Brazil WRT Rally Finland Leg 2 Summary

Daniel Oliveira exprecienced troubles on Rally Finland’s second leg

Daniel Oliveira got troubled while trying to make his way through the second leg of Rally Finland, eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The BWRT Brazilian driver and his Portuguese navigator Carlos Magalhaes were forced to drop out of the race after Oliveira lost the control of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC and went off the road one kilometre away the start of the SS9.

Up to that moment Daniel was doing a neat job, keeping a cautious but steady pace as well as he did yesterday in the opening leg. Indeed, in the last stages he was able to reduce the gap in relation to the drivers which preceded him in the standings.

For sure Daniel and Carlos have discovered why Finland roads are among the most difficult ones for rallying, were a minor mistake could cost a whole race. This time, Daniel is learning how fly over the most famous blind crests and jumps with an average speed fluttering 120km/h.

Nevertheless, nothing is over yet and Daniel will have another great opportunity tomorrow to challenge and take much more out of this scary event. Finland’s endless tree-lined roads are still waiting for him.

Daniel Oliveira and Carlos Magalhaes, Mini John Cooper Works

Photo by: Andre Lavadinho

Daniel’s word.

“We started the day in a pretty calm way, I think much calmer than we expected. After the midday service we were back on the road in high-spirits and with a great pace; however, a minor mistake on SS9 when trying to land the car after taking a crest sent us off the road and we ended up stuck in a ditch. There were a lot of people in that place who tried to help us to put the car back on the road but it was impossible. Luckily nothing happened to the car. It was a shame since we were feeling in better this afternoon with Carlos and we were improving our pace a lot. Tomorrow we hope to start the day pushing as hard as we did this afternoon and to keep on progressing in a such a difficult rally”.

The third leg.

Once again Rally Finland will finish on Saturday with a night run throw the Laajavuori Super Special. However, to reach the start line of the Power Stage, the drivers must overcome ten stages totalizing 125.73 kilometres, a tremendous challenge considering there will only be one Service Park in between. The rally will take place to the West of the event’s base in Jyvaskyla and will start at 7:58. (UTC/GMT + 3 h).

Where are the Finnish?

For the second time in 19 years a non-Nordic driver could clinch the overall victory in Rally Finland. The last one to achieve such an accomplishment was Sebastien Loeb in 2008. And the Frenchman could repeat his heroic deed since he comes to the final day of action leading the rally with a 1.5s difference over his team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who also wants to post his name in the winner’s board of the event. Jari-Matti Latavala (Ford), placed in third position 2.6s adrift Loeb, is the only Finnish who can save the Nordic honour.

by: Brazil World Rally Team