The third round of the 2010 Fiesta SportTrophy International (FSTi) series got underway this weekend as the competition joined the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) for the 60th Neste Oil Rally Finland. Victor Henriksson and co-driver Håkan Palm led the FSTi class from the end of Day 1 but close on his tail throughout was Finnish driver, Jussi Kumpumäki and Jani Laaksonen, who finished just 33.9 seconds behind Henriksson.
A record breaking 14 entries tackled 19 stages totalling 310 km around the city of Jyväskäla but only six of the FSTi entries were able to finish. Running alongside the FST series, Jussi Kumpumäki won the third round of FST Finland on Friday. Victor Henriksson was second and Joose Kojo finished third. Kumpumäki took victory in the fourth round of FST Finland on Saturday’s stages, Henriksson was second and Hytönen in third.
Team Abu Dhabi won the Muc-Off Best Presented Car Award for the FSTi class in Finland this weekend.
Victor Henriksson (22) & Håkan Palm FSTi final position: 1
Victor Henriksson and Håkan Palm took the fastest stage time in Friday’s opening Super Special Stage by 1.7 seconds to Atte Alanen.
During SS2 and SS3 Atte Alanen took the FSTi lead but Henriksson headed up the FSTi class once again after Alanen was forced to retire after SS3. The young Swede stopped to fix a loose bolt on the road section to SS5, making them one minute late and incurring a ten second penalty. Henriksson encountered no major problems on Friday afternoon and at the end of Day 1 Henriksson was leading the FSTi class by 16.6 seconds to Kumpumäki.
Henriksson was keen to hold his FSTi lead in Day 2 but had electrical problems in SS13 and the engine cut out twice. He then suffered from the loss of the wheel scraper causing a vibration in the rear wheels. Henriksson felt the pace was too fast but only 6.1 seconds separated Henriksson and Kumpumäki as they pulled into Service E. During SS15, Henriksson took the lead in the FSTi class and at the midday service was leading Kumpumäki by 22.2 seconds. During SS16, Henriksson felt he could relax, safe in the knowledge that he had a lead of over three minutes to Kumpumäki. However, the rally had a sting in the tail and on SS17, the young driver bent his front steering arm approximately three km into the stage. This lost Henriksson approximately 2 minutes and the driver struggled back to service for repair. Henriksson was two minutes late out of service (TC17C) and incurred a 20 second penalty closing the gap to Kumpumaki again. However, this failed to have any impact on Henriksson’s performance on the final stages of Day 2 and the young Swede took victory in the FSTi class at the end of a demanding Neste Oil Rally Finland and scored 4 stage wins.
FSTi winner Victor Henriksson said: “This is a great feeling to win after the hard work in the last service, which was followed by a 20 second penalty for being late; I was so scared we were going to lose it all. When I heard Jussi [Kumpumäki] had problems, I thought we could just cruise, but then we got problems ourselves. The days have been long and the stages rough; driving in a rally car for 12 hours a day is really tough. The battle with Jussi was incredible: I was flying and still Jussi was beating me! It’s just unbelievable and feels really great.”
Jussi Kumpumäki (20) & Jani Laaksonen FSTi final position: 2
During Friday’s opening Super Special Stage, Jussi Kumpumäki and co-driver Jani Laaksonen missed a left hairpin corner which cost the duo approximately seven seconds. They finished this stage third-fastest in the FSTi class and moved into Friday’s ten stages 3.9 seconds behind Victor Henriksson.
During SS2, Kumpumäki braked too late into a right-hand corner, ending up in a ditch. There were only four spectators available to help push him out, a process that lost the Finn 50 seconds and dropped him to seventh position. On SS3, Kumpumäki hit a rock on the stage, resulting in a bent rear wheel. Kumpumäki kept a steady pace for the remainder of Friday;s stages and by the end of Day 1, Kumpumäki was just 16.6 seconds from snatching first place in the FSTi class from Victor Henriksson.
Kumpumäki maintained a steady pace on Saturday’s first stage and aimed to close the 16.6 second gap on Henriksson to take the lead in the FSTi class. Before SS13, the driver door catch had become loose and Kumpumäki had to tape it shut. This caused Kumpumäki no problems on SS13 and pushed Henriksson back into second position. During SS14, Kumpumäki missed the penultimate junction but only 6.1 seconds separated the two FSTi competitors as they pulled into Service E. During SS15 Kumpumäki lost the lead to Henriksson as a result of a puncture on the stage which he had to stop and change loosing nearly 4 minutes in the process. During Service F, Kumpumäki’s team found a broken front arm due to the rough stages but the Finn perservered and managed to make it to the end of Day 2 without any further problems and finished runner up in the FSTi classification and scoring 12 stage wins.
