The high-speed period of the World Rally Championship schedule continues this weekend with flat-out stages and high-speed jumps as Rally Finland hosts the eighth round of the year.
The crowd will be out in full force this year as recently emerged home hero Kalle Rovanperä continues to strengthen his hold on the championship lead.
He won last time out in Estonia, but can he do it again on home soil?
Here’s all the information you need ahead of Rally Finland:
Entry breakdown
Total 45 crews
12 Priority 1 crews
24 Priority 2 crews (WRC2)
5 Priority 3 crews (WRC3)
4 Non-priority crews
Rally1
The Rally1 start list remains largely the same as Estonia, with one additional entry in the mix.
Both Hyundai and Toyota will field the same lineup as last time in Estonia, with Oliver Solberg remaining in the third seat for Hyundai and Esapekka Lappi contesting his home rally in Toyota’s fourth seat.
M-Sport is the only Rally1 team to slightly modify the driver lineup, adding a fifth car to its roster. Jari Huttunen steps into the Puma as he looks for a good performance at home.
WRC2
The field in WRC2 sees Hayden Paddon back in the mix for a second consecutive rally in a privateer Hyundai.
However, he’ll be hoping for better luck this time around after being forced out of Rally Estonia due to a positive COVID-19 test on the first full day of running.
Emil Lindholm and Teemu Suninen feature on their home rally. The pair head to Finland on the back of a podium on Rally Estonia, finishing third and second respectively.
Championship contenders Andreas Mikkelsen and Kajetan Kajetanowicz do not feature on this weekend’s rally. The former took the championship lead after victory in Estonia, with Kajetanowicz now trailing by three points.
WRC3
Jan Černý is the only non-Finnish driver to be contesting Rally Finland in the WRC3 category this weekend.
Lauri Joona is back once again after his second-place finish on Rally Estonia and will be keen to take a good result as he looks to close the gap on championship leader Sami Pajari.
Černý will also be looking to gain an advantage over his rivals who aren’t taking part this weekend with a good haul of points.
Itinerary
A little over 200 miles will greet the drivers with the large jumps and fast corners sure to test every car.
A first test on the Harju stage on Thursday evening will lead into a day of nine stages in total on Friday, with the longest stage of the rally, Lankamaa, featuring twice on the first full day.
Saturday will be the longest leg of the weekend with 93 miles worth of stages facing the drivers across the day with a second pass of Vekkula ending the day’s running.
And in store for the drivers on the final day will be two passes of Oittila and Ruuhimäki, the latter remaining as the final test of the weekend just as it was last year.
