Bottas to make rally debut in WRC Fiesta

Valtteri Bottas will follow in the footsteps of fellow Finnish Formula 1 greats Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen when he starts next month’s Arctic Lapland Rally in a currentspec World Rally Car.

The 29-year-old will drive a Ford Fiesta WRC on the Rovaniemi-based event with two-time world champion Timo Rautiainen co-driving for him. Ahead of the January 24-26 event, the Finn will complete two days of testing in the Arctic Circle.

M-sport’s deputy team principal Rich Millener is confident Bottas won’t let himself down.

He said: “We met Valtteri at the start of this season when we were in Monte Carlo and he made it clear what he wanted to do. He’s done a lot of karting with [Citroen WRC driver] Esapekka Lappi and I think this is something he’s always wanted to do.

“What will be tough for him – and we’ve seen this with the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Robert [Kubica] is learning pacenotes. But he’s got Timo [Rautiainen] there to help him.”

As well as the pacenotes, the weather conditions will play a big part in his debut on the stages.

“Consistent conditions would really help,” said Millener. “Ideally there will be a lot of snow, big snowbanks and lots of good, hard ice on the road. If he gets those conditions, he’ll find the grip’s at a really high level and he’ll learn quickly. If it’s a bit warmer and he starts to lose some studs from the tyres because there’s gravel coming through the ice, then it could be tough.”