Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

I was pretty exited before the rally because the last three races in Stobart’s car had failed. I had driven off the road in all of them. My racing car was now a -06 Ford which definitely would be a very competitive car. This was my fifth time in the Rally of Wales which made it easier for me to start competing in slippery conditions. I decided to drive nothing but my own speed and didn’t mind the times of the other drivers. We had a sticky start but my driving got better and better and on Friday evening we were suddenly fourth.

On Saturday I wasn’t able to drive as smoothly as on Friday and Xavier Pons beat us. He was now fourth and we were fifth. On Sunday we chose the perfect tyres for slippery and muddy roads. I managed to drive very well, Xavier spun and now we were fourth again. I concentrated on keeping this position till the end of the rally, I succeeded and in the finish we celebrated our best position so far. No fastest times, though – yet.

Overall 4th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

We rested properly on a two-week holiday and after that came to New Zealand. The rally had moved from Auckland to Hamilton. Right away on stage one I was able to drive the fastest time but on stage two I swung and lost ten valuable seconds. On Friday I tried to drive as fast as possible but I couldn’t catch Juho Hanninen who was leading group N. On Saturday morning we managed to take perfect tyres and we drove fine times on slippery stages. In the middle of the day we were leading group N and the rest of the day went without trouble. When we came to the evening service an unpleasant surprise was waiting for us: we had driven 42km/h at the service area and the speed limit there is only 30km/h. The jury had decided to fine us with one minute.

On Sunday morning we started as second in group N 56 seconds behind Mirco Baldacci. But he was unlucky and had to retire because of a broken gearbox. We could maintain our lead till the end of the rally although it wasn’t easy to drive on slippery roads. The second win in group N was as sweet as the first one.

Group N 1st, Overall 8th

Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06
Service Team: Motoring Club
Competition engineer: Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

I think Australia is the best competition in the world championships series what comes to both the special stages and the organising of the rally. Unfortunately this is the last time Australia is in the series. The race started well and we were able to keep almost the same speed as the leaders although we could not drive any of the fastest times. On Friday evening the last two stages were difficult to drive fast because of the dust and the gap to the leader got quite big. Friday’s dramatic turn was when Chris Atkinson’s car burst into flames and we had to lend him a fire extinguisher which is why we got two compensated stage times. On Saturday my speed improved on the famous Bannister stages (jumps). In the evening we even managed to drive the fastest time once and now we were second in group N, only 27 seconds behind Ligato who was leading. On Sunday morning I tried to attack but that was a wrong choice. I hit the bank and broke my rear suspension. Luckily we were able to change it after the stage. Ligato had to retire in the next service due to a broken engine. The next two stages I drove as fast as I could having Aki Teiskonen breathing to my neck. Unfortunately he drove off the road and had to retire. I eased my driving and for the first time I was able to win a world championships round in group N. We were 6th overall.

Group N 1st, Overall 6th

Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06
Service Team: Motoring Club
Competition engineer: Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

Our first time in Japan. The roads were fast and difficult but they suited our car. On Friday I drove carefully, avoiding the worst parts. That was a very good idea because on Friday afternoon I was leading group N. In the evening I slowed down a little bit and still kept the lead. Back to the roads on Saturday morning, even more carefully than the day before. The racing started to feel so good that I raised my speed. On Saturday evening my lead was one minute ten second.

On Sunday all that was needed was to drive sensibly, avoiding faults and unnecessary risks. Everything seemed perfect until on the third last stage the rod broke and I lost the control of the car. We slid into a ditch and the car fell; that was the end of Rally Japan. It was a huge disappointment for us as well as for the team. There is no such way the breaking of a rod could be avoided beforehand. But once again something good came out of the bad: we got a lot of attention and new fans in Japan.

retirement

Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06
Service Team: Motoring Club
Competition engineer: Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Asko Sairanen

The preparations for Neste Oil Rally 2006 went well. We could update the notes from the 2005 Neste Rally rather easily. Reading numbered notes was a bit confusing beforehand and even in the recce.

On the first day we hit the stone Jan Kopecky’s car had dug up. This happened on the test special stage in Laajavuori. Our service experts managed to fix the crack in the oil bottom before the stage of Killeri. The first stage on day two was Lankamaa. We spanned there in high speed. Luckily there was large enough a yard of a farm house and we didn’t lose much time in our spin. Special stages two and three, Laukaa and Ruuhimäki, went as planned.

Last year we retired at Vellipohja which put some pressure on us this year, but we managed well. Mökkiperä didn’t have jumps at the beginning like last year so it was easier but the right bend at the end was very slippery. The same stages were driven twice and we had no worries.

We had driven like a bus, on time from one bus stop to another. Killeri, which we drove perfectly, was the last stage of day one.

Our position was 14th overall.

Day two: the special stage of Vaheri ended a bit embarrassingly for us, we kept on driving after the finish. My co-driver hadn’t noticed the difference between the special stages in Vaheri and Himos so our notes weren’t right. Our time came out alright but guess just how much the rally radio joked about our “go off”!

Ouninpohja West and East were controlled driving which got us higher in overall positions. We were already number ten. After Urria it was Ouninpohja West and East again and our rear right tire got totally damaged because there was a crack in the rim. The tire even got into flames and we had to stop to put the fire out. That cost us several minutes. And that was not all, the next stage we had to drive very slowly (not race at all) because of all the damage caused by the fire. Our position was now 23rd. Our tremendous service personnel were able to fix the car again and we drove two good rally days as the first racing car on each stage. We finished 17th overall.

