Neste Oil Rally Finland 2011

[Kriss]

Approved Entry list:
http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/atta ... -38253.pdf

[sleenster]

Thanks Kriss

My favorite rally on the calendar

[Mar]

Counting the days for the rally to start!

[Claudie_Schnaudie]

And how many days?

Looking forward to this rally as well It will be a tough one for Kimi with all the WRC cars but hope he makes progress with his times! If I remember correctly we weren´t that happy with his driving last year!

[sleenster]

So...how about some WRC news?

[Mar]

And how many days?

Looking forward to this rally as well It will be a tough one for Kimi with all the WRC cars but hope he makes progress with his times! If I remember correctly we weren´t that happy with his driving last year!

Still two weeks more to go I was sooooo sure it was next week. I need rallies NOW.

And nope, his driving was not good at all last year.

[sleenster]

And how many days?

Looking forward to this rally as well It will be a tough one for Kimi with all the WRC cars but hope he makes progress with his times! If I remember correctly we weren´t that happy with his driving last year!

Still two weeks more to go I was sooooo sure it was next week. I need rallies NOW.

And nope, his driving was not good at all last year.

Me too, I thought it was next weekend too, so no recce on Monday

[sleenster]

Hirvonen: Finland will be close

Home hero Mikko Hirvonen reckons this year's Neste Oil Rally Finland will be one of the closest yet - and expects several privateers from Finland to spring a surprise on the world championship qualifier.

The high-speed gravel rally, which is based in Jyvaskyla from 28-30 July, boasts the strongest entry of the season with 124 cars - and the highest number of latest generation World Rally Cars so far this year, 21.

Beyond the usual factory machines, which include the Ford Fiesta RS WRCs of Hirvonen and his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, drivers like Jari Ketomaa, Janne Tuohino (both in Fiesta RS WRCs) and Matti Rantanen in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC are also expected to figure strongly.

“These boys can be quick,” said Hirvonen. “Both Jari and Janne have had good results in the past and they will be in there fighting. But [Matti] Rantanen is a really interesting entry. He has gone really fast before and, if he gets another good result this time, then he’s still definitely young enough to get some interest from a manufacturer for the future.”

Hirvonen admitted he was counting the days before the start of him home round of the series. “It’s the summer in Finland and you can feel the anticipation coming for the rally,” he said. “It’s so exciting, I love this time. I can’t wait to get started to be honest.”

The 30-year-old will be keen to eclipse the memory of his monstrous crash on last year’s rally - preferring to remember his victory on the 2009 event instead.

“It’s going to be a big fight, like always,” said Hirvonen, “and the entry for this year is definitely one of the strongest in recent years. It’s not quite the same as when I started out and I was competing against the likes of Tommi [Makinen] and Colin [McRae], but the championship is definitely coming back, you can feel that and see it from the entry list for Finland.”

http://wrc.com/news/hirvonen-finland-wi ... ?fid=15002

[momo]

20 Jul 11
Gronholm reveals key to Finland success
Seven-time Neste Oil Rally Finland winner Marcus Gronholm reckons courage and brains are key to success on the world championship qualifier, which takes place in Jyvaskyla in the centre of the country from 28-30 July.

The 43-year-old ex-Ford and Peugeot legend took part on his first Rally Finland in 1989, when the event was still called the 1000 Lakes Rally, and claimed his maiden victory 11 years later alongside long-term co-driver Timo Rautiainen.

In many ways, winning in Finland is less complicated than on other rallies. The surface of the stages is usually super-smooth, meaning there are less rocks or ruts to catch drivers out and there are fewer junctions and slow-speed technical sections where drivers need to get into the right rhythm and keep it flowing.

“To tackle [Rally Finland] you need courage but you have to be clever too,” said Gronholm. “You need to know the road is fast and where it is fastest. The rally is a series of twists, corners and jumps. The pace notes have to be perfect, they tell you where to place the car on the road before taking off, flat-out over a blind crest. You have to have maximum trust and faith in your co-driver on this rally.”

One man who famously underestimated Finland was the mighty Colin McRae. When the Scotsman arrived in the country for the first time in 1992, he thought he could carry the fight to the locals. So, he cast his lack of knowledge of the road before him aside, and focused on going as fast as possible. He rolled once before the start and then twice more during the rally. It is reckoned his Subaru Legacy RS rolled on a total of 11 occasions.

Talking about his second accident, the late McRae said: “The note wasn’t quite right. The corner tightened more than I had expected it to and we went off the road.”

http://www.wrc.com/news/gronholm-reveal ... ?fid=15017

[Suomileijona]

Grazie, Momo!

[momo]

Grazie, Momo!

Prego, Suomileijona è un piacere!

[sleenster]

Solberg and Räikkönen ready for Rally Finland

Citroën Racing Technologies will provide two Citroën DS3 WRCs for Norwegian Petter Solberg and Finn Kimi Räikkönen for the Neste Oil Rally Finland, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The two Scandinavians will be among the crowd’s favourites in what is one of the most famous
events in the WRC.

