Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The rally in Wales was the last one of the year. I was very confident when I started the race because I had experience and knowledge of the rally and the conditions ever since 2002. Friday morning was rainy and foggy which made driving difficult. Because of the challenging conditions I couldn’t get the best out of me and the leading drivers seemed to get too far away right at the beginning. We were fourth after the three first stages almost half a minute behind number one, Mikko Hirvonen. My pace got a bit better during the afternoon but the position didn’t change. The last stage of the evening, stage 6, was driven in the dark in thick fog and in rain which had a decisive effect on the rally. Mikko Hirvonen drove really fast and increased his lead. The fog was so thick that we were forced to use the fog lights as well as ordinary lights. Unfortunately I hit a bump so hard that I broke my fog lights and with ordinary lights only I couldn’t see much. I tried to drive too fast and because of that and bad visibility I hit a bank which cost me ten seconds, but, anyhow I went on. Half way through the stage I lost my windshield wipers. Now I wasn’t able to see a thing. In order to get out of the woods I had to stop five times on the stage to wipe the windscreen. Finally we could finish the stage but our time was so bad that we decided to retire and use the super rally rule to continue the race on Saturday morning. Our time penalty was ten minutes and position now 15th. On Saturday my driving was relaxed and smooth and I did the right tire choice, too, so we drove six fastest times of the seven stages driven. Saturday night’s last service was five minutes too long and we got another time penalty, 50 seconds this time. We ended Saturday evening in the 12th position. On Sunday I drove fastest times to all the four stages but I guess the leading drivers didn’t push their best. We finished the rally tenth which wasn’t much but driving ten fastest times felt extremely good. Mikko Hirvonen drove marvelously and won the race.

10th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The rally started on Thursday evening with a super special which was driven in Belfast. The racing cars were taken there by trucks because Belfast is situated 200 kilometres from the rally centre, Sligo. The super special was driven in a park in front of the parliament building. My race started well because I was sixth after the first stage. The actual rally started on Friday morning with 166 kilometres of narrow, slippery and fast tarmac roads ahead. I was a bit exited before the rally because I was wondering how slippery the roads would really be. After the first stage I thought that this is going to be a really long and difficult rally because of all the mud on the roads. I started to trust the car and my driving more and more during the morning stages and due to the right tire choices it for easier for me to drive, but definitely not easy as such at all. I drove the whole Friday without any mistakes and to my surprise I was third at the end of the day. Not even the fast and bumpy stage 8 could weaken my position. On Saturday the stages were driven in Northern Ireland where we drove 104 kilometres. I was the second fastest on all the three morning stages. In the afternoon we drove the same stages again and I made one mistake. On stage 14 which was the afternoon’s first stage I drove into a rut of water in a left corner. The car started to push and I had to use the handbrake which made the car slide and hit a fence sideways. Luckily the car was not damaged but we got stuck in the mud. Fortunately there were spectators who helped us back to the road. The good thing was that we only lost 30 seconds. On the next stages my pace was normal again and we finished the day in third position. On Sunday there were 56 kilometres waiting for us. My aim was to drive calmly and to maintain my position. I didn’t hurry too much on the morning’s first two stages which brought Mikko Hirvonen closer, he was now only 15,6 seconds behind us. On the next stage I beat Mikko with 12,2 seconds. He was 28 seconds behind us before the last stage which we did well and we finished the rally in third position and were able to get to the podium for the first time. It felt extremely good!

3rd

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

I was very confident when I went to Japan because I had driven many good rallies. Japan was my 50th race and I was hoping to be on the podium at the end of the rally. The first stage on Friday morning was driven in the fog. It was a wide and fast eight kilometers long stage. The foggy stage was not at all easy but my driving went well and I was able to drive the fastest time. Stages 2, 3 and 4 were narrower and more slippery than stage 1 but luckily there was no more fog. I enjoyed driving and had a good feeling and by the time of the first service we were leading the rally. Marcus Gronholm had to retire in the service because the roll cage of his car had twisted when he drove off the road. It was bad for the championship battle and I felt sorry for him. Stage 5 was the same as stage 1 and again I drove the fastest time and my lead got bigger. Mikko Hirvonen drove like a maniac on stages 6, 7 and 8 and was able to pass me. At the end of the day we drove a super special twice but I didn’t do well and Sebastien Loeb managed to pass me. Still I was happy with my day because the differences weren’t big. On Saturday the stages were very slippery and my aim was to try and keep the same pace as Hirvonen and Loeb. Stage 11 went well but stage 12 was a long one, 35 kilometers, which meant more differences in times. The stage started well and we were only two seconds behind Sebastien but then the hydraulics broke down, I had to change to the manual gear change and the car diffs didn’t work properly. It was difficult to drive and I was 13, 9 seconds slower than the fastest driver. We weren’t able to fix the car before the next stage so we had to start that with all our problems. On stage 13 five kilometers from the start I saw Loeb’s car off the road which probably disturbed my concentration a bit and I ditched the car on a slow right corner and hit a tree. No hope of continuing the race because the cooling system was damaged. That was so frustrating because my chances to get to the podium had been so good. The car was fixed, though, and due to the super rally rule I was able to drive on Sunday just to get experience and to get my confidence back. My pace is good but in the upcoming rallies I should get to the finish. That’s the way one can get to the podium…

