Rallies are unpredictable and, even when everything seems to be defined, there is always a percentage of unknown that is often so high that it can change things in just one corner. Kalle Rovanpera understood this well, dominating the 2024 edition of Rally Finland, who saw a victory that seemed already assured slip away in SS19, the penultimate stage of the home event.
The stone he found on his racing line with just over a kilometre to go changed his weekend, making it one to forget just like last year when he went out due to his own mistake. But it also permanently changed the weekends of Sébastien Ogier – winner of the event – and World Championship leader Thierry Neuville, who finished second in a weekend that was not very competitive for him and for Hyundai in general.
Ogier found himself with the classic chocolate to unwrap with one stage to go. He simply had to bring the car to the finish to take victory number 61 of his superb WRC career. A phenomenal driver who, thanks to today’s victory, has climbed to second place in the Drivers’ Championship behind Thierry Neuville, who did well to grit his teeth throughout the weekend and avoid the mistakes that all his other rivals made.
That stone, we were saying, changed everything. This also applies to the fight for the World Championship, which now has one more contender (and maybe one or two less). Ogier, given his position after the Rally Finland, will do the rest of the season, so he will take part in the last 4 races to try to win what would be the ninth world championship of his career.
Thierry Neuville came out of it in an exceptional way, good at taking advantage of the mistakes of Ott Tanak first and then of Elfyn Evans – who went out in the same stage in Rovanpera, after just 200 meters from the start – to open the gap on them thanks to the second place overall in Finland, the fourth in the Super Sunday and the second in the Power Stage.
With today’s result, Neuville leads the World Championship with 168 points against Ogier’s 141, Tanak’s 137 and Elfyn Evans’ 132. Adrien Fourmaux closes the Top 5 with 119 points.
And it was the Frenchman from M-Sport who occupied the lowest step of the podium for the fourth time this season. After a terrible Friday in terms of results due to a set-up far from his preferences, Fourmaux managed to change things on Saturday and improve them to the point of often posting competitive times. The transmission failure and the retirement of Evans, combined with that of Rovanpera, opened the doors to an unexpected podium, but one that still confirms his progress.
Sami Pajari finished fourth overall in his debut race at the wheel of a hybrid Rally1. The young Finn took home a prestigious result, even if some of the times he showed between yesterday and today are what stand out, when his starting position was worse than Friday, where he even had the satisfaction of winning a special stage (PS9, ed.).
It was a bittersweet weekend for Toyota, with Rovanpera, Evans and Takamoto Katsuta all retiring before the end of the race, with only Ogier and Pajari to defend their honour. It wasn’t much better for Hyundai Motorsport, which was supported by Neuville and a very strong Sunday from Esapekka Lappi. The Finn, after the accident that led to his retirement yesterday, won the Super Sunday standings and finished third in the Power Stage, stealing points from Ogier.
This is also why the Alzenau team has once again extended its lead in the Constructors’ World Championship, which it leads with 395 points against Toyota’s 375 and M-Sport Ford’s 207.
For Ogier who enters the fight for the World Championship, Evans and Ott Tanak may have played their last, good cards. The Estonian retired on SS3 on Friday, first ending up off the road, then against a tree. We have already spoken about Evans and the impression is that he could become Ogier’s first standard-bearer in the fight for the world title. We will see if Hyundai will try to do the same with Tanak in favor of Neuville.
In WRC2, another success for Oliver Solberg. The Norwegian driver, at the wheel of the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 managed by the TokSport team, takes home a very important success in the fight for the category championship. This success is important for several reasons.
First of all, obviously, that of having dominated the race from the very beginning. He let his opponents vent only occasionally, maintaining with authority and margin the first position until the end of the race.
Jari-Matti Latvala deserves special praise, a sensational second at the wheel of the first Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. The Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal has not raced in the WRC since last year and has not done a full season in the WRC since 2019, but his experience on home roads made the difference in finishing the event behind Solberg and ahead of compatriot Lauri Joona, also at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and winner of the battle with Mikko Heikkila for the third step of the podium.
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