Petter Solberg, currently in the top 5 in the Drivers’ World Championship title chase, will be one of the most experienced drivers at the start of this event. In 169 WRC outings it will be his thirteenth outing in Rally Finland. It is also the rally that Kimi Räikkönen knows best as he has competed in the last two events in 2009-10.

The two drivers each spent two days at the wheel of the Citroën DS3 WRC on terrain similar to that of Rally Finland to prepare for this round. “We worked in similar conditions to those of a works team,” said Benoit Nogier, the Citroën Racing Technologies team principal. “There was a combination of humps and wide, quick sections. The roads were comparable to the ones we’ll race on next week.”

“Our drivers were a bit worried about how the car would handle at very high speed. This test session has reassured them about the balance of the DS3 R3. Petter Solberg was very happy with our setup. We did a good job to help him start Rally Finland as a potential victory contender. The fact that he’s got to grips with the car means that he can tackle this rally in a confident frame of mind.”

Kimi Räikkönen will start his long Finnish week on Sunday 24th July with the Red Bull Road Show in Helsinki with Sébastien Loeb.

“Kimi loves his country and his rally,” insisted Benoît Nogier. “He really enjoyed his two-day test and he got the car to handle to his liking. He has a logical approach. He was his usual self, did not get excited and kept his unflappable calm. The road-show will help him to immerse himself in the ambiance of the rally. We hope he’ll drive a consistent race and close the gap to the front-runners.”

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson are currently lying fifth in the world championship with 73 points. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström are eighth with 24 points from four events. In the manufacturers’ classification the Petter Solberg World Rally Team is fourth in front of ICE1 Racing in fifth place.

http://i.imgur.com/QcewY.png

[Mar]

...
He was his usual self, did not get excited and kept his unflappable calm.
...

http://i.imgur.com/QcewY.png

Oh com'on!

Thanks Sleenster

[sleenster]

Welcome Mar

Alen tips Latvala for Finland glory

22nd July 2011
By Charlie Contadeli

World championship legend Markku Alen reckons Jari-Matti Latvala will have the edge over his Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen on Rally Finland next week.

Alen, a six-time winner of the high-speed gravel showcase, believes Latvala’s frustrating season means he will be more determined to bag his second victory on the Jyvaskyla-based event.

“I have to say that I think Jari-Matti Latvala is a little bit sharper and hungrier at the moment,” Alen told WRC.com. “Mikko Hirvonen is maybe thinking more of taking points [because he is second in the championship], he seems a bit nervous, and that maybe means that he is not driving as naturally as he could.”

Whatever the outcome on the world championship qualifier, Alen is hoping for a home victory.

“Well, if it isn't a Finn who wins, this is a catastrophe,” said Alen. “It's a huge source of national pride, as it’s Finland versus France at the moment. I don't mind who wins as long as he is Finnish.”

[momo]

Solberg and Räikkönen ready for Rally Finland

Citroën Racing Technologies will provide two Citroën DS3 WRCs for Norwegian Petter Solberg and Finn Kimi Räikkönen for the Neste Oil Rally Finland, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The two Scandinavians will be among the crowd’s favourites in what is one of the most famous
events in the WRC.

Petter Solberg, currently in the top 5 in the Drivers’ World Championship title chase, will be one of the most experienced drivers at the start of this event. In 169 WRC outings it will be his thirteenth outing in Rally Finland. It is also the rally that Kimi Räikkönen knows best as he has competed in the last two events in 2009-10.

The two drivers each spent two days at the wheel of the Citroën DS3 WRC on terrain similar to that of Rally Finland to prepare for this round. “We worked in similar conditions to those of a works team,” said Benoit Nogier, the Citroën Racing Technologies team principal. “There was a combination of humps and wide, quick sections. The roads were comparable to the ones we’ll race on next week.”

“Our drivers were a bit worried about how the car would handle at very high speed. This test session has reassured them about the balance of the DS3 R3. Petter Solberg was very happy with our setup. We did a good job to help him start Rally Finland as a potential victory contender. The fact that he’s got to grips with the car means that he can tackle this rally in a confident frame of mind.”

Kimi Räikkönen will start his long Finnish week on Sunday 24th July with the Red Bull Road Show in Helsinki with Sébastien Loeb.

“Kimi loves his country and his rally,” insisted Benoît Nogier. “He really enjoyed his two-day test and he got the car to handle to his liking. He has a logical approach. He was his usual self, did not get excited and kept his unflappable calm. The road-show will help him to immerse himself in the ambiance of the rally. We hope he’ll drive a consistent race and close the gap to the front-runners.”

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson are currently lying fifth in the world championship with 73 points. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström are eighth with 24 points from four events. In the manufacturers’ classification the Petter Solberg World Rally Team is fourth in front of ICE1 Racing in fifth place.

http://i.imgur.com/QcewY.png

Thanks Sleenster!