The fifth round of the Production Car World Rally Championship, “Neste Oil Rally Finland”, was held from 29th to 31st July in Jyväskylä, in the heart of Finland. The rally, formerly known as the “1000 Lakes Rally”, is also known as the “Gravel Grand Prix” due to the high speed nature of the course and an exciting battle was expected to unfold.
Hopes were high for the 3 TEIN supported drivers this round. P.Flodin, currently sitting in 2nd position in the P-WRC, was looking to step closer to gaining his first championship title. J.Salo, a local favorite, is currently leading the local Finnish Rally Championship (FRC) series and A.Lindholm the son of the great Finnish rally driver Sebastian Lindholm.
This rally was slightly different to the others, with day 1 starting on Thursday and the rally ending on Saturday. P.Flodin driving the Impreza (GRB), looking for his first championship title had to rent a rally car for this rally because there wasn’t enough time to repair the damage sustained to his car in the last Russian Rally Championship round held recently. P-WRC point’s leader, A.Araujo, passed on this round giving P.Flodin the opportunity to take the championship lead.
In SS1, P.Flodin managed to set the fourth fastest time, and gradually started to increase his pace until he was troubled with mechanical problems. He continued to push hard and managed to finish the day in 2nd position. Day 2 didn’t bring anymore luck as during SS14 he suffered engine failure and unfortunately had to retire from the rally. J.Salo on the other hand was having an excellent rally driving his Lancer Evo.X (CZ4A). He set the fastest time in SS1 and also managed to do the same 4 stages in a row from SS3 to SS6. He was driving in a league of his own, until SS7 when he went off course, hitting a rock and damaging his steering system. This unfortunately forced him to retire from the rally.
Up and coming young Finnish driver, A.Lindhom, whose father is the great rally driver Sebastian Lindholm, took part using the TYPE Gr.N damper and drove a steady and consistent rally. Unfortunately he went off course on SS8, but managed to come back due to the super rally system, and continued on to finish the rally unscathed.
Round 6 of the P-WRC will be a fast tarmac rally held in Germany. Look forward to more action from all TEIN users and the Type Gr.N damper. |
