Clash of generations in the Finnish championship

After two events on snow and ice (Ralli Kuopio and Arctic Lapland Rally), the lucky competitors of the Finnish championship will have another chance to compete in winter conditions. The SM Savonlinna Ralli (March 8) will take place around this town located 70 km from the border with Russia (230 km east of Jyväskylä). The 103 teams announced will have 7 special stages and 104,30 km of time to cover with the longest section (23,61 km) as the final difficulty.

In this beautiful list, three boys will be particularly worth following. The one with the most experience is certainly Jari-Matti Latvala. Still as passionate about rally and piloting, the Finn who is approaching 40 years old (next April 3) has managed to delegate part of his function within Toyota to Juha Kankkunen to make time for racing. As in Finland last year, he will have a Yaris Rally2 that he will share with his partner Juho Hänninen. The following week, Latvala will be in Spain for the first round of the European Historic Rally Championship. This time, he will be driving a Celica from the 90s with Janni Hussi. During the Savonlinna Ralli, the TGR boss will be up against someone he knows well since they were teammates at Toyota.

Esapekka Lappi actually won his first world championship victory in 2017 with the Yaris. Not kept by Hyundai At the end of the 2024 season, EP has chosen to compete in its national championship. While it is difficult to really understand the goal of this maneuver, the 34-year-old Nordic driver is not tackling an easy challenge, because he appears to be the benchmark to beat. For his return to the Arctic, he did not manage to get ahead of the one who will attract all eyes this weekend, the very young Tuukka Kauppinen. At 18, the one who started in 2021 has more than 100 starts to his name. This year alone, he has already competed in 7 races and has 3 successes, including the Arctic, plus 2 in Fiesta R3 on lesser events. Still very shy when it comes to talking about himself, Tuukka is much less self-conscious behind the wheel. With Latvala and Lappi as a reference, it will be possible to measure whether Kauppinen has what it takes to become the new Finnish terror in the years to come.

To these three headliners, we must not forget to add Teemu Asunmaa (Fabia Rally2) and Niclas Grönholm (Fabia Rally2) even if the latter does not have his father's talent for rallying. The four Japanese hopefuls will also be there, Yuki Yamamoto and Hikaru Kogure in Yaris Rally2 and Takumi Matsushita and Shotaro Goto in Clio Rally3. The latter two will have the opportunity to shine in a category rich with 12 competitors, including the promising Italian Valentino Ledda.