The big one might still be a week away, but the World Rally Championship vibe has already hit Finland with a number of competitors taking on this weekend’s HYAcenter Rally – including Toyota driver Elfyn Evans.
The Welshman and his Rally1 Yaris will unquestionably steal the show in Tampere, but he’s far from the only WRC regular in town.
So why are so many international stars descending on a one-day Finnish rally? And what do you need to know about this event? We’ve got your questions covered, with thanks to the event’s PR officer Jarno Saari for his help and insight:
What is HYAcenter Rally?
World Rally teams have regularly entered the event ahead of Rally Finland
Unlike most events which either exist as part of national-level championships or sit higher on the international rallying calendar, HYAcenter has been designed purely as a WRC test event.
It even says as much on its own website.
First run in 1991, the event’s roll of honor includes world champions Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen, Marcus Grönholm and Kalle Rovanperä, along with WRC winners François Delecour, Harri Rovanperä, Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi.
The rally took a break an 11-year hiatus after 2004, returning in 2015 but without Finnish championship status as it focused on moulding itself as the ideal testing event ahead of Rally Finland.
Without any championship regulations to adhere to, HYAcenter can essentially become a scaled-down WRC event, which is why it has become so popular with factory WRC teams and privateer competitors alike.
Who’s competing?
Evans is the star attraction in his Rally1 Toyota
Sadly this year’s entry features just one Rally1 car – last year’s boasted three – but that car will be driven by two-time and defending Rally Finland winner Elfyn Evans.
Britain’s Gus Greensmith (Škoda) and Spain’s Jan Solans (Toyota) bring further international flavor to the Rally2 class, taking on a hoard of local experts including Roope Korhonen (Toyota), 2019 and 2021 HYAcenter winner Lauri Joona (Škoda) and 17-year-old Tuukka Kauppinen (Škoda) who makes his first start in a Rally2 car ahead of a WRC2 debut in Finland.
Several Junior WRC contenders are also out in their Ford Fiesta Rally3s, including Paraguay’s Diego Domínguez, Ireland’s Eamonn Kelly, Bolivia’s Nataniel Bruun and Peru’s Andre Martinez Merizalde.
It’s not all about the WRC stars though. Sweden’s Isak Reiersen has entered his Škoda and is the number three seed, as has his compatriot Fredrik Grahn, along with Finnish drivers Juhana Raitanen (Toyota) and Anssi Rytkönen (Škoda)
Why is this rally important?
Gus Greensmith is among the international contingent
Essentially HYAcenter is an appetizer for Rally Finland – a small taste of what’s to come in just a few days’ time.
This weekend stage times don’t really matter; instead the onus for those competing is on setups and their feeling behind the wheel on roads that are steeped in history.
“In the ’80s and ’90s the rally route came to Tampere, and we had the overnight halt in Tampere some years,” Saari explains.
“Regulations today say that events need to have the same headquarters and service area, but some of the Rally Finland stages now are quite near Tampere and have similar kind of roads to what we have.
“We have seven stages this year and only one of them has not been used in Rally Finland in the past.”
Rally Finland used to regularly visit Tampere, like in 1992 (pictured, Juha Kankkunen)
But crucially, they are representative of the “rollercoaster” stages used near Jyväskylä today – making them ideal as a pre-Rally Finland warm-up or test. As is the schedule, which Saari says “will demonstrate one day of a World Rally Championship event”.
He explains: “There are some stages repeated and then the service in the middle of the day, and we have of course the shakedown the day before. So this is an ideal testing event.
“The national drivers already know it – if they are entering they are just training and getting some mileage. But all the foreign drivers who are coming, they are really testing the conditions and getting the feeling for these kind of roads and to make the pacenotes for these kind of roads. That’s really, really important.”
The rally takes place on Saturday, July 27, with shakedown running today (Friday).
