Roaring through Central Finland’s forests – WRC leader kicks off Hyundai’s preparations

What’s a sure sign that the WRC Rally Finland is approaching? Of course, it's the teams arriving in Central Finland for testing!
Thierry Neuville
Thierry Neuville. Photo by: Ilkka Lamminsivu
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The dust from the Latvian WRC round has barely settled, but now the action has shifted to testing in Finland. Hyundai, the leader in the manufacturers’ championship, began their preparations on Tuesday, with the championship leader Thierry Neuville taking the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car.

Hyundai is conducting their pre-Finnish rally tests in their own testing area around Jämsä. After Neuville, the testing duties will be handed over to the championship’s second-placed driver Ott Tänak and the team’s Finnish driver Esapekka Lappi.

Last weekend in Latvia, Neuville had the unenviable task of starting the rally as the road sweeper. The Belgian suffered significantly from his starting position, ultimately finishing only in eighth place.

On the hard-packed gravel roads of Central Finland, being the first car doesn’t penalise as much, although the racing line does get cleaned of loose gravel with each passing car. During Tuesday’s test, Neuville tried to fine-tune the car’s settings to ensure that top speed won’t be compromised by setup issues next week.

See below for pictures and videos from Neuville’s test.

Thierry Neuville
Thierry Neuville. Photo by: Ilkka Lamminsivu
Thierry Neuville
Thierry Neuville. Photo by: Ilkka Lamminsivu

Toyota also started their own testing programme on Tuesday, likewise in Central Finland. The team’s Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta was behind the wheel on Tuesday.

See below for a video of Katsuta’s test.

The Toyota WRC team will start their home rally with five Rally1 cars. Kalle Rovanperä, who has won the last two events, Sebastien Ogier, and Elfyn Evans will be collecting manufacturers’ points for the team in Jyväskylä. Katsuta and Sami Pajari, who is making his Rally1 debut, will compete outside the factory team.

Evans will conduct his preparations this coming weekend in the HYACenter Rally near Tampere. He participated in the same event last year and went on to win the Rally Finland a week later.

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