It has now already been confirmed that Suninen will compete in February’s Rally Sweden together with his new co-driver Janni Hussi.
Suninen and Hussi will contest WRC2 points in Sweden in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car run by the Delta Rally team.
The upcoming season will be the final one under the current set of regulations. Next season, new technical rules will come into force in the World Rally Championship, which are hoped to bring more competition and manufacturers into the series.
“I see it in a certain way as a transitional season ahead,” Suninen says to RallyJournal.com.
“A great many manufacturers seem to already be shifting their focus to the new era, and of course that is completely understandable. It’s exactly the same thing in every sport,” Suninen continues.
When the series’ technical regulations change, it requires a huge effort from car manufacturers. You need to be ready for it from day one.
“It makes that new era a lot easier when you arrive there with a car that is already ready. It makes the next five, even the next ten years easier, if we now get a long homologation period with the same cars,” Suninen says.
“It will be followed with great interest. We’ll see how many new teams come in and how many more seats there will be. It remains to be seen what kind of generational change will take place there,” Suninen outlines.
A generational change would seem appropriate. The World Rally Championship has for years suffered from the fact that only two full factory teams have competed in the series – Toyota and Hyundai.
Fortunately, there has already been news from behind the scenes that several new car manufacturers would be interested in joining the World Rally Championship in the era of the new regulations.
One new manufacturer will, however, join already this season, as Lancia makes its long-awaited return to the World Championship.
