Arctic Lapland Rally, 27th-28th of January 2012

One week after Riihimäki rally it was time to head to Rovaniemi in Lapland. Arctic Lapland Rally is a legendary rally in Finland and like the name says it's held on the Arctic Circle. The rally is twice as long (233km of special stages) as the normal Finnish championship rounds so we had three and a half days for the recce. The stages were awesome. Even the shortest one was 20km long and the longest was 47km! A real challenge for me since the roads in the Arctic Lapland Rally are the most challenging in Finnish championship. The winter had been perfect for ensuring firm coating of snow and ice on top of the roads. During the recce the temperatures were between -17 and -30. Had to use more than just a T-shirt when walking outside.

We started to the first stage around 1pm on Friday. We were once again fighting against the all Citroën C2 R2 front. Sergey Karyakin from the WRC Academy was entered to the rally with a Fiesta R2, but he had withdrawn before the start. Shame since it would have been nice to compare