Toyota Gazoo Racing took the opportunity to enter the Arctic Lapland Rally, the second round of the Finnish Rally Championship in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden in two weeks time.
Toyota chose a great event to gather data as conditions ranged from Friday’s stunning sunny day to a wild snowstorm on Saturday’s final run.
Notwithstanding Kalle Rovanpera’s lack of seat time as he is only running a partial campaign this year, the defending champion waltzed off into the distance from the get-go, immediately taking the lead in the first stage and continued in the same vein on Saturday, leaving Elfyn Evans just over half a minute in arrears.
“It’s good to have data on all conditions, because you don’t know what conditions will be like in Sweden in two weeks’ time. A lot of chassis geometry and locks have been adjusted to improve the balance of the car,” Rovanperä said.
However, at the very end of the rally, Rovanperä’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 had a technical fault that forced the crew to park on a side road. With the help of spectators, Rovanperä finally finished the special stage.
“A couple of kilometers before the finish there was a technical problem. We got pretty close, but we had good help on the route that pushed us to the finish line. We also went there to eat rally sausage,” Rovanperä laughed at the finish. “We reached the finish line with the help of electricity, and even that is completely zero.”
Evans struggled with his adjustments on the opening day, but on Saturday he was happier, even though the conditions were extreme in places. With Rovanperä’s retirement, The Welshman inherited the victory.
“I think it was good that we came here. Although I am not sure that this gave me any confidence for Sweden, there is still a lot of work to be done. That’s clear,” Evans said.
Toyota’s team manager Jari-Matti Latvala enjoyed the Lappish stages to the fullest with co-driver Juho Hänninen. Latvala, who also suffered from technical problems, drove a historic-class Toyota Celica, and received a seven-minute time penalty for missing the time check station after day service.
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