On Saturday evening at the Lahti harbour, Florent Todeschini, a surprising French driver, was crowned the overall winner of the Historic Rally European Championship round. Competing for the first time on Finnish gravel roads, the 28-year-old’s win was unexpected, despite his known skills in gravel racing, as he had finished second in the French gravel championship for the past two seasons.
However, Todeschini faced a major disappointment during the post-race inspection when his performance was disqualified. The Frenchman’s result was annulled because his Ford Escort 1800 RS was equipped with Watt links to reinforce the rear axle and an electric power steering system, both of which are not permitted in the Historic category of the European Championship.
During the hearing, the driver explained that these modifications are allowed in competitions in France and mentioned that the power steering was turned off. Despite his apology, the stewards disqualified Todeschini’s result, citing that these modifications significantly enhanced the car’s performance.
Following the disqualification, Jari Huttunen, a driver also familiar from the World Rally Championship, was promoted to first place in the overall standings of the Historic Rally European Championship event. Driving a Ford Escort, Huttunen secured the win by a margin of over half a minute ahead of Marko Uutela, who was driving an Opel Ascona. Tommi Hannuksela finished third overall, followed by Sweden’s Sören Olsson and Italy’s Andrea Tonelli.
“It’s been quite fun. I’ve slowly started to get the hang of it. There’s no pressure, so it’s nice to enjoy. If I’ve started to ‘drift,’ I’ve just tried to keep drifting. I haven’t had to worry about the clock,” said Huttunen on Friday, speaking to RallyJournal.com about his first race in the Ford Escort.
Jari-Matti Latvala also competed in the Lahti Historic Rally but was forced to retire on Friday due to a technical issue. He rejoined the race on Saturday and set the fastest time on all six stages. In the day’s overall results, Latvala was nearly three minutes faster than the other competitors.
Lahti Historic Rally results:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jari Huttunen | Ford Escort | 1:14.45.9 |
| 2. | Marko Uutela | Opel Ascona | +31.8 |
| 3. | Tommi Hannuksela | Ford Escort | +3:51.9 |
| 4. | Sören Olsson | Toyota Celica | +4:57.7 |
| 5. | Andrea Tonelli | Ford Escort | +5:16.0 |
| 6. | Petri Fonsell | Toyota Starlet | +5:48.4 |
| 7. | Ernie Graham | Ford Escort | +5:54.1 |
| 8. | Martti Virolainen | Opel Ascona | +6:51.2 |
| 9. | Christophe Jacob | Ford Escort | +7:09.7 |
| 10. | Jukka Jalonen | Audi Quattro | +7:39.7 |
