Ready to return to Scandinavian stages

Our crews are looking to continue our podium streak at the ninth round of the 2023 WRC season, the formidable Rally Finland.

The team is aiming to replicate our success at Rally Estonia – our fourth double podium of the year – in the speedy Scandinavian forests.

“We’re feeling positive as we head to Rally Finland,” said Cyril, our Team Principal. “Thierry and Esapekka did a strong job in Estonia, as did Teemu as he quickly got up to speed with the car; our mission is to repeat the performance as a minimum and have all three cars in the top five, but if possible one step higher.”

Recent redemption
Rally Finland was notoriously one of the most challenging events for us, until 2021 when we claimed a double podium, followed by a victory in 2022. These results, combined with our recent success on high-speed gravel, make us confident that we can challenge for podium places.

“Fighting for the podium in Finland will be important in terms of the championship, but it’s going to be tough,” explains Thierry. “The competition will be fierce. Most of them are Scandinavian drivers, so they will be hard to beat, but we are feeling confident in ourselves and in the car.”

Home heroes
This year, Rally Finland will be the home round for two of our three crews. Esapekka and Janne know exactly what it takes to win on home soil. They will be contesting the familiar stages for the first time in our Rally1 car alongside compatriots Teemu and Mikko – a challenge both crews are looking forward to.

“I would love to win this weekend in Finland,” reveals Esapekka. “Regardless of the result, the atmosphere is exactly what you want to have in front of your home crowd – it’s very special. We had some good fights in Estonia and I hope we can be in the mix again in Finland next weekend.”

Following a positive debut in Estonia, Teemu and Mikko are looking to continue their momentum and build on their fifth-place finish.

“Rally Finland is probably my favourite rally and this year it’s going to be really interesting for us,” commented Teemu. “I will take the good experience from Estonia to prepare for Rally Finland. I was really happy with what we achieved in Estonia, which has given me confidence we can continue to progress in Finland.”

WRC2 campaign continues
Our WRC2 crews will return for a consecutive event in Finland – a home rally for our newest crew of Emil and Reeta. With an impressive history in national rallies, Emil’s familiarity with the high speeds and blind crests of the stages should give him an advantage for the weekend.

Fabrizio and Marcelo finished 14th in Estonia and now turn their attention to improving on this at Rally Finland. The Rally2 crew secured seventh in the WRC2 category and fourth in the WRC2 Junior class in 2022.

“Rally Finland is one of the most demanding rallies of the year,” reveals Emil. “In some ways it is similar to Estonia, but the roads are a bit wider and faster; you need to be super committed.”

“We had a positive experience at Rally Finland last year, which is a foundation I would like to build on next week,” said Fabrizio. “We are still chasing a podium finish and it would be nice to mount a challenge for the top three.”

Rally Finland will take place August 3-6.