Junior WRC sets cruising altitude for Rally Finland

Sport news Prepare for take-off!
• In their quest for FIA Junior World Rally Championship glory, every crew wants to impress on Rally Finland’s 23 speed tests as a total of 48 points are up for grabs. • The championship fight is heating up: just 15 points separate the top three, with 142 still available thanks to double points at the final round of the season on Wales Rally GB. • Dennis Rådström and Jan Solans both have 19 stages wins this season, more than any other driver in FIA Junior WRC. • Tom Kristensson is the only driver to finish on every FIA Junior WRC podium this season. • It is the largest FIA Junior WRC entry of the 2019 season as AKK Sport’s Flying Finn Future Star award winner joins the pack.
The need for ‘sisu’ ‘Sisu’ is the word Finns use to describe implacable courage, which is something of a necessity to overcome Rally Finland’s challenges. The majority of Finland’s stages are smooth gravel roads, allowing this year’s FIA Junior WRC drivers to push their cars in excess of 150 kph. Such high speeds mean there is little room for error as the majority of the flat-out sections are lined by rally-ending ditches and trees. The jumps and speed of Rally Finland make it on of the most spectacular rallies of the season, attracting crowds from around the world. Drivers with experience on Rally Finland are certainly at an advantage here as smaller jumps aren’t so obvious during recce and have been known to catch inexperienced competitors out in previous years. Dennis Rådström, Julius Tannert, Tom Williams and Enrico Oldrati have all competed on Rally Finland in FIA Junior WRC in previous years.
Tyres The power of the M-Sport Fiesta R2T is nothing without the control of its tyres. For Rally Finland, the future stars of WRC can use a maximum of 22 Pirelli tyres, including shakedown, and can choose from 10 hard and 16 soft compound tyres.
Finland’s Future Stars This year’s AKK Flying Finn Future Star award winner, Sami Pajari, will join the FIA Junior WRC field and make his debut in the FIA World Rally Championship. Although new to FIA Junior WRC, Pajari is very accustomed to Finnish rallying and will be one to keep an eye on throughout the rally. Joining Pajari is co-patriot Aleksi Royhkio, who is also a member of the AKK Flying Finn Academy.
 
FIA JUNIOR WRC DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS



OVERALL POSITION
DRIVERS
EVENT POINTS
STAGE WINS
TOTAL POINTS


1
Jan Solans
52
19
71


2
Tom Kristensson
58
4
62


3
Dennis Rådström
37
19
56


4
Julius Tannert
33
3
36


5
Roland Poom 
26
0
26


6
Tom Williams
22
0
22


7
Martins Sesks
18
3
21


8
Raul Badiu
18
0
18


9
Enrico Oldrati
14
0
14


10
Sean Johnston
10
0
10


11
Fabrizio Zaldivar
9
0
9


12
Nico Knacker
4
0
4


13
Ken Torn
1
2
3










 
R ally d’Italia Sardegna results: 1. Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro 4h02m36.2s 2. Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson + 00:14.9 3. Tom Kristensson / Henrik Appelskog + 03:27.2 4. Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar + 04:37.5 5. Martins Sesks / Krisjanis Caune + 05:34.9 6. Julius Tannert / Jurgen Heigl + 06:41.8 7. Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano + 08:58.9 8. Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio + 17:44.69. 9. Nico Knacker / Michael Wenzel +19:53.9
Retired: Tom Williams / Phil Hall Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani
Tour de Corse results: 1. Julius Tannert / Jürgen Heigl 3h51m50.0s 2. Tom Kristensson / Henrik Appelskog + 00:01.9 3. Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson + 00:25.8 4. Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro + 05:48.8 5. Tom Williams / Phil Hall + 06:36.7 6. Roland Poom / Ken Jarveoja + 07:35.3 7. Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar + 08:00.3 8. Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio + 08:30.5 9. Nico Knacker / Michael Wenzel + 09:36.9 10. Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano + 11:42.8
Retired: Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas Martins Sesks / Krisjanis Caune Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani
Rally Sweden results: 1. Tom Kristensson / Henrik Appelskog 3:14:48.9 2. Roland Poom / Ken Jarveoja +1:31.2 3. Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro +4:09.2 4. Tom Williams / Phil Hall +6:53.4 5. Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani +11:43.1 6. Martins Sesks / Krisjanis Caune +13:20.9 7. Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio +16:23.8 8. Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson +23:31.1 9. Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano +23:47.0 10. Ken Torn / Kuldar Sikk +24:00.0 11. Julius Tannert / Helmar Hinneberg +41:24.8 12. Nico Knacker / Tobias Braun +49:09.3 13. Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar +53:38.8 World Rally Championship
junior WRC SEASON 2019 Sport Rallies 1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2019junior01 Tuesday, July 30, 2019 - 8:42pm Tuesday, July 30, 2019 - 8:42pm