Mads Ostberg defeats Marcus Grönholm at Helsinki Battle

Before Rally of Finland which will take place next week from July 31 to August 3 (and which will be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr in full), a show was organized this Saturday in the streets of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It pitted the current pilots of the WRC (Ogier, Neuville, Hirvonen…) to the former legends of Finnish and world rallying, such as Juha Kankkunen (four WRC titles in 1986 – 1987- 1991 and 1993), Tommi Mäkinen (quadruple champion between 1996 and 1999), Marcus Grönholm, basic man of the back from Peugeot in the early 2000s and double champion in 2000 and 2002, and Markku Alen, never crowned but winner of the FIA ​​Drivers' Cup in 1978, the ancestor of the world drivers' title introduced a year later.

And it was Mads Ostberg (Citroën) who won the event against Marcus Grönholm. Ostberg set the best time of the current drivers ahead of Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen Polo R) by three tenths. Marcus Grönholm (Hyundai i20) lost none of his drive in beating Tommi Mäkinen (Ford Fiesta). In the final, Mads Ostberg won in 1'27″4 compared to 1'29″2 for the double world champion with the Peugeot 206 WRC.