Toyota: WRC home victory in Finland
AT THE SEAT OF THE RALLY TEAM Estonian Ott Tänak won the fastest World Rally Championship round of the year. For Toyota, Rally Finland is considered a home race, as the team led by former world champion Tommi Mäkinen is at home here. Estonian Ott Tänak made his mark on the eighth WRC round in Finland with co-driver Martin Järveoja in the Toyota Yaris WRC. [...]
Estonian Ott Tänak made his mark on the eighth WRC round in Finland with co-driver Martin Järveoja in the Toyota Yaris WRC. After taking an early lead, he went into the final day of competition with a clear advantage.
Victory by 32.7 seconds over Mads Østberg in the Citroën C3 WRC was accompanied by the fastest time on the final power stage. This earned Tänak and his team the maximum points.
Victory and 3rd place at home race
In third place, Jari-Matti Latvala ensured a double podium for the Toyota Gazoo World Rally Team. The local hero was just 2.8 seconds behind the Norwegian in the Citroën. Espekka Lappi had to retire in fourth place after an accident.
The Toyota drivers decided 18 of the 23 fast special stages in their favor. The victory has special significance for them: Four-time world champion Tommi Mäkinen built up the Japanese WRC team and based it in his home country.
For the 30-year-old Estonian, it was the fourth victory in his WRC run. 15 years earlier, his mentor Markko Märtin had also brought victory to the Baltic state.
World champion and world championship leader without a chance
For once, world champion Sébastien Ogier remained pale. A modified aero package and new shock absorbers in the Ford Fiesta WRC did not have the desired effect for him on the fast gravel stretches over a total of 320 kilometers. As a result, the Frenchman was 2:15 minutes behind Tänak and could not go beyond 5th place.
WRC leader Thierry Neuville even had to settle for only ninth place. On the one hand, Hyundai has never been extremely strong at the Rally Finland. On the other hand, the Belgian initially had to be one of the first drivers on the tracks that did not yet offer much grip. Team-mate Hayden Paddon finished fourth.
Neuville's lead in the standings over Ogier shrank to 21 points (153: 132), while Tänak (107) reduced his gap to the top.
Hyundai leads the team/manufacturer standings with 228 points, ahead of M-Sport Ford (202), Toyota Gazoo (201) and Citroën (153).
Next stop Germany
Swiss rally fans do not have far to go to the next WRC round. From August 16 to 19, the ADAC Rallye Deutschland with start and finish in St. Wendel in Saarland will take place.
