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Rally returns home to Finland

This weekend’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship moves to the Nordic region of Finland (30 July – 2 August), home to many of rallying’s specialist gravel drivers.

Regarded by many as the highlight of the season and an epic contest, Rally Finland will be headed by BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team's flying Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen in the record-breaking Ford Focus RS World Rally Car.

With the Ford team fresh from three consecutive victories, a slender lead in the Drivers’ title elevates the 28-year-old Hirvonen to start first on the road for the opening of the three-day event. Hirvonen, who turns 29 on the first day of the rally, knows the event well - the traditional host base of Jyväskylä is his hometown.

However 2008 winners Sebastién Loeb and Daniel Elena in the Citroen C4 could upset the local party. One of the few to have won the event from a local driver, Loeb has struggled in recent events after five straight wins in the opening half of the 2009 season. With 57 points, he trails Hirvonen by a solitary point.

The rally will be fought out on blisteringly fast roller-coaster gravel stages. Finns, who nurtured their careers on these roads, have a clear advantage over 'outsiders' who require several years' experience before they can hope to mount a genuine victory challenge. Only seven non-Finns have won in 58 years. Such are the speeds that Rally Finland boasts five of the six fastest rallies in WRC history, with the 2005 event topping the all-time list at remarkable average of 122.86kph.

The hard, wide roads are as smooth as a billiard table so it is not a hard rally on machinery. However, it is incredibly difficult from a technical perspective. Awesome stomach-churning jumps frequently hide bends over the crests, so accuracy and delivery of pace notes must be exact and selecting the correct line before 'take-off' ensures maximum pace through the following curves.

More than 30 per cent of this year's 2009 route has changed, including three all-new special stages. However, the traditional central Finland base of Jyväskylä remains, along with the central service park at the town's Paviljonki exhibition area. After the traditional Thursday evening super special stage at the town's Killeri trotting track, Friday's action is based north-west of the city, ending with a second pass at Killeri. Saturday's leg contains almost half the rally's competitive distance and takes drivers south-west for two loops near the town of Jämsä, before a late afternoon cluster of tests near Mänttä.

Missing from the middle leg is the awesome Ouninpohja, a roller-coaster section of road full of sweeping bends and jumps and regarded as one of the sport's ultimate tests of skill and bravery. The short final leg covers four tests east of Jyväskylä. Drivers face 345.15km of competition in a 1449.61km route. Also a round of the Junior World Rally Championship (J-WRC), the weekend line-up includes Formula One star Kimi Raikkonen and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom in a Fiat Punto S2000.

Among the Finnish-dominated start list totalling 89 teams, Kiwi pairing Mark Tapper and Jeff Judd contest their fourth event in the Pirelli Star Driver programme aboard the Ralliart Italia Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X.