Bader Al Jabri (25) & Stephen McAuley FSTi final position: 3
Bader Al Jabri and co-driver Stephen McAuley encountered no major problems in Thursday’s opening Super Special and went into Friday morning’s stages in ninth position. Throughout Friday’s stages, the young Emirate produced steady stage times and finished Day 1 in sixth position overall. Al Jabri was just 45.2 seconds off snatching fifth position from Chrstian Riedemann as he entered Day 2.
On Day 2, Al Jabri noted difficult road conditions on SS14. During Service F, the Emirate reported he was pleased to be in third position so would not push in the final two stages with his main aim to get to the end. Al Jabri stuck to his words and managed to get to the end of SS19 with no problems and finished the FSTi class in third position overall.
Raimo Kaisanlahti & Tero Rönnemaa FSTi final position: 4
Raimo Kaisanlahti and Tero Rönnemaa finished Friday’s Super Special Stage 20.7 seconds adrift of the fastest stage time in SS1 and were placed twelfth overall.
During Friday’s opening stages, Kaisanlahti maintained a steady pace and encountered no major problems apart from his car pulling to the side on SS5. At the end of the morning loop, the Finnish driver was in a comfortable eighth position in the FSTi leader board and after a trouble free afternoon on Friday, the Finn remained in this position until the end of the day. At the end of Day 1, Kaisanlahti was just 32.4 seconds behind Bader Al Jabri in seventh position. During the evening service, the team adjusted the car’s ride height which solved Kaisanlahti’s earlier problems with the car’s handling.
Day 2 held no major problems for Kaisanlahti but during SS17 an oil leak developed in their car after there was a hole in the sump but this was replaced during Service F.
Toni Harsia & Jari Tarvainen FSTi final position: 5
Toni Harsia and co-driver Jari Tarvainen lost their second gear in Friday night’s Super Special which lost the duo valuable time and put them in thirteenth position at the end of SS1.
During Friday’s opening stages, Harsia picked up the pace and the duo gradually climbed the FSTi leader board but on SS4, Harsia overshot a corner on SS4 costing him around ten seconds in time. During SS13, Harsia was given a ten second penalty for arriving one minute late into TC13 to let a faster driver behind get past. Harsia encountered no other major problems during Neste Oil Rally Finland, maintaining a good pace throughout and finishing the championship in fifth position overall.
Kari Hytönen & Heidi Koppe (26) FSTi final position: 6
Kari Hytönen and Heidi Koppe lost approximately two minutes on SS2 due to a loose brake pressure valve. Hytönen retired on the road section to SS3 as a result and incurred 45 minutes in SupeRally penalties in addition to a 20 second penalty for being two minutes late into TC3.
Hytönen reported on SS12 that the car was handling extremely well but in SS14 the Finn spun and lost approximately 15 seconds returning to the road. On the final service, there were no problems and Hytönen reported he was getting used to the car and would take no risks in the day’s final stages. Hytönen stuck to his word and got to the end of Day 2 with no major dramas to finish sixth.
Majed Al Shamsi & Alan Harryman FSTi final position: DNF
Majed Al Shamsi and co-driver Alan Harryman broke a driveshaft at the start of Friday night’s opening Super Special. This forced the Abu Dhabi crew to retire on the first stage and they incurred a ten minute SupeRally penalty.
During SS3, Al Shamsi misunderstood a pace note and went off into a watery ditch. Spectators were plentiful and plunged into the ditch to push the Team Abu Dhabi duo back onto the road but the mishap cost them around three minutes. During SS10, Al Shamsi went wide on the first corner and lost nine seconds. He later picked up a puncture but managed to get to the end of SS10, changing the tyre on the road section afterwards. Due to their SupeRally penalty from Thursday evening, the duo lay twelfth in the FSTi class at the end of Day 1.
On Saturday, Al Shamsi lost oil pressure and retired at the end of the SS16.
Joose Kojo & Sami Taskinen FSTi final position: DNF
Having only driven the Fiesta R2 once in a pre-event test, Joose Kojo and Sami Taskinen were taking time to learn the car in the rally’s opening stages, especially as the brake balance had been adjusted since the test. However, by the end of SS4, Kojo was third in the FSTi class and despite incurring a one minute penalty for checking in early to SS10, the Finn remained in this position until the end of Day 1. Kojo also finished third in the third round of FST Finland at the end of Day 1.
On Day 2, Kojo retired after suffering from a broken driveshaft during SS12. This was a great disappointment for the promising Finn who was lying third in the championship at the end of Day 1.
