Success did not come easily in the rally that concluded on Saturday. The promising young driver from Laukaa set out in pursuit of victory, but things turned difficult right from the morning. The setup of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 was off, making the car difficult to drive.
“It wasn’t an easy rally. We knew it would be slippery, but it was a bit surprising just how slippery it actually was. I don’t know, maybe the car’s setup wasn’t ideal. The rear just wouldn’t stay on the road at all. It was really hard to drive, and I simply couldn’t go any faster,” Kauppinen summed up to RallyJournal.com.
“Every time I tried to push a bit, I’d instantly end up hanging on the verge. I just couldn’t increase the speed.”
Kauppinen made an impressive charge on the rally’s final stage, a monster 33-kilometre test. Before the last special stage, the 18-year-old rally ace was in fourth place, trailing Niclas Grönholm by 6.6 seconds. On the final test, Kauppinen managed to overtake Grönholm by just two tenths of a second.
“I did go for it. That was the minimum target, and we managed to achieve it,” Kauppinen said.
After four rounds, Kauppinen is second in the Finnish Rally Championship standings. Esapekka Lappi, who skipped the season opener, has climbed to the top of the standings with back-to-back wins. The veteran and the young talent are now separated by eight points.
Three rounds remain in this year’s Finnish Rally Championship. The season continues in July in Kouvola, followed by rounds in Lahti in August and Seinäjoki in September.
However, Kauppinen’s schedule will remain busy even before the Kouvola SM rally, with events coming up on asphalt in Italy and in the European Rally Championship in Poland. In Italy and the ERC, Kauppinen will compete in a Lancia Rally4 car. Before Kouvola, he plans to carry out thorough testing.
“This was still a clean rally, and we got some good points. It’s a good base to build on. Hopefully, we’ll get solid testing done before the next rally and manage to keep the rear end on the road,” Kauppinen told.
