This year’s Rally Finland offers plenty of completely new stages, as the majority of the stages are entirely new – although classic stages have not been forgotten either.
The biggest – and certainly the most talked-about – change is that the legendary Ouninpohja special stage is not included in the rally at all this year. Last year, the rally culminated on Sunday with the Ouninpohja stage run twice, but now the iconic special stage will take at least a one-year break.
Instead of Ouninpohja, Sunday will now consist of the Jämsä-Himos stage, run twice, which measures just over 30 kilometres in length. The good experiences from last year are also reflected in this choice, as on this stage spectators can get very close to the action and see both the rally finish and the closing festivities from the same area.
“I’ve been really happy with this for quite some time already, and now it’s a relief that we no longer have to keep anything secret, but can openly get to work with our special stage organisers and landowners,” Rally Finland clerk of the course Kai Tarkiainen tells Rallyjournal.com.
“I’m really pleased with what the route team has been doing together with (Kari) Nuutinen. A good route has been put together,” Tarkiainen praises.
Deputy clerk of the course and route planner Kari Nuutinen is also beaming with satisfaction. The challenges thrown in the way of route planning were successfully tackled.
“Of course I’m happy with it. The FIA threw quite a challenge at us there. Never before has this event been put together in such a compact package,” Nuutinen says.
“It was, of course, quite an effort for our route team, but through that we were also able to move into completely new territory and eventually put together a sufficiently compact package. Right now, the feeling is really good,” Nuutinen says.
Kai Tarkiainen had already praised the work of the route team earlier. According to him, the team succeeded excellently in digging up completely new roads for Rally Finland. It was not easy, however.
“This is the kind of puzzle where there are always at least a thousand different variables,” Nuutinen says.
“The roads of Central Finland are, of course, very familiar to our team, and it’s not about us not knowing where the roads run. It’s simply about getting a sufficiently compact package built. On the other hand, the special stages also can’t be too close to each other because of TV breaks and the like. This is a puzzle like no other,” Nuutinen explains.
The absence of Ouninpohja will nevertheless certainly raise objections among rally fans. However, Nuutinen already has a solid justification ready for them. And this year’s solution does not look bad at all when spectator enjoyment is taken into account.
“The Sunday concept has been considered for quite some time now, and last year we ended up with a solution that turned out to be downright excellent,” Nuutinen says.
“Again, it comes down to the FIA’s 25 per cent rule. We felt that Ouninpohja is quite far away when considering the liaison sections. On the other hand, we have good facilities at Himos. There’s an asphalt area and other amenities. Our weather risk is also high. It was already assessed as quite significant last year, but fortunately the conditions were favourable then. We now have good venues at Himos,” Nuutinen continues.
By the 25 per cent rule, Nuutinen is referring to the FIA regulation according to which 25 per cent of the entire rally route should consist of special stage kilometres. Going to Ouninpohja could have made meeting that target more difficult, as it would have added another long liaison to the route.
Ouninpohja has not been forgotten, however. The special stage, many times voted the best rally stage in the world, will make a return.
“This is in no way a snub to Ouninpohja. It will most certainly come back onto the route at some point,” Nuutinen promises.