26th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

It was really nice to go to Corsica because the previous rally in Spain ended well. I was seventh and I had improved my driving on tarmac a lot during that race. Corsica is known as the rally of bends and corners, but I have always liked that rally because the tarmac there is more aggressive than elsewhere meaning better grip. Friday was opened with new stages and the roads were dry and the weather sunny. I liked to drive, the car and the tires worked well and I drove as well as I could without risks. No bigger mistakes on Friday and we finished the day in sixth position, only 3,3 seconds behind Petter Solberg. On Saturday the stages were more familiar. The first stage was very dirty and my driving wasn’t very successful which was why Petter got more lead. On the next stage I pulled myself together and pass Petter. I was now fifth leading Petter Solberg by 1,9 seconds. When we came to the afternoon service I was still fifth but only 1,3 seconds ahead Petter. In the afternoon my driving got better and I was able to leave Petter more. At the end of the day he was seven seconds behind us but we were aware that on Sunday he would push as hard as he could. Our position was fourth now because Duval had to retire due to a technical fault. On Sunday the stages were very familiar. The driving went well but I wasn’t able to increase my pace because I knew how extremely important it was to get to the finish. I couldn’t risk that. In the morning our pace was the same as Petter’s. In the afternoon he was only 3,9 seconds behind us. I decided to drive in the same way as earlier with no risks and I also tried to drive without mistakes. It paid well because Petter was 7,7 seconds slower than us on the last stage. We finished in fourth position. That was my best performance on tarmac ever – so far – hopefully we will develop further in the future.

4th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The previous rally on tarmac in Germany was very difficult for me which was why I was allowed to practice driving on that kind of surface on track in Alastaro with Olli Haapalainen. Haapalainen has won Finnish championship in Sport 2000 many times. The rally in Catalonia started on Friday morning when the roads were slippery after the rain. And there was some fog, too. It was really hard to trust the driving but the most important thing was that I was able to drive through the slippery stages. We were number nine before the first service. In the afternoon the roads started to dry out and I was able to try the methods I had learned from Olli Haapalainen. Before the last stage on Friday I rose to the seventh position. It started raining on that last stage on Friday and I was a bit exited because our tires were for dry roads (like everyone else’s tires) but my driving was best ever on wet surface and I could increase my lead to Chris Atkinson. It was eleven seconds now. On Saturday I tried to drive like on track and as steadily as possible because the roads were wider and faster than on Friday. Of course I also tried to drive as fast as I could without risks. The driving went smoothly the whole day. We made a punch of good times but there were a couple of situations on the way when breaking all of a sudden was slippery. On Saturday evening we were still number seven, 26,8 seconds ahead Atkinson. On Sunday my plan was to drive in a sensible way and test new tires for Corsica. The day went as planned and the new tires felt right. That was so far my best rally on tarmac, me being seventh.

7th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

It was nice to go to New Zealand because the year before we won P-WRC there and were number eight in overall. On Friday morning we started driving in the rain on very slippery roads. We chose a bit harder tire compound than the others but the tires worked pretty well anyway and after two stages we were fifth. We took the same tires as everyone else for the afternoon stages. Our pace was better than in the morning but the tires were getting worn out and I lost my confidence in the car. As a result my driving got too aggressive. On Friday evening we were still fifth before the service. On Saturday the stages were drier and faster which was good for my way of driving. My times got much better and by the time of the afternoon’s 30-minute service we had risen to the fourth place passing Chris Atkinson, only with 1,6 seconds marginal though. In the afternoon the over 30 kilometres long stages went perfectly and I was able to leave Atkinson more. On Sunday our aim was to maintain the fourth place but Chris was close, only 10,5 seconds behind. On Sunday we had seven stages. In the morning the first two stages went exactly at the same pace with Chris but he got more speed on the third stage and the gap between us was only 4,5 seconds. In the afternoon we drove the same stages for the second time and again the first two went at the same pace but on the third stage Chris passed me although I tried to push as hard as I could, maybe I pushed a bit too hard. The last stage was a Super Special where Chris was a bit faster and he beat me with 4,6 seconds. I was disappointed because I lost a hard battle but the race itself was one of my best performances ever because I was able to drive without mistakes and the winner was only two minutes 37 seconds better than me.