Harry Hunt (21) & Sebastian Marshall (22) FSTi final position: DNF
Harry Hunt and co-driver Sebastian Marshall maintained a good pace on the opening Super Special to finish in joint fourth position with Joose Kojo and first non-Scandinavian. During Friday’s ten stages, the young British duo maintained a good pace and Hunt snatched fourth place from Dahlström at the end of SS5 by 6.4 seconds. Hunt finished the day fourth in the FSTi class, just 26.3 seconds from snatching third place from Kojo.
On SS12, Hunt overshot a corner and ended up in a field down a two foot drop. The young Briton was unable to get back onto the road and was forced to retire from the championship with bent front suspension arms and a broken radiator.
Christian Riedemann (22) & Josefine Beinke (18) FSTi final position: DNF
After SS1, Christian Riedemann and Josefine Beinke were sixth in the FSTi class going into Friday’s opening five stages.
During Friday morning, Riedemann had no problems and maintained a steady pace which moved the young German driver into fifth position in the FSTi class where he remained until the end of SS5. A cracked rear beam was found on Christian Riedemann’s Fiesta R2 during the midday service after SS5 although his team did not have time to replace it in service.
Riedemann started Day 2 in fifth position but by the midday service Riedemann moved up into third position after the retirement of Kojo and Hunt. However, at the start of SS16 Riedemann was forced to retire from the championship with a broken driveshaft.
Sultan Al Ameri (25) & Killian Duffy (27) FSTi final position: DNF
Sultan Al Ameria and Killian Duffy finished Friday’s Super Special Stage ninth fastest in the FSTi class and 16.3 seconds off the fastest stage time set by Christian Riedemann.
The young Emirate encountered no major problems during Friday’s opening stages and pulled into the midday service in ninth position in the FSTi class. After a fast stage time on SS8, Al Ameri moved up into seventh position. En route to SS10, Al Ameri suffered extensive front end damage to his car after crashing into the back on his team-mate Al Jabri on the busy road section. This failed to cost Al Ameri any time and the young Emirate remained in seventh position as he entered Day 2.
On Day 2, Al Ameri clipped a tyre during SS16 which forced the young Emirate to retire from the rally.
Christoffer Dahlström (30) & Kari Kemppinen FSTi final position: DNF
Christoffer Dahlström and Kari Kemppinen finished Friday’s opening Super Special in joint seventh place with Kari Hytönen. They were 9.5 seconds adrift of Riedemann who produced the fastest stage time in SS1.
Throughout Friday’s opening stages, Dahlström led the N3 class, setting some extremely fast times up until this stage. However, the Finn broke his front suspension during SS5 after hitting a rock shortly after hitting a dip in the road, which almost flipped his Fiesta ST into a roll.
At the end of Friday’s morning loop, Dahlström remained in fifth position in the FSTi class and had racked up five N3 class stage wins. During SS8, Dahlström spun and lost approximately ten seconds but this did not alter his position on the FSTi leaderboard. Dahlström and Kariste both suffered the same fate at the start of SS9. Positioning their cars in the sandy ruts created by the 4WD cars running before them, Dahlström broke his gearbox mount as well as both driveshafts. Dahlström incurred a 15 minute SupeRally penalty going into Day 2.
Day 2 started well for the Finn but on the road section to SS13 Dahlström’s gearbox mount failed, forcing the Finn to retire from the rally.
Ilkka Kariste & Mikael Lindberg FSTi final position: DNF
Ilkka Kariste and Mikael Lindberg hit a rock near the start of Friday’s opening Super Special Stage and bent their rear wheel. This mishap cost the duo valuable time and ranked them eleventh in the FSTi class at the end of SS1.
Friday’s opening stages faired well with Kariste and the driver gradually crept up the FSTi leader board finishing Friday’s morning loop in a healthy eighth position on the FSTi leader board. However, Kariste and Dahlström both suffered the same fate at the start of SS9. Positioning their cars in the sandy ruts created by the 4WD cars running before them, Kariste broke both driveshafts as a consequence. Kariste was forced to retire and incurred a 15 minute SupeRally penalty going into Day 2.
Atte Alanen (22) & Pasi Hedman (29) FSTi final position: DNF
Atte Alanen and Pasi Hedman got off to a flying start at Friday’s night opening Super Special and were just 1.7 seconds off claiming the fastest FSTi stage time from Victor Henriksson.
The young duo went on to win SS2 and SS3 and were leading the FSTi class as they entered SS4. During SS4, Alanen took a tight left turn and hit a large stone which he was unable to avoid. This put a large hole in the oil sump of their Fiesta R2, which in turn resulted in an overheated engine and forced the promising young Finn to retire from the rally, however, two fastest stage times was a consolation
Final Event Results
1 Henriksson – 3:02:34.6
2 Kumpumäki +33.9
3 Al Jabri +10:53.4
4 Kaisanlahti +17:34.2
5 Harsia +21:57.1
6 Hytönen +51:05.2
– Credit: M-Sport