WRC 2022 Rally Finland: Ott Tanak secures second win of season
8th August 2022Hyundai’s Ott Tanak secured his second rally win of the season as Toyota’s, Finnish driver, Kalle Rovanpera finished the weekend in second – 6.8 seconds behind the Estonian.
Thursday
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera cruised into the weekend knowing that he didn’t need to push for another win. But there is no doubt that he would’ve liked to take it, with it being his home rally.
The home-grown driver started the weekend well as he secured the fastest time in Thursday’s shakedown event, topping the table ahead of his teammate, and compatriot, Esapekka Lappi. The championship leader topped the timing boards with a quick time of 1:56.1, 0.5 seconds quicker than Lappi.
By the end of the shakedown, Hyundai’s Ott Tanak split the top two Toyota drivers from the remaining two, within the top five. Takamoto Katsuta lined up P4 ahead of 2021’s Rally Finland’s winner, Elfyn Evans (P5), by 0.3 seconds.
Later on in the day, the rally got underway with a double-looped super special stage: Harju 1.
While only a best effort of P9 in the shakedown, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville blasted his way along the Finnish asphalt roads and wooded areas to top the opening stage of the weekend. The Belgian drove with fury to secure a time of 2:41.7 on the board, which was 1.2 seconds faster than his teammate Tanak.
Whereas, Jari Huttunen showcased his skills in his M-Sport Ford Puma. The Finnish driver held the quickest time for some time before the likes of Neuville, Tanak, Katsuta and Rovanpera topped the timing boards in P1, P2, P3 and P4 respectively.
The Finnish Ford driver made the step-up from WRC2 for a one-time appearance in the top-tier of Rally driving. With the fifth quickest time of the day, he showcased, early on, that he has the pace to compete at the top.
Friday
On Friday morning, Tanak jumped to the top of the timing board with the fastest time on the opening round of the day. The Estonian drove with fury, as if he left the oven on at home, and topped the time sheets with a 5:24.6, 2.7 seconds faster than Lappi.
The championship leader, Rovanpera, had a relatively poor run through his home country to finish P6 on the first stage of the day. This poor start placed the Finnish driver in the same position in the overall timing sheets.
However, Rovanpera’s start wasn’t as bad as Hyundai’s Oliver Solberg who rolled his car a few hundred meters from the start line. The Swede’s car drifted wide as he slid across a fast left-hander and his car snagged on a ditch. This launched the rear of the car up into the air and rotated it around before it rolled to a stop.
Ford’s Fourmaux had a poor start to the weekend as his Ford Puma clipped a rock, on stage three, with its front right tyre. This resulted in a power steering leak and loosened a bolt within the steering. The Frenchman was able to continue but he bled time.
By the end of the day, Tanak had dominated. The Estonian topped the timing sheets with a 50-minute, 41.2 second time across the opening two days. However, he still had the two Toyota’s, of Lappi (P2) and Evans (P3), to keep him company.
Despite a good day, the Huttunen’s Puma knocked him out of the points after he suffered a fuel glitch. the Finnish driver was forced to pull over to one side and reset his car before he could continue.
Saturday
The rain finally arrived in Finland which provided the drivers, and their co-drivers, with additional challenges as they sought their way through the Finnish Forest.
Ford’s Craig Breen retired out of the rally early on, after he jumped a crest and landed into a grass bank which contained a rock. As a result of the contact, the Irishman lost a wheel as it was ripped away in the collision.
Evans put in a good show in the opening stage, SS11, as the Welshman put in the fastest time with a 9:38.1 – 0.7 seconds faster than Rovanpera who finished second in the stage. This promoted the Welsh Toyota up into third place in the standings. However, he was able to replicate his actions in the following stages and fell back down to P4 by the end of the day – one-minute off the pace of Tanak.
However, Tanak stayed above the rest as he collected two stage wins to remain out on top of the overall standings by the end of the third day. However, Rovanpera started to claw back his lost time.
The Finnish championship leader remained within nine-seconds of Tanak as the sport head into the final day of the weekend. The Toyota driver collected five stage wins, across the day, to remain in contention for the rally win.
Sunday
The stage was set for the final day of Rally Finland. A sprint for the rally win between Tanak and Rovanpera.
By the end of the first stage, Tanak secured the stage win on SS19 but this was only by the thin margin of 1.9 seconds. This knocked the Finn over the 10-second mark in the overall timing board. Rovanpera tried to claw that lost time back in the final two rally stages of the weekend.
By stage 20, Tanak had established a healthy gap over his top five competitors. Third-placed Lappi sat nearly a minute behind the rally leader while the like of Evans (P4) and Neuville (P5) were over a minute behind.
Rovanpera was the only driver to remain in contention in the early stages of Sunday morning, but it looked more likely the championship leader would have to settle for second place at home.
Despite the championship leader’s best efforts, he couldn’t snatch the win away from Tanak’s grasp who went on to secure the Rally Finland title with 10-seconds in hand over the Finn.
The most shocking moment, in the dying embers of the rally came at the wheel of Lappi. The Finnish driver slid wide around a tight left-hand corner and caused his car to roll over three times, on the penultimate stage. Despite a shattered windscreen, the Finn continued on.
In the Wolf Power Stage, Lappi and his co-driver, Janne Ferm, blasted their way through without a windscreen. Equipped with goggles to protect their eyes from any potential debris and the wind, the pairing went on to secure the final podium position.
Podium:
- Ott Tanak & Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai
- Kalle Rovanpera & Jonne Halttunen, Toyota
- Esapekka Lappi & Janne Ferm, Toyota
That’s all for the article: WRC 2022 Rally Finland: Ott Tanak secures second win of season! What did you think of the rally? Let us know in the comments!
Read more WRC here:
- WRC Rally Finland Preview: Can anyone catch Rovanpera?
- WRC Rally Estonia: Kalle Rovanpera dominates the weekend to win
- WRC Rally Estonia: Kalle Rovanpera remains top on Saturday
- WRC Rally Estonia 2022: Kalle Rovanpera tops out Friday
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