5th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

We went to Germany having a totally different tactics from that in Jyvaskyla because now it was time to hunt points. Last four rallies on tarmac had ended in retirement due to driving off the road. Now we need experience because there will be three more rallies on tarmac at the end of the year. I started the rally very carefully because after Neste Oil Rally it felt a bit strange to drive on tarmac again. My driving got better, though, stage after stage and on Friday evening we were number eight (one championship point was coming to us). My tire choice on Saturday was perfect so I was able to rise to the seventh place. The afternoon turned out to be difficult. In the army area the concrete roads were too rough for the tires and my driving style was maybe a bit too hard on the roads like that. On Panzerplatte Arena stage (30km) we lost the surface of our front tires because the air pressure was a bit too high. We had to change one tire before the stage and didn’t have enough time to adjust the air pressure and of course my rough way of driving didn’t ease the situation. We lost one minute compared to the other drivers. When driving the long stage for the second time we again had problems with the tires although the air pressure was okay this time. This is why we lost some 30 seconds. On Saturday evening we had dropped to the ninth place and there was 37 seconds to the eighth place. On Sunday morning I took too soft tires but surprisingly enough we rose to the eighth place because Xavier Pons went off the road on the first stage of the morning. On Sunday afternoon we changed the set-up of the car, took the right kind of tires and my driving was the best during the whole rally. Unfortunately the rally finished at the moment when my driving started to go smoothly. Our position was eighth at the end of the rally and we got our first championship point on tarmac.

8th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The car felt good in the Shakedown and we were the third fastest there. That made us feel good before the actual start. The rally started on Thursday at Killeri where we drove a Super Special stage. I was number six there and didn’t make any big mistakes so I was looking forward to starting on Friday. Vellipohja was the first stage on Friday. It went pretty well, at least I had that kind of feeling, but ahead lay a surprise: we had driven the fastest time and went to the next stage, Mokkipera, leading the whole rally. Unfortunately our lead didn’t last long because I lost my concentration on the stage after having the seal from the door onto my hands. Finally, when I got rid of the seal I stopped the car at a crossroads. I got more confused and 800 meters later I braked too late and the rear end of the car went into a ditch getting stuck there. It took us two minutes to get the car back to the road and we dropped in positions, we were number 31 now but still having a chance to get back to the championship points. Stages 4 – 6 went nicely and our position was now 17th. Then came the stage number 7 Palsankyla where we were to retire. It was a really fast uphill left corner with a loose stone on the road. We hit it, it threw our car into a ditch where we hit another stone which broke our right rear suspension. The hit was so hard that the broken rear suspension punctured the roll cage because of which we couldn’t enter the Super rally the next day, the car wasn’t safe enough any more. The race had a beautiful start but it finished embarrassingly. We learned again new things and now we are heading towards the next rallies in better mood.

retirement

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

The World Championship rally in Greece is always very challenging and so it was even this year although the roads were better than last year. The rally started pretty well and after two stages we were number five in overall. Unfortunately on stage three I had a heavy spin and lost over 20 seconds. After that there were one problem after another but miraculously we stayed on the road. On Friday evening we got back the trust and our position now was eighth.

Saturday turned out to be extremely difficult. The first stage in the morning was “only” 48 kilometers and in the middle of the stage we had the first flat tire. My co-driver Miikka and I were able to change the tire in three minutes and we still had our chance to get some world championship points but driving the same “short” stage again took away that chance. Six kilometers before the finish we lost both our front tires and because we only had one spare tire we had to put two unbroken tires to the front and one broken tire to the rear and drive very slowly and carefully to the finish losing over ten minutes. On Sunday we only tried to drive good times and get ourselves into a better mood again after the dark Saturday which we were able to do, we even managed to drive one fastest time. Our position got a bit better; too, we were number twelve at the end of the rally. The punctures destroyed our race but at least we learned how to save tires.

12th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart

Co-driver: Miikka Anttila

We managed to get the set up of the car to be very good in the Shakedown and it felt really nice to head for the race. The rally itself started perfectly because I was able to drive the fastest time on stage one. The next two stages went really well, too, and we were leading Gronholm with 1,5 seconds when we came to the service. My self-confidence was good, I was focused and the car felt good which all made the driving easy. On the other hand I must admit that being the eighth car on the road was an advantage for me on Friday. After the service we drove the same stages again and I knew that I had to drive fast if I wanted to succeed because the roads were clean now, no longer slippery for anyone. Stage four went still pretty well: we were third fastest but Gronholm took the lead by six seconds. Stage five was very bad for me. After 3,5 kilometres there was a tightening left corner with a stone inside where I cut a bit too much in and our front left tyre hit the stone damaging the front left suspension turning the tyre under the car. We had to retire the rally which had started so perfectly. On Saturday we were able to start again due to the Super Rally rule but we were ten minutes behind the leading car. We drove as the second car on the road in the morning and as the first car in the afternoon. Now I realised how difficult indeed it is to be the “plough” car. My times weren’t so splendid in the morning but in the afternoon I managed to drive a few good times. On Sunday all the six stages were not only very good but also meaningful to drive. My intention was to drive good stage times and bring the car to the finish so that I would feel good about going to Greece. We drove 2nd – 6th fastest times on Sunday and finished ninth getting two manufacture’s points. All in all the rally left a good feeling because my pace was better than ever before.

9th

Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart