It’s been a very long seven years. It doesn’t matter now. It’s back. And it’s back properly. Welcome home Ouninpohja.
The route for Secto Rally Finland was announced in Helsinki on Tuesday afternoon and it was one name, 33 kilometres – 20 miles – of gravel that dominated the day. You almost had to feel for stages like Saarikas, making its debut on the Rally Finland roster, as Ouninpohja’s return overshadowed everything else.
As you would expect, we’ll have plenty of words on the road Colin McRae named his horse after, but in the meantime, what else is new for Finland this year?
The iconic yellow house jump has been absent from the WRC since 2017
Compared with last season, 61% of the stage mileage has been changed and 12% is new since the start of the World Rally Car era in 1997.
Running from August 1-4, the Wednesday evening ceremonial start dockside on the Jyväskylä harbour remains, with Ruuhimäki used for shakedown and competitively on Friday. As usual, the precursor to flying the Finnish forests comes with Thursday night’s dash around the Harju street stage.
For the first full day, Laukaa and Myhinpää remain from last year. The former is slightly longer, the latter just the same. In addition, there’s the all-new Saarikas test and Ruuhimäki. All done twice and closing with a second shot at Harju. The Friday changes are aimed at making the route more fan-friendly, offering the opportunity to find a spot and stay there all day, with plenty to keep spectators entertained.
Friday has been optimized for spectators – and there's another run of Harju as the cherry on top
Saturday is based around Jämsä again with two loops of three: Västilä, Päijälä and Ouninpohja. The first two are the same, but the third is back to its best – and run in the traditional south-north direction. Sections of Ouninpohja have been used in recent years – last season the Kakaristo junction was a hugely popular part of the Rapsula stage, but this time it’s got everything, from the yellow house to the steps to the junction where Phil Mills famously told Petter Solberg: “It gets faster now.”
Sunday includes last year’s Moksi stage run in the opposite direction, starting from Sahloinen this time and the classic Laajavuori test for the powerstage. Both run twice, but Laajavuori is longer second time around (5.2 miles as opposed to 2.5 on the first run).
After three days and 189 flat-out miles, it’s back to where it all started for the finish alongside the harbour in Jyväskylä.
All of the above is Kai Tarkiainen’s work. He’s the clerk of the course and the man who’s been creating Rally Finland routes since 2008.
One lake inspected, 999 to go
“I do honestly believe that this is an exceptional all-in route,” he said. “It’s one of the best-ever. Here in Finland, we’re very lucky to benefit from excellent feedback from all our stakeholders, and we have taken on board everything they said to come up with a route that successfully blends tradition with innovation.
“Of course, some of the headline stages are still there, but in a different form compared to how we have seen them before, and we also have some brand-new roads. We’ve grouped the stages in such a way that spectators can have a very easy and user-friendly experience, while sampling the very best that Rally Finland can offer.
“Sustainability and community is extremely high up our agenda, so we have also considered this very carefully when planning our 2024 itinerary. The result is an event that benefits not only local communities, but the entire global family of rallying as a whole.”
Secto Rally Finland route
Wednesday July 31
Start Jyväskylä Harbour 1900
Thursday August 1
Shakedown Ruuhimäki 1000
SS1 Harju 1 (2.16 miles) 1905
Friday August 2
SS2 Laukaa 1 (11.18 miles) 0813
SS3 Saarikas 1 (9.63 miles) 0920
SS4 Myhinpää 1 (9.63 miles) 1035
SS5 Ruuhimäki 1 (4.82 miles) 1205
Service Paviljonki 1327
SS6 Laukaa 2 (11.18 miles) 1510
SS7 Saarikas 2 (9.63 miles) 1617
SS8 Myhinpää 2 (9.63 miles) 1732
SS9 Ruuhimäki 2 (4.82 miles) 1905
SS10 Harju 2 (1.24 miles) 2005
Service Paviljonki 2040
Saturday August 3
SS11 Västilä 1 (11.76 miles) 0905
SS12 Päijälä 1 (12.54 miles) 1005
SS13 Ouninpohja 1 (20.50 miles) 1105
Service Paviljonki 1310
SS14 Västilä 2 (11.76 miles) 1535
SS15 Päijälä 2 (12.54 miles) 1635
SS16 Ouninpohja 2 (20.50 miles) 1735
Service Paviljonki 1930
Sunday August 4
SS17 Sahloinen-Moksi 1 (8.94 miles) 0855
SS18 Laajavuori 1 (2.50 miles) 1005
SS19 Sahloinen-Moksi 2 (8.94 miles) 1117
SS20 Laajavuori 2 (5.20 miles) 1315
Finish Paviljonki 1500
