Just the final day of action and with 41km’s over four stages, the crews that were not in the top ten at the end of Saturday’s stages would now be eyeing up the points available for finishing in the top seven positions, plus the powerstage points.
First up was SS17 Sahloinen-Moksi 1 – 14.27 km Kalle was fastest from Elfyn and Esapekka in third. Just four tenths of a second separated the top two as well. Sami and Enni had a moment in the stage going off the road and surviving incredibly without any damage.
The shortest stage of the day followed SS18 Laajavuori 1 – 4.35 km and this would be the stage which would be the powerstage later but would not be the typical type of stage that would be normally part of the stages in Finland. Kalle would again be fastest from Seb this time and Thierry third. Elfyn could only manage the fourth fastest time.
Onto the penultimate stage then, SS19 Sahloinen-Moksi 2 – 14.27 km and first to complete was Takamoto, with Esapekka going second fastest. There was drama sadly for Elfyn and Scott as they entered the first corner they understeered wide, hit a tree. This pitched their Yaris sideways, spinning across the road and into the trees on the other side of the road. There were bodywork parts on the stage and after Elfyn realised that he was not going to be able to even complete the stage he jumped out and dealt with the debris so the stage could continue with no delays. Once the stage was back up and running Thierry was next to complete and went third fastest setting an identical time to Esapekka. There was even more drama to come though as Kalle and Jonne came towards the end of the stage and there was a rock right in the line on a left hander. This made the car kick up at the front and sent it offline and into the trees lining the road on the right-hand side. They were fine, but out from the lead, putting Seb into the lead, Thierry up to second and Adrien into third place.
The final stage then, SS20 Laajavuori 2[Power Stage] – 8.77 km and Takamoto was fastest from Thierry, Esapekka, Adrien and Seb. The French crew then had taken victory in somewhat remarkable circumstances from Thierry and Adrien took third.
Let’s take a look at the top ten positions and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Finland
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Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“To win in Finland is always nice, even if this is not the way we would like to have taken it. The team provided an amazing car and dominated all weekend. Kalle and Jonne were in a different league than the rest and were very unlucky with this rock on the line. I feel for my team as we deserved a much better result. I lost a win in Sardinia earlier this season through luck and I have now gained one back here. I have been around long enough to experience many outcomes and emotions and I’ve been lucky to be on the right side of that equation most of the time – but not today. I would honestly have preferred to finish second, but motorsport is unfair sometimes.”
Sami Pajari
“I’m relieved to have finished my first event in a Rally1 car. What an emotional rollercoaster this week has been! It sounds nice to be the highest-placed Finn on Rally Finland and scoring fourth place on my first event – and scoring my first stage win – but there’s still plenty of room to improve. I was expecting a more consistent and relaxed event – I don’t remember a time the weather was so challenging on Rally Finland. It’s not been the perfect weekend for the team but I’m happy to find positives in my own performance. Huge thanks to Toyota and the whole team: it was a dream come true to drive on my home rally with the GR YARIS Rally1.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“The car was working very well today after the changes we made yesterday. I had a good feeling on Sunday morning, and I was able to push: it’s great to have won the Power Stage and taken maximum points from there, plus scoring good points for Super Sunday by being equal-fastest on the last day. But I’m really sorry to the team for not being able to bring a result home: while the speed was good, the outcome could have been much better. Many people made mistakes this weekend, but the rally is a long weekend, not a sprint.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“We had a really good morning with everything under control and still fighting for Sunday points without taking any risks. On pretty much the last corner of the penultimate stage we were driving normally with a steady pace but in the middle of the corner, there was a huge loose stone which I could not avoid, and it threw us off the road. It’s quite an unreal feeling, considering there was nothing we could have done to change the situation. It’s quite tough to take but on the other hand, Jonne and I executed a perfect weekend until that point and couldn’t really have done anything differently.”
Elfyn Evans
“Unfortunately, we had an accident right at the beginning of the penultimate stage. I’d managed the corner OK on the first pass, but I had a bit of understeer in the ruts the second time around and ran out of road. We knew it was a tricky corner, but it was more down to the way the car reacted in the rut than the speed. It was a costly mistake on my part and a weekend that went from bad to worse – but this is motorsport, and these things happen. There are four rounds to go in the championship and everything is still open, so we’ll continue to give our all until the very end.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (WRC2)
“For myself and Juho it’s a really great feeling at the end of the rally. Our target was to finish in the top five of WRC2 and we’ve been in second place since almost the start of the rally and finished on the podium. It’s been a really enjoyable weekend behind the wheel, and I can be very satisfied with my own performance, it’s not been bad. At the same time, it’s been a hard Sunday for the team: it’s great to win here again, but to have two cars retire on Sunday is not good for the championship. But I know our team never gives up and we will put all our efforts into the coming events.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“A good, consistent drive throughout the day. Our increase in tempo on the last two stages made the difference with the retirement of Kalle. We were capable of reducing the gap on the Power Stage so Ogier would only leave Finland with one more point than us. This weekend has been a rollercoaster of emotions for everybody, like the stages. Lots of ups and downs and it was changing all the time. Greece is next – and it’s a challenging event. We will be on it and with a shift of focus to this surface we are hoping to take what we have done at these fast gravel rallies one step further.”
