Rally Finland: Rally Route








RALLY FINLAND
ROUND 9 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
31 July - 3 August 2008

Thursday 31 July: Day 1 Jyvaskyla - Jyvaskyla
Start Jyvaskyla Paviljonki 19.00
SS1 SSS Killeri 1 2.06km 19.45
Finish Jyvaskyla Paviljonki 20.15

Friday 1 August: Day 1 (continued) Jyvaskyla - Jyvaskyla
Serv A Paviljonki (15 mins) 06.30
SS2 Vellipohja 1 17.16km 07.30
SS3 Mokkipera 1 11.38km 08.26
SS4 Palsankyla 1 13.90km 09.09
Serv B Paviljonki (30 mins) 10.32
SS5 Vellipohja 2 17.16km 11.47
SS6 Mokkipera 2 11.38km 12.43
SS7 Palsankyla 2 13.90km 13.26
Serv C Paviljonki (30 mins) 14.49
SS8 Urria 12.65km 16.18
SS9 Lautapera 7.87km 16.50
SS10 Jukojarvi 22.18km 17.29
SS11 SSS Killeri 2 2.06km 20.00
Serv D Paviljonki (45 mins) 20.30
Finish Paviljonki 21.15
Total 131.70km

Saturday 2 August: Day 2 Jyvaskyla - Jyvaskyla
Serv E Paviljonki (15 mins) 06.00
SS12 Himos 15.35km 07.13
SS13 Hirvimaki 10.67km 08.09
SS14 Surkee 1 14.80km 08.34
Serv F Paviljonki (30 mins) 09.33
SS15 Leustu 21.43km 10.46
SS16 Kakaristo 1 20.09km 11.45
SS17 Kaipolanvuori 13.64km 12.26
SS18 Surkee 2 14.80km 13.31
Serv G Paviljonki (30 mins) 14.30
SS19 Kakaristo 2 20.09km 16.13
SS20 Juupajoki 21.13km 17.03
SS21 Vaarinmaja 16.25km 17.56
Serv H Paviljonki (45 mins) 19.51
Finish Paviljonki 20.36
Total 168.25km

Sunday 3 August: Day 3 Jyvaskyla - Jyvaskyla
Serv I Paviljonki (15 mins) 08.20
SS22 Lankamaa 23.09km 09.38
SS23 Hannula 10.92km 10.44
SS24 Ruuhimaki 6.46km 12.02
Finish Paviljonki 13.30
Total 40.47km

Rally total 340.42km
211.53 Miles

What a great battle, I was very impressed with the pace Loeb and Hirvonen were able to keep up throughout the whole event, to be only 9 seconds apart, when the next closest driver is over 3 minutes behind is incredible.

Good drive from Atkinson, I'm glad he was able to find some speed, I was worried the new car would destroy his excellent season so far. Apart from the problems on Day 1 they both went pretty well and Petter narrowly missed out on pipping Henning to 5th place.

Although Suzuki are still lacking, they've obviously made improvements, well done Toni!

I've been saying all year that Latvala is quick, but his driving style is a bit too ragged and it showed again here with 2 accidents in the rally and no points, dropping him to 5th in the World Championship. The same could be said about Galli's style too actually.

A good return to the rally season I felt.

Result:
1. Loeb
2. Hirvonen
3. Atkinson
4. Sordo
5. H. Solberg
6. P. Solberg
7. Rantanen
8. Gardemeister

Yeah the Hirvonen/Loeb battle was intense. I was surprised Loeb was setting the pace, but it was close enough it came down to one mistake being a possible position loser for Seb. Atkinson...wow, he just was on fire throughout days 2 and 3.

As for Latvala, he is a great driver, he's finding his consistency more, but Finland has historically been one of his weaker events, so I wasn't too surprised to see him fall.

Does anyone else see a resemblance?

wtf?

Is this the rally in the snow, or is that the Swedish?

Sweden's in the snow (also in february). Finland actually has the temperatures rise above freezing in early August, believe it or not.

Norway is a snow rally too.

Yeah but it was removed from the 2008 calendar.

Oh shit, I forgot, I can't believe that it was over a year ago, I thought it was this season.

Wow...With the baby here, and not sleeping too much I have needed something to watch while she falls back asleep. So I downloaded this rally.

I haven't watched a WRC event in a few years, and I have to say I like it much more now. Nost sure if the coverage has changed, or if it's my taste, but I really enjoyed this.

Being a fanboi and all, feel free to discredit this, but wow...Subaru kicked ass for having a car with only two previous rallies under it's belt. And the STI looks so fucking gorgeous. I have to conclude it's the best looking car on the grid. I really really want one now. Lets see, at a buck a word, I would need to write about 50,000 words to be able to afford one, that's just a small book then...

Now a noob question. Where is Mitsubishi? I know they withdrew their works team, but I assumed that the EVO X was still a homologation model...

No Mitsubishi.

The Subaru is the UGLIEST car in the event.

There is no grid so saying "best looking car on the grid" is technically incorrect. I'm a dick.

Suzuki is in its first year-- hence, the terrible performance and reliability woes.

Loeb is still a monster.

Hirvonen still needs development time before he can really become the 'Top Finnish Driver' in WRC and replace Marcus Gronholm.

Atkinson is a future Champion.

I love the way the Subaru WRC looks. And yeah, Mitsubishi's been gone since 2005, though you still see a privateer running one now and again. The Evo X isn't in the WRC and I don't think it will be in 2009 either.

I beginning to think the SX4 won't ever make much of an impact. It's like the Skoda Fabia.

^ All True