Rally of a Thousand Lakes

Tomorrow celebrates the start of the 67th Rally Finland, better known to many as the Rally of a Thousand Lakes.

Renowned for the high speeds, one of the fastest on the calendar, and the enormous jumps, the event challenges the car and crew.

One mistake here can mean an early retirement or a loss of time which can never be made up.

Over the years, the rally has been dominated by Finnish drivers who have won no less than 54 of the 66 held so far.

Last year the Irishman Kris Meeke took the laurels at an average speed of 126.62 km/h.

The rally will cover 1 422.km over 25 special stages totalling 314km before the end on Sunday.

Weather conditions are expected to be wet, making the event even tougher.

In the battle for the driver’s title, M-Sports’ Sebastien Ogier is on 160 points to the 149 of Hyundai Motorsports’ Thierry Neuville. The Belgian’s recent form must make him a favourite to reduce that gap before the weekend is over.

The man on home territory is Jari-Matti Latvala.

The Finn will be pushing hard to put his Toyota on the top step of the podium, with just a four point advantage over fourth placed man in the championship, Ott Tanak, and it will be a tough one.

Tanak, on 108 points, will be on the hunt after crashing out of the Rally Poland.