Many, many thanks for our sponsors, for our brilliant service team and for all of Jari-Matti’s fans from Finland and from abroad.

17th

Car: Toyota Corolla WRC
Team: Latvala Motorsport Ltd
Competition engineer: Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

I had been looking forward to this competition because I like the German Rally. Right away on stage one I was surprised by the slippery road and I hit the railing badly. I had to retire which made me so sad I got tears into my eyes. My car was fixed, though, and I was able to continue the race on Saturday and on Sunday due to the super rally rule. I did the fifth and sixth best times on the stages.

retirement

Car: Ford Focus WRC 04
Stobart Motorsport

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The rally started on Thursday evening with a spectator stage that was driven at the Olympic stadium of Athens. Friday morning, on the first stage, I experienced some extra excitement, when the steering wheel almost came loose due to heavy shaking caused by poor-conditioned roads. We got the steering wheel tightened on the way to the start of the next stage, but it didn’t help for long as the problem came back on the second stage. Luckily at the service we were able to fix the problem. When coming to the first service stop I was on the 4th place of the group, nine seconds behind the lead. After that things started to go for the worse as we punctured a tyre on the 6th stage. We had to change it on the stage which caused us to loose two minutes. Our driving was also slowed down by heavy dust. On the following stage I was able to finish second in my group.

Saturday morning started with some good stage times, but then the real problems began. At first we broke the backup shocks that had been changed in the service. After that we blew a tyre plus lost our rear brake fluid tube. These problems were accompanied by a minor leak in the fuel tank and by the fact that my suspension was gone and I had to drive with a flat tyre. On Saturday evening we were still on the 5th position in the group because everyone else seemed to be experiencing problems in this tough rally, too. I had to drive with a plastic splint on my hand because my thumb was not fully healed yet after the operation. This was indeed an extra burden on the long stages.

Sunday didn’t start any better. On the first stage of the day we had a puncture again and on the next stage we got so huge a hole in the fuel tank that the fuel was flowing out in a stream. We were able to get to the service where the options were either to retire or to try and change the fuel tank in 30 minutes plus to get 15 minutes extra of exciding the service time limit. The attempt seemed impossible, but our service team did an excellent job by changing the fuel tank in 43 minutes. We were able to continue the rally despite of the two minutes and ten seconds time penalty of exciding the time limit. On the stage following the service, we caught up with the car ahead of us and had to drive in its dust, dropping to the 6th place. On the second final stage we lost the brake fluid tube again, but were able to get the car fixed in the service. On the last stage I came second in my group. I was 6th of my group and 22nd of the overall competition in the final results of this difficult rally.

6th group, 22nd overall

Car: Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06
Service Team: Motoring Club
Rally Engineer: Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

I continued the same speed as in Catalunya. We were sixth when we arrived at the first service. Our speed stayed the same but unfortunately Daniel Sordo was quicker than us. He was sixth and we dropped to the seventh place when we arrived at the next service.

The first stage went very well on Saturday morning. We lost only 0,5 seconds per kilometre to Loeb who was the fastest on that stage. We made a fatal error on stage six. The microphone of Miikka´s helmet jumped up and I only heard a part of the notes. I was stupid and didn´t understand to slow down. When I heard the rest of the notes I started to brake, but there was sand on the road and the car slid. I tried to get a grip but there were rocks in the inner curve and they hit the steering so hard that I broke my thumb. The car rose on two wheels, I lost control and we hit the trees.

My best rally ever ended the same way so many other – not to mention good – drivers have ended theirs – driving off the road.

retirement SS6

Ford Focus WRC 04
Team: Stobart Motorsport
Rally engineer Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

We had a new car and I didn´t have very much experience in driving a WRC car on tarmac, so we started this rally fairly slowly. I pushed a little bit more on stage two and we were tenth when we arrived at the first service. The speed increased on the third stage and a little bit too much on the fourth. There was sand on the road in one long curve over the bridge. I tried with a higher gear than normally. Our car got under steered and I couldn´t control it anymore. We hit the railing which broke down and dropped into the ravine. Luckily the car stayed on the road. The left suspension was hit very hard but the mechanics were able to repaire it in Friday evening. We got a 15 minute penalty because we didn´t drive all the stages on Friday. Our goal was to make some good stage times on Saturday and Sunday. After a sticky start on Saturday the rest of the rally went well. We drove a few tenth fastest times during the two last days. At best we were fifth on one stage. Our final result was 16th.

16th

Ford Focus WRC 04
Team: Stobart Motorsport
Rally engineer Asko Kosonen

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The beginning of the rally was like a dream. We led the group N after three special stages. The roads were very bumpy and I slowed down on the fourth stage. I don´t know if it was a correct decision because I drove into a hole on stage five. The left suspension and a tyre broke down. We changed the tyre on the stage and drove 30 kilometres with a broken suspension. We lost five minutes. The car was repaired in the service. We were in the seventh place after the day but the difference in time to the fourth place wasn’t very big. That was our next target on Saturday morning. Our intentions were doomed when the front diff broke down on the first stage 2,8 kilometres from the start. We did however try to continue to the next stage but the clutch couldn´t last driving without the front diff. An irritating retirement, points would have been nice to have.

26th overall, 9th in group N

Subaru Impreza WRX STI -06
Service team: Motoring club
Rally engineer Asko Kosonen