Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

The Catalunya rally started very well, but on the second stage bad luck struck and we had a front left puncture and had to replace the tyre in the middle of the stage, losing two and a half minutes. After that I pushed very hard to catch the Group-N leader. But, the speed got to be too much and we suffered two more punctures and had to give up the hopes of another win. Luckily I managed to pull some excellent special stage times even though there were a few scary moments. We finished the rally 19th overall and second in Group-N.

19th overall, class 2nd

Subaru Impreza WRX STI -05
Service team: Motoring club

Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

The Corsica rally started without any problems and I felt very relaxed driving. The only mistake I made was on the second stage when I cought the car infront of me and I lost concentration for a second and went off the road for about 20 seconds, luckily there was no damage to the Subaru. My stage times were competitive on Saturday and I was once reminded of the extreme speeds of the rally when I scrubbed a side rail in a tight left corner, but I don’t think any time was lost. On Sunday we stepped up in the overall rankings of the rally to 15th and ended up winning the Group-N.

15th overall, class 1st

Subaru Impreza WRX STI -05
Service team: Motoring club

Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

The Corsica rally started without any problems and I felt very relaxed driving. The only mistake I made was on the second stage when I cought the car infront of me and I lost concentration for a second and went off the road for about 20 seconds, luckily there was no damage to the Subaru. My stage times were competitive on Saturday and I was once reminded of the extreme speeds of the rally when I scrubbed a side rail in a tight left corner, but I don’t think any time was lost. On Sunday we stepped up in the overall rankings of the rally to 15th and ended up winning the Group-N.

15th overall, class 1st

Subaru Impreza WRX STI -05
Service team: Motoring club

Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

The first two stages went on by getting used to the modern WRC, but already on the third stage we made 8th fastest time. Unfortunately the rest of the stages on Friday failed, because of the wrong tyre choice. On Saturday our hopes were up, but then there was trouble with charger. It took 12 minutes overtime to repair it. As a result we got two minutes penalty and we lost our chances to get some points in this race. Three times in a row I was able to drive the 6th fastest time on Sunday, which was my best performance ever. We were to continue like that on Sunday, but on the first stage throttle lever came off. It took us four minutes to fix that in the middle of the stage. We were more than ready to attack on then next stage, but it didn´t work out that way, because of the terrible accident of Markko Märtin. The rally was stopped and we went to service. We pulled out from the contest to honour Michael Park, Märtin´s co-driver, who died in the accident.

retirement SS15

Ford Focus WRC
Service team Viijari Oy.

Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

The first SS went well, but after the finish line our front brakes caught fire, when we had to wait longer than normally. We lost the front brakes and had to drive the following two stages with the handbrake only, which cost us five minutes. We fixed the problem in service halt. After that we started the chase but then on Saturday afternoon the gearbox broke down. Changing it in service took eight minutes extra and we got two minutes penalty. Then we started the chase all over again. We succeeded very well and we finished 2nd in our group.

21st overall, class 2nd

Subaru Impreza WRX
Service team Motoring Club.

Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

I made a mistake in shakedown and hit a big stone. Luckily we didn´t hit the trees, our car stayed on the road and got only minor damages. Unfortunately this incident made the beginning of the race a bit stressfull. In spite of a sticky start I found a good rhythm in the afternoon. There was a big hole on the road in Vellipohja II, which I drove into while braking heavily. It caused damages to the radiator. I was so impatient that I did not stop immediately so I broke the engine. There would have been many magnificent stages ahead but we had to retire.

retirement SS7

Toyota Corolla WRC
Service team Latvala Motorsport Oy.

Co-driver Miikka Anttila.

Sticky start but my driving improved as we went on, until on Friday evening we had our first puncture. We changed the tyre in the middle of the stage. Misfortune followed us on the same stage, universal ball joint snapped due to exertion and the wheel turned under the car. Retirement was inevitable. We continued on Saturday, thanks to the Super Rally rules. We drove the 2nd fastest time in group N on the first stage the next morning, but we had too much speed and not enough concentration which two together caused driving off on the second stage. The rear of our car hit an iron pole and rear spring broke. We tried to continue but the right rear wheel came off and we retired once again.

retirement SS8

Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Service team Motoring Club.