From wrc.com
Despite a relatively low population of 5.3 million, Finland is the daddy when it comes to producing rally drivers. Of the 29 champions crowned since the WRC was established in 1979, 15 have been Finns. In the last 15 years of Rally Finland only Markko Martin has been able to wrestle the host nation off the top place on the podium - and he's from Estonia, which geographically makes him almost a Finn...
This time, however, we can be sure of at least one change because of the absence of the man who dominated the rally in recent years, Marcus Gronholm. As winner of seven of the last 10 editions, Gronholm's stranglehold on the rally was released when he retired in 2007. Leading the next generation of Finnish contenders - and hence the two favourites for victory next week - are the man currently in the lead of the drivers' championship Mikko Hirvonen, and his Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. There's a lot of Finnish pride at stake here.
One man who is definitely ready to have a go, however, is world champion Sebastien Loeb, who not only wants to take back the lead of this year's competition, but also wants to win one of the most important rounds in the series. After finishing on the podium on his last three attempts, Finland remains unfinished business for Loeb and his Citroen team.
Then there's Subaru. With the benefit of a further six weeks of testing and development over the summer, the Impreza WRC2008 could make Petter Solberg or Chris Atkinson dangerous too. While the team's focus in Greece and Turkey was on reliability and getting the basics right, from Finland onwards the team says it will switch to maximising performance. We'll find out on Friday how much they've found since the last rally.
Despite a relatively low population of 5.3 million, Finland is the daddy when it comes to producing rally drivers. Of the 29 champions crowned since the WRC was established in 1979, 15 have been Finns. In the last 15 years of Rally Finland only Markko Martin has been able to wrestle the host nation off the top place on the podium - and he's from Estonia, which geographically makes him almost a Finn...
This time, however, we can be sure of at least one change because of the absence of the man who dominated the rally in recent years, Marcus Gronholm. As winner of seven of the last 10 editions, Gronholm's stranglehold on the rally was released when he retired in 2007. Leading the next generation of Finnish contenders - and hence the two favourites for victory next week - are the man currently in the lead of the drivers' championship Mikko Hirvonen, and his Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. There's a lot of Finnish pride at stake here.
One man who is definitely ready to have a go, however, is world champion Sebastien Loeb, who not only wants to take back the lead of this year's competition, but also wants to win one of the most important rounds in the series. After finishing on the podium on his last three attempts, Finland remains unfinished business for Loeb and his Citroen team.
Then there's Subaru. With the benefit of a further six weeks of testing and development over the summer, the Impreza WRC2008 could make Petter Solberg or Chris Atkinson dangerous too. While the team's focus in Greece and Turkey was on reliability and getting the basics right, from Finland onwards the team says it will switch to maximising performance. We'll find out on Friday how much they've found since the last rally.