event and they will be looking to improve on their best result at Rally Finland when they finished eighth overall last year.
Also flying the flag for the Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team is another Finnish crew of Mattias Therman and co-driver Janne Perälä. The duo contested last year’s Neste Oil Rally Finland driving a Munchi’s Ford Focus RS WRC and finished fifteenth overall. Neither Kankkunen or Therman will be nominated to score manufacturer points for the team.
Formerly known as the 1000 Lakes Rally, Neste Oil Rally Finland is one of the most popular events on the WRC calendar and this year will also commemorate the event’s 60th anniversary. The Scandinavian country is regarded by many as the ‘the spiritual home of rally’ and this year’s rally has an impressive 30 of the 101 starting entrants behind the wheel of a Ford.
This year’s Rally Finland will consist of a shorter format than previous years and most of the 19 stages covering 310km will be contested over two days. A confident driving approach is essential as Rally Finland will test WRC drivers to the limit as they face extremely fast tree-lined gravel stages combined with blind crests and huge jumps. The smallest of mistakes can prove fatal so maximum concentration from the drivers is essential.
Rally HQ is based in Jyväskylä, a bustling student city located in central Finland, 270km north of Helsinki and located on the northern coast of the beautiful lake Päijänne. The service park will be based at the Paviljonki Exhibition Centre.
The shorter format for this year’s Rally Finland will kick off with a 4.19km forest stage based in the outskirts of Jyväskylä on the Thursday evening. The first full day of action on Friday will consist of ten stages covering 143.8km and the opening loop consists of four 70.08km stages located west of the service park. Friday afternoon will see the WRC drivers cover six 73km stages based north of the service park, culminating with a repeat of the day’s opening stage in Jyväskylä at the end of the day.
The second full day is the longest of this year’s Rally Finland and will include two services. Saturday’s opening loop consists of three stages totalling 59.23km located south of the service park. Väärinmaja (SS13) is the longest of the rally at 29.29km long and the opening stage of the morning, Surkee (SS14 and SS17) is a new stage. The final five stages of the day are once again based south of the service park and total 103.55km of competitive distance. Three stages (SS11, SS16 & SS19) will all be filmed live along with the finish podium ceremony. The pre-event FIA press conference will also be filmed and broadcast live for the first time.
HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS competition! The prize: one Stobart M-Sport Rally Team t-shirt. Question: How many WRC wins does Kankkunen have to his name? Send answers to evan.hhmag@gmail.com!