Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Carlos Sainz, Didier Auriol, Markko Martin, Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier and Kris Meeke.
What do they have in common? They are the six non-Scandinavians to have won the most iconic rally of them all, Rally Finland, with the latter becoming the first British driver to win the prestigious event on the 2016 Neste Rally Finland. Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle made the most of a slightly superior road position to take control of what became the fastest rally in WRC history. The pair battled home heroes Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila in their own backyard, who were vowing for a third straight and fourth overall Finland win, with the Polo R not being able to match the searing pace set by the DS3. Ouninpohja was the real turning point of the rally, with Meeke and Nagle waking up an hour early to prepare the roller-coaster ride, which saw them beat Latvala by an astonishing 13 seconds on a near flat out stage. Meeke netted his third WRC victory, his second in as many events and took plaudits for a drive that neither of his World Champion compatriots Colin McRae or Richard Burns could manage. Latvala's run to second was a little disappointing on a rally the Finn is always desperate to win, but it did elevate him to third in the championship. Irishman Craig Breen was however the surprise package of the rally, as on only his third outing this year in a DS3 World Rally Car, he grabbed the final spot on the podium in third. Breen admitted he was "surprisingly comfortable" aboard his Citroen as he tackled the most demanding roads in the world of rallying, and the scenes at the end of the final test were touching as an emotional Breen thanked everyone for their support and paid tribute to his old co-driver Gareth Roberts who was tragically killed in 2012. This result will do Breen the world of good in his pursuit for a full time factory drive in 2017. However, Breen didn't have it easy with the battle of the Hyundai's going on behind him as Craig, Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon all sought after the final podium place. Neither Neuville or Paddon were particularly happy with the set up of their i20s on the Finnish gravel, with the Belgian in particular looking wild on his way to fourth place. Paddon was trying all he could but simply couldn't match the pace of the boys at the front. Sixth is a decent result for M-Sport's lead driver Mads Ostberg after a disappointing Poland, and an equal fastest time was a sign of life from the Norwegian. However, Mads has now slipped to sixth in the championship with his pace in Sardinia being the only real highlight from the last few rallies, so he needs to up his game soon if he is to prove he truly deserves a factory seat at the sport's top level. Seventh place will come as a disappointment to Ostberg's compatriots Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger, who celebrated his birthday on the Friday of the event. Mikkelsen was up in the fight for third after the first day but after Ogier suffered brake problems, the Poland winner found himself running at the head of the field, sweeping the road, and he struggled. However, much like on the other Scandinavian event in Sweden, Andreas was surprisingly ragged through many of the corners. Perhaps it was a case of over-driving on a rally he is maybe expected to do well on, but the net result is his second place in the championship is becoming less secure with Latvala hot on his heels. Eighth overall went to WRC2 winner Esapekka Lappi, who dominated the WRC's premier support category in his works Skoda Fabia R5. Kevin Abbring and Seb Marshall took ninth overall in their first competitive outing in the new-generation i20 as they substituted for the injured Dani Sordo, with Teemu Suninen taking tenth in his R5 Fabia. There were, as ever, some spectacular crashes during the event, which is to be expected on such a fast rally with trees lining the sides of the stages. Lorenzo Bertelli and Eric Camilli both rolled out spectacularly after misjudging one of Finland's many brisk corners on Saturday, with Ott Tanak running wide and smacking into a stone in his pursuit of Craig Breen's third position on Sunday. But what of the World Champion Ogier? Well he was running in an uncharacteristically low third place behind Meeke and team mate Latvala on Friday, the longest leg of the event, before on one of the slowest corners of the rally, his Polo R got sucked into a ditch and beached for an agonising 16 minutes. There were no Power Stage points for the Frenchman either as he started high up the running order on Sunday. Meeke is now the third highest winning driver in the WRC service park, and his sparkling form on every single rally he has contested this year bodes well for 2017 where the new technical regulations come into play. Meeke could very well find himself a serious championship challenger next year. I think everybody certainly hopes so.
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January 2018
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