Esapekka Lappi
“When you retire from any rally you are disappointed, but Finland was the most important one for me personally. These risks are a part of motorsport, when you are constantly pushing the limit: you don’t do anything wrong and then you end up retiring. It was similar for Kalle today and I really felt for him, it’s a big shame. Today we did what we could, we brought home a good amount of Super Sunday points for the team, so I am very satisfied with how the day went.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Adrien Fourmaux
“It has been a tricky weekend, I have struggled to find confidence in the car in the tough conditions, but once I knew it was going to be difficult to fight the top guys I wanted to do a sensible drive and so I worked on the car setup over the first two days and just made sure I didn’t make any mistakes. We found some good improvements and driving Ouninpohja in this car was just amazing.
“To end the rally with a podium is not necessarily what I was expecting, but a focused drive all weekend made sure we were there in case anything happened to the others and I can be really happy with my weekend and my fourth podium this year!
“Now I look forward to a few weeks off before Rally Greece and the rest of the season, where I want to be strong and keep challenging for the top spots.”
Grégoire Munster
“I think it was a tricky event, for our first time in Finland in a Rally1 car it for sure wasn’t easy, especially with these conditions. We can be happy with our first day on Friday. For the second day, yes it was disappointing, not just because of the off but also because we missed out on the kilometres in these tough conditions and the famous stage of Ouninpohja!
“The team did an amazing job to fix the car so we could continue on Sunday, to gain 40 crucial kilometres so we could finish on a good note before the next event. I was really glad to have the opportunity to drive again and finish the rally.”
William Creighton (WRC2)
“A difficult rally with quite inconsistent conditions with the rain showers. Unfortunately, we had to retire on Friday, but the team did a great job to get everything sorted so we could gain experience for the rest of the stages. The atmosphere has been incredible, and I hope we can return to these classic stages in the future! Thanks to everyone at M-Sport and MI Rally Academy for supporting us this weekend.”
Oliver Solberg (WRC2 winner)
“Honestly, I was hoping for a similar result to last year – but to go one better: to finish fifth overall instead of sixth and to win WRC2 is something very, very special. It’s been an unbelievable weekend for Elliott [co-driver] and me.
“First, I want to thank Elliott – as usual he has been perfect. This is a big week for both of us, the fastest rally of the season and such a complicated and fast event. I just couldn’t do it without him. It’s the same for the team, everybody is putting in so much work all of the time and this result is for those guys, it’s been amazing.
“The rally itself was really not too complicated. The biggest thing was the weather and the conditions through Friday; we had some rain then no rain, then it was drying, then it was raining again and all the time our main competition – Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota team principal and fellow WRC2 competitor) – was far behind us on the road and we didn’t know what the conditions were really like for him.
“I wasn’t pushing so hard through Friday, maybe 90%. I wanted to keep something in reserve and not to take the big risk. It was kind of the same on Saturday – but that day was all about Ouninpohja and the chance to get into that stage and drive in this incredible place. My father broke the record there 20 years ago, so it was actually quite emotional to drive the full length of stage again. It was incredible!
“For Sunday, it was about no mistakes and bringing the car home to take the points. The atmosphere in Laajavuori this morning was incredible – I don’t think I ever saw so many people spectating in Finland or so many Swedish and Norwegian flags.
“I have to say a big congratulations to Jari-Matti, he made a really nice fight. But for me, it’s a big relief and such an amazing feeling to have won this one. Winning in Finland is a really, really big thing and to do it two years in succession is fantastic. Tonight, we can celebrate and then we have to focus to try to finish the job and win this title.”
Summary
Well, what an incredible rally with a crazy outcome in the penultimate stage. Seb and Vincent took their second victory in Finland after their teammates crashed out. They have also moved into second in the championship!
A second-place finish for Thierry and Martijn has given the Belgian Hyundai crew an increased lead in the championship. Can they hold on to take the championship?
Finally, Adrien and Alex took a fourth podium for M-Sport Ford with a great drive. Earlier in the weekend the car was not handling so well, but with the crew and team working hard to get the car into the right place, they saw things improve and when Kalle and Jonne crashed out they found themselves on the podium.
The crews and teams have a break of sorts now till the next round in Greece from the 5th to the 8th of September. Whether we see Seb and Vincent in Greece is yet to be seen.
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9
| 1 | T. Neuville | 168 |
| 2 | S. Ogier | 141 |
| 3 | O. Tänak | 137 |
| 4 | E. Evans | 132 |
| 5 | A. Fourmaux | 119 |
| 6 | K. Rovanperä | 86 |
| 7 | T. Katsuta | 76 |
| 8 | E. Lappi | 33 |
| 9 | A. Mikkelsen | 29 |
| 10 | D. Sordo | 27 |
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9
| 1 | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team | 395 |
| 2 | Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team | 375 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 207 |