Ott Tanak of the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team dominated the Arctic Rally Finland, second round of the 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC). The Estonian was never seriously challenged during the 3-day rally over the weekend and finished with a lead of 17.5 seconds. Tanak was fastest in 5 of the 10 snow and ice speed tests in his Hyundai i20.
In second place was Finnish driver Kalle Rovanpera, 29, who has become the youngest ever driver to lead the WRC standings after finishing in a strong second place on home ground at Arctic Rally Finland over the weekend.
Driving a Toyota Yaris WRC, Rovanpera and his co-driver, Jonne Halttunen were among the pacesetters from the beginning of the rally. The rally was closely fought in the snow and ice and by the final day, they were second overall with just a gap of 1.8 seconds from the leader. Putting in maximum effort, Rovanpera extended the margin in the first of the two passes of the Aittajarvi stage.
In the repeat pass on the Power Stage, Rovanpera achieved the best time, securing second overall by 2.3 seconds – the best result of his FIA World Rally Championship career to date. With the Power Stage win, he also claimed the maximum of 5 bonus points on offer towards both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ standings, and now leads the championship for the first time in his career by 4 points over his nearest rival.
“It was quite a difficult weekend. I was pushing really hard and we couldn’t always be on the optimal pace, but we were fighting back all the time. In the Power Stage, I gave everything that I had and it was enough, so we got really good points from here. It’s going to be a new situation for me going to the next event, and we just have to keep up the pace and be consistent like we have been here,” said Rovanpera.
Behind Rovanpera, two more members of the Hyundai team – Thierry Neuville and Craig Breen – finished third and fourth, respectively. However, Elfyn Evans fifth position enabled the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team to continue to lead the Manufacturers’ championship with an 11-point advantage.
TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Takamoto Katsuta gained sixth place on the very last stage in his Yaris WRC, matching the career-best result he achieved on the opening round of the season in Monte Carlo.
Teemu Suninen and Gus Greensmith, in Fiestas of the M-Sport Ford World Really Team, were eighth and ninth, with WRC2 winner Esapekka Lappi completing the top 10 in a Skoda Fabia.
Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola, 1983 WRC champion and 3-time runner-up, passed away on Friday and tributes were made at the awards ceremony, with the Finnish Air Force sending an F-18 Hornet to do a fly past overhead.
The next round of the WRC will be the Croatia Rally, an asphalt event, around the capital of Zagreb on April 22 – 25.
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