COLIN CLARK
“Finland was all about redemption”
What was the best thing about this year’s annual pilgrimage to the forests of Jyvaskyla for the rally-fest that is Rally Finland? Well, for me, it was the winners – and we’re not just talking Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja and Toyota here.
Drivers that, just a few rallies ago, were being written off around the service park turned up in Finland reinvigorated and with renewed purpose.
Take Esapekka Lappi as an example. Now, doom and gloom is a phrase that, over the past 12 months, seemed attached to the likeable but quick-to-complain Finn. He’s been a bit of ‘little boy lost’ for too long now and serious questions were being asked. The pressure was mounting. Considering all of that, his performance in Finland was truly remarkable. The only driver to take the fight to the rampaging Toyotas, Lappi seemed to relish the challenge. There was a swaggering recklessness to his performance that reminded us all just why we got so excited by his obvious and prodigious talents all those years ago now.
And then there was Andreas Mikkelsen. Now he was a driver properly written off just two rallies ago. Benched for Sebastien Loeb in Chile, his future at Hyundai seemed to hang by the weakest of threads. But, boy, has he delivered for the team since then.
His Sunday drive in Sardinia, where he threw caution to the wind to reel in Elfyn Evans and claim a surprise podium, was impressive. But Sunday’s performance in Finland bested even that. This time he battled for tenths of a second with Sebastien Ogier and ultimately came out on top. I think Mikkelsen just put in the best Sunday drive of his career. He convincingly outpaced his team leader all weekend and has given his team boss plenty to think about in the contract department. A rejuvenated Mikkelsen is simply a joy to watch.
And while we’re talking winners, let’s just mention Craig Breen. Dumped unceremoniously by Citroen at the end of last year, the young Irishman had to wait eight months to show the WRC what it has been missing.
His unbridled joy at being out in what he described at the best car he’s ever driven was backed up by some quite astonishing stage times.
Friday was classic Breen. Speed and flair with more than a touch of home country blarney delighted those who’d championed so enthusiastically for his return to the top level.
He found himself in an enthralling three-way battle with Ogier and Mikkelsen for much of the rally and having to take a time penalty to promote his team leader on the final morning was testament to the amazing job Breen did. And I reckon that should be more than enough to ensure that we don’t have to wait another eight months to see him back out on the world stages again.
And finally, Rally Finland itself was once again a massive winner.
The best rally in the world by a very long way continues to deliver on just about every level.
It sets the standard that every other rally should aspire to. Brilliantly organised, it goes from strength to strength and stands out as being one of the world’s great sporting events.