Lauri Joona is heading to his second WRC event of the season in Croatia. The snowy roads of Sweden are now swapped for challenging tarmac conditions.
“At this stage, I still have expectant feelings. That feeling might change after the first stage if things don’t go as planned,” Joona anticipates.
Joona still has fresh memories of the Croatian asphalt, having already driven in the Quattro River Rally Karlovac earlier this month. However, the challenge now is naturally much greater.
“We are starting the competition with fairly modest goals. This Rally2 car doesn’t have too much experience on tarmac, but we are aiming to progress throughout the event. We are definitely not just going for a drive, but trying to learn all the time. It’s certainly going to be a challenging race,” Joona continued.
Croatia showed its many different faces during the pacenoting already. Sometimes it even snowed on the stages.
“Admittedly, it added interest when it started snowing and there was slush on the road. It certainly doesn’t make things any easier. Some parts had very new tarmac, and there will definitely be a lot of cutting. You have to be very careful when driving,” Joona said.
Lead cars are now being used in the WRC2 class in Croatia. The drivers’ requests have finally been answered.
“I don’t have much experience, so it’s hard to say whether it’s a good or bad thing. On the other hand, it’s the same for everyone, so in that sense, it’s certainly fair,” Joona said.
“It’s a great thing in that it prepares you for the major class.”
Toni Gardemeister and Tuukka Shemeikka are driving the lead car, and both are already familiar to Joona. This eases preparation, but Joona has also used other methods.
“I’ve watched incar footage from other Finnish drivers, like Kalle (Rovanperä), and seen what terms they used. I haven’t tried to reinvent the wheel, but instead tried to find good terms that are already in use,” Joona revealed.
For Toyota’s Sami Pajari, the Croatian event is already his third WRC rally of the season. Pajari has competed in Monte Carlo and Sweden earlier this season.
“Pretty good feelings. After Monte, we’ve managed to incorporate quite a few new things into the car for tarmac driving. The shakedown went quite nicely, so everything is quite okay,” Pajari told RallyJournal.com.
Pajari is heading to Croatia with modest goals.
“I don’t want to drive too slowly, but there’s no absolute need to win and score points either. We’ll try to drive at a good pace and improve throughout,” Pajari pondered.
The level in the WRC2 class is currently very high.
“Even in Monte, I was talking with competitors about how rare it is to have races where you are pushing flat out all the time. The level is really high, but we’ll try to keep up,” Pajari anticipates.
Pajari is now trying to learn from challenging tarmac races, and the areas for improvement are clear.
“In Monte, there were many stages that went really well, but also those that didn’t go so well. We’re trying to improve on those.”
The Croatia Rally starts on Friday morning and ends on Sunday.
