The final day of Rally Finland uses some of the country’s most famous roads and, finally, the crews will be able to rely wholly on previously used pacenotes. The Laukaa and Ruuhimäki stages are exactly the same as they were in 2019.
The only difference in timing for Sunday is that the final day’s opener (SS16 Laukaa 1) is three minutes earlier than it was two years ago. Otherwise, the remaining three stages start on the same minute.
Two years ago, Ott Tänak was the pacesetter across the four stages, taking 21m50.9s to complete the 28.42 miles at an average of 78mph.
He of course will start the day just 9.1 seconds behind rally leader Elfyn Evans, so it’s all still very much to play for.
SS16/18 Laukaa
Expect this one to be returning an average north of 80mph. It’s fast and wide for its entirety. There’s the odd junction here and there to slow the cars down, but otherwise it’s just mighty fast.
The triangular junction towards the finish remains in place this year, which will help to knock a couple of tenths off the average speed.
SS17/19 Ruuhimäki
A great way to end a great event. Starting off on a narrow, but quick, stretch of road, the stage turns briefly onto asphalt before heading into the woods and back onto the dirt. Out of the woods the cars turn back onto the main Ruuhimäki road and then it’s time for the main event.
No, not the big jump over the flying finish – that’s pretend and all about the showbiz. One of the most daunting stretches of the route comes before that with a series of five rollercoaster jumps on a super-fast stretch of wide road. It’s pure Finland. It’s why we love the place and why we can’t wait for next summer already!
