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Will 12th time tell the truth?
From the ”moon landscape” of the Andes to the ”Grand Prix of gravel rallies”
Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen are eagerly looking forward to the
start of the Neste Rally Finland. Home event always adds to the
excitement. Rovanperä can stay calm preparing for his twelfth start in
his home ground rally, for the season so far has been clean when it
comes to his driving performances. The car has also proved of its
potential.
Ready for Rally Finland,
(6) Harri Rovanperä
(5) Marcus Grönholm
(14) Sebastian Lindholm
The best possible starting point
This time Rovanperä’s starting point for the home rally is good, because
he has plenty of successful stage kilometers behind him. On the
demanding roads of the Mediterranean rallies, the car seemed quite
promising already. Especially the third place in Rally Acropolis after a
faultless driving performance tasted good. Harri was among the three
fastest on no less than 14 special stages. Also in Rally Argentina, Harri
proved of his capability of producing a winning speed by scoring the
second biggest number of stage wins.
- I can hardly wait for the start of the Finnish round of world
championship to take place. There is a special kind of pressure in the
home event but also a very special atmosphere. The testing of the past
few weeks has been rather encouraging, when thinking about the
remaining half of the season. Our car has progressed amazingly during
these tests, Rovanperä estimates.
In Argentina, too, Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen gave a
convincing demonstration of their speed and consistency.
Having been into a close fight over seconds among the top five drivers
in the early moments of the rally, they were eventually dropped down to
ninth overall at over ten minutes from the front on Friday afternoon, due
to a power steering failure. For the rest of the rally, Harri put in the very
fastest pace and finished in fifth place, 9 minutes 59,9 seconds behind
the winner.
The legendary stages of the Andes conquered!
Peugeot 307 proved to be competitive also in Rally Argentina, where
Peugeot drivers posted 14 wins in the 26 stages of the rally. Marcus
Grönholm took 9 of them. After his retirement, there were seven stages
left in the rally. Harri Rovanperä posted a win in five of them and was
the second fastest in the remaining two.
What especially pleased Harri was the fact that he succeeded in
conquering the legendary stages run in the “moon landscape” of the
Andes. In Mina Clavero (SS 25, 24,69 km), Rovanperä took a victory by a
gap of 12 seconds, and he was the fastest driver also on the final stage
El Condor (SS 26, 16,77 km). Harri’s stage win list from now on includes
these two stages, claimed to be the most difficult in the world.
Previously on the list were already the stage legends Col de Turini of
Monte Carlo and Ouninpohja of his home event.
Everything is ready
- also a sufficient number of tyres
In Rally Argentina, the new tyre rule forced Rovanperä to start one of
the legs with used tyres. The choise of tyres for Neste Rally Finland
was made already a month ago, but Harri believes there is going to be
enough of them this time.
- I believe everything is OK when it comes to tyres. For us, there can be
rain or sunshine, we are prepared for any circumstances, Harri assured
when preparing for the beginning reconnaissance in hot weather on
Tuesday.
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Will 12th time tell the truth?
1000 Lakes Rally / Neste Rally Finland has proved to be a difficult event
for the Finns to conquer. Tommi Mäkinen managed to conquer his home
event already at his eighth attempt, but Marcus Grönholm, for instance,
had to wait till his twelfth time in Jyväskylä before winning for the first
time on home soil. This year’s event is the twelfth time for Harri
Rovanperä in his home rally, and he is naturally looking forward to
standing on the highest podium. Here are some thoughts by Harri and
Risto one week prior to their home event:
What is it you like the most about Rally Finland?
Harri Rovanperä: "Thanks to the quality of the stages, there's always
a very fierce, close-run battle between a number of drivers. You need
to push very hard to pick up every possible tenth of a second and that's
just so exhilarating. It's not a coincidence that this event is also
known as the Jyväskylä Grand Prix."
Risto Pietiläinen: "The event used to be known as the 1000
Lakes Rally, but we've always known it mainly as the 1000 Jumps Rally.
Sitting in the right-hand seat, feeling the car take off at speed just after
you've called a fast-arriving corner gives you such a tremendous
adrenaline rush."
Is the special motivation that you Finns call 'sisu' a decisive
advantage on your home event?
Harri: "It's mostly the beauty of our stages which makes you want
to go maximum attack, but this is something that is shared by all the
drivers in the World Championship, Finns and non-Finns."
Risto: "You always give your best whatever the rally. The support
we get from the spectators is always very nice and you do feel it when
you're inside the car."
What is the most important part of a rally car to be competitive
in Finland?
Harri: "You need a strong, powerful engine because you spend so
much time at full throttle. However, having a good set-up which enables
you to feel confident is important too."
Risto: "The main thing for me is the suspension, because of the
famous jumps. Flying so high and over such long distances might be
great for the photographers but you can't accelerate when you're in the
air. It's best to be in contact with the ground so you can exploit every bit
of the engine's power…"
You don't spend much time in your home country. What do you
miss the most about Finland when you're travelling?
Harri: "The Finnish summer; taking time off in a chalet where there's
no noise, but where there's a sauna and, of course, a lake."
Risto: "Apart from my family and friends, the thing I miss the most
is the pure, fresh air we breathe at home."
Not so long ago, you were a young spectator watching the 1000
Lakes Rally. What do you remember of those days?
Harri: "When I was young, we went to watch the 1000 Lakes Rally
every year. More often than not it rained, but we didn't care. I still
remember the smell of the rally cars driving over damp ground, and it
still makes me feel good."
Risto: "As a kid, when I saw the drivers and the speeds at which
they drove, I was a little overawed. I thought they were completely
crazy! I never imagined that I would one day end up doing the same
thing…"
What is your fondest memory of competing on your home
round of the World Championship?
Harri and Risto, the same answer: "My best memory is the 2000
event when we finished 3rd driving a privately-run Toyota. It was that
result that sparked off our joining Peugeot Sport."
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