Photo by: XPB Images
Daniel Oliveira set to tackle Rally Finland for the first time
After the WRC mid-season break Daniel Oliveira and the BWRT team return to the action to tackle one of the most extraordinary rounds around the world for the first time: Rally Finland.
Known as the Cathedral of all rallies, the Finnish showdown is a unique event which features the fastest stages with plenty of crests and jumps one after another; a highly demanding challenge for which Oliveira has been working for the last month.
The young Brazilian driver has carried on a thorough preparation ahead of this test, as important for what it means within the WRC as difficult for what it demands for the drivers. That’s why Daniel decided to relied on the experience of Finnish driver Pasi Hagstrom, who worked alongside Oliveira to prepare him for his first encounter with Finland’s roads.
After that, Daniel flew to London to visit Prodrive’s headquarters to continue his preparation, gaining more hours in the rally simulator, before coming back on Sunday to the event’s base in Jyvaskyla to start with the pre-race activities.
Daniel’s words. “We made almost 200 kilometres with Pasi at the wheel of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. Pasi was great, he helped me a lot with the pace notes and gave me many good pieces of advice about finding the best car’s set-up for this particular event. I quite enjoyed the roads and I think we can do a good job in Finland. I will try to take out as much of this rally because it has always been one of my favourites”.
Insight into Rally Finland. Neste Oil Rally Finland will again stick to its successful compact format trialled for the first time last year. But while the Saturday night finish remains, Thursday will include more special stages and a ceremonial start in the town of Lahti. Also the Shakedown.
Several changes are being planned for this year’s 61st anniversary of the rally, with more stages on Thursday afternoon, single use tests, a special stage run on Friday night and a route spanning further away from the Jyvaskyla and Jamsa regions, something that had not been done since the 1990s.
Facts and figures. The Finnish round will be valid for all the Championships within the WRC. Nobody wants to miss this opportunity and that’s why a total of 125 drivers have crowded the entry list. Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) leads the standings with 146 points followed by Finnish Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) with 129. The last winner was Jari-Matti Latavala.
by: Brazil World Rally Team
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Loeb had "no chance" against three-car Audi team in Dakar after Al-Attiyah exit
Loeb: “No plan at the moment’ for 2023 WRC return
Why Loeb v Ogier duel gave the WRC's new hybrid era the ideal start
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
How Ogier's Citroen dream died
Full-time IndyCar move “an option” says supersub Pourchaire
When Senna broke his F1 duck by walking on water
Josh Berry "not necessarily panicked" over tough 2024 season
Greg Biffle among new 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees
The eight minutes of madness that saw Ogier strike in Croatia
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments