Latvala and Hussi set a convincing fastest time on all six special stages of the day. The Finnish duo, competing in a Toyota Celica ST185, lead the rally by a remarkable margin of three minutes ahead of fellow Finns Marko Uutela and Ville Mäkelä, who are competing in an Opel Ascona.
In third place overall in the historic rally are the British pairing of Seb Perez and Dale Bowen in a Porsche, already four minutes adrift of the leaders. Fourth place is held by Poland’s Maciej Lubiak, also driving a Porsche (+4:26.6), with Britain’s Will Graham in a BMW in fifth (+4:51.8).
Latvala and Hussi began their season in the European Historic Championship in fine style, taking victories in both the Costa Brava Rally in Spain and the Vltava Rally in the Czech Republic. However, they were then forced to retire from both the French round and the traditional Ypres Rally in Belgium.
At the Rally Finland WRC event in early August, Latvala and Hussi finished second in the WRC2 class. Victory went to fellow Finn Roope Korhonen by just 1.1 seconds. In the overall classification, the duo finished 12th.
Lahti is currently hosting quite the rallying super weekend, with not only the European Historic Championship round but also a Finnish Championship event taking place. In addition, competitors from Finland’s Historic Rally Trophy and regularity rally entrants are also in action.
On Saturday in Lahti, the European Historic Championship contenders will face a further six special stages, covering almost 74 kilometres in total.
