Elfyn Evans has achieved her first Rally Finland victory and he becomes the second British rider to conquer the 1,000 Lagos after the triumph of Kris Meeke in 2016. With everything and putting this milestone aside, the triumph of the Welshman in the suomi appointment is written looking at the present and the future, already that serves to tighten the fight for the title in the WRC with two rallies to go to the end of the season. Podium for Ott Tänak and Craig Breen in a rally in which they could not respond to an inspired Elfyn Evans at the key moment. Teemu Suninen and Emil Lindholm wins in WRC2 and WRC3.
As is customary in the World Rally Championship, unfortunately, the last day of Rally Finland was not very emotional. Except for error or mechanical failure, the leading positions seemed defined and the first three sections of the day did nothing more than certify it. Almost all or all of the ‘top 5’ pilots tried to take care of their tires and that translated into a ‘slow’ pace and that’s saying a lot on a date like Finland. Be that as it may, Ott Tänak scored the scratch in SS16 to force Elfyn Evans to answer, something that the Welshman with the best time in the SS17 did at the wheel of his Toyota.
Considering that any hint of a fight for victory was a chimera, Ott Tänak raised his foot in the SS18, thus following the same strategy of a Craig Breen who fell almost in the blink of an eye more than 35 seconds behind the leader. Evans scored the scratch in SS18, knowing that what was really important came later. The Welshman did not fail to close a round rally, every time Elfyn Evans got scratch on the Power Stage. Five extra points, 30 loot total and 20 points cut from Sébastien Ogier, unable to be in the top five in the last leg of the rally.
If Elfyn Evans came out with five more points on her Power Stage scoreboard, Ott Tänak scored four points. The third position and three extra points went to Esapekka Lappi, while Takamoto Katsuta added two and Craig Breen one, in what seems to have been the last stage of the Irishman with Hyundai. Beyond this, Evans secured the final victory with a 14.1 second lead over Tänak, while Breen added his third podium in a row after finishing third. Esapekka Lappi closed the rally fourth, showing that it may well complement Sébastien Ogier, fifth in Finland, in his 2022 partial program.
Leaving aside the inconsequential rally of the M-Sport drivers, with Gus Greensmith sixth and Adrien Fourmaux seventh because in some order you have to place both, the ‘top 10’ have been closed by the best drivers at the wheel of a ‘Rally2’. And That Means, at the usual crossroads between WRC2 and WRC3, that the winners of both categories have added some point at the absolute level. In fact, Teemu Suninen finished eighth to also conquer the victory in WRC2, victory that tastes very well being in his first rally away from the influence of the M-Sport team.
Mads Ostberg and Jari Huttunen completed the podium in WRC2, being an important result for the Norwegian in his fight for the title, beyond the absolute ninth place obtained. For its part, local Emil Lindholm has scored the victory in WRC3 on a 100% Finnish podium, as Mikko Heikkilä finished second and Lauri Joona third. The casualties of some of the drivers who competed at home in the last stage has allowed Pepe López has closed the rally in fourth position. A great result for the Madrilenian in an event that is always complex due to its high speed.