Arctic Rally: A field that does not lack interest

Drivers who have already participated in the Arctic Rally often have fond memories of it. Competing in a race of more than 200 km of special on icy roads with high walls of snow is an absolute treat. Knowing how to welcome foreigners, the organizers see each year crews come to rub shoulders with the locals while taking the opportunity to visit Santa Claus who, it seems, lives in the area.

This will not be the primary motivation for Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans. The two members of the Toyota Gazoo Racing will have the sole objective of preparing well for the next deadline (February 15-18). The Welshman is already “hot” after a mixed Monte-Carlo while his young teammate will begin his partial program. Toyota was disappointed by the result of the last rally from Sweden and it was decided to take good care of his participation this year to avoid this happening again. The Yaris crews will be able to observe the performance of the TGR boss since Jari-Matti Latvala is engaged in his usual Celica. It will once again be sailed by Juho Hänninen. While the show will already be exceptional with these three boys, the fight for victory in Rally2 also promises.

25 Rally2/5 are at the start and the main candidates for the Finnish title want to add this famous event to their prize list. After winning the first meeting of the season in a Fabia, Roope Korhonen will this time have a Yaris Rally2. This will be the first racing outing of the new Toyota on a national round. Four other copies will be in Rovaniemi with Mikko Heikkilä (who plans to do theERC with this car), Georg Linnamäe and the two Japanese apprentices, Yuki Yamamoto and Hikaru Kogure. For the latter, this will be the first race in Rally2. Competition will come from the i20 of Benjamin Korhola and the Fabia RS of Teemu Asunmaa (winner in 2017 and 2023) and Lauri Joona. He will prepare for his WRC2 debut in Sweden along with Nikolay Gryazin. Accustomed to running a lot, the Bulgarian will continue his acclimatization to the C3 on slippery surfaces. Although he decided not to score points in Sweden, Nikolay will be able to gauge himself against the other favorites in the category (Oliver Solberg, Sami Pajari, etc.).

With Rally Sweden marking the launch of the 2024 JWRC, competitors have cleverly scheduled a trip to the Arctic Circle to practice. Diego Dominguez, Fabio Schwarz, Jakub Matulka, Petr Borodin, and Roberto Blach will be able to ride in powder snow with their Fiesta Rally3.

A very exotic rally, it has always attracted non-Finns. This will be the case again this year with a trio of French drivers: Marc Amourette, Julien France and Hervé Knapick. On their Citroën C3 Rally2, they are ready to make beautiful memories.

From Friday 203,98 km timed are on the program with 12 specials.