Todeschini moral winner of the Lahti Historic Rally

Within the calendar of the 6 rounds of the historic European championship, Lahti holds a special place. Run in Finland (100 km north of Helsinki), it offers great special stages and always attracts thrill-seekers. For the 22^e edition, 12 SS and just over 139 timed km were on the program. In the lists of starters, several French people appeared. Sabrina de Castelli co-drove Abdullah Al Thani while Roland Medici (Porsche) teamed up with Dominique Savignoni (seen a few years ago with François Delecour). For his part, Florent Todeschini discovered Finland. Operating a Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII, the 28-year-old driver did not take long to demonstrate that two reconnaissance passes were enough for him to compete with the Finns.

At the start of rally, Todeschini first fought with Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota GT-4), Jari Huttunen (Ford Escort) and Ville Silvasti (Audi Quattro), locals who know the special stages well. The TGR boss's mechanical problems with the Japanese opened the way for 2-wheel drive and Todeschini stood out by setting 3 best times, at the same time taking the lead in the race. A final scratch at the end of the day allowed him to complete the first stage with 1'04'' over Huttunen who notably competed in Finland in WRC on a Puma Rally1 (9^e in 2022).

Back for 2^e day, Latvala annexed the victories in the special, but in the general classification it was Todeschini the solid leader. Despite engine problems at the end of the event, he finished the rally in the lead, but he was taken out of the race for a “technical infraction” described by Florent Todeschini. “ This comes from the fact that in France this car races in the “Classic” category where it is authorized to use electric power steering. In VHC and FIA regulations, electric DA is prohibited on this Ford and I have never driven with it, the electric servomotor was removed and its location obstructed by a plate during preparation, thinking that this would be enough to be in compliance, EXCEPT that visually there is still the metal casing of the servomotor and therefore visually the steering column does not comply with the approval form. The stewards did attest to the fact that there was no AD installed on our Escort and specified this in the Stewart Decision, but the rules were applied in "stupid and disciplined" mode and we were disqualified. » The strict application of the regulations therefore led to the exclusion of the winner and allowed Jari Huttunen to win. For the latter also, perhaps the same severity should have been applied? “ Huttunen received a simple warning sur the technical passport of the car, explains Todeschini again. However, it runs with upper ball-jointed aluminum front shock absorber cups with the possibility of adjusting caster and camber, whereas on the homologation form the cups are made of rubber and not adjustable. » There seems to have been double standards upon the arrival of Lahti. Wouldn't the Finns have appreciated being beaten at home by a novice? This did not make Florent Todeschini lose his sense of humor. “ I still congratulated Huttunen and invited him to come and compete in a rally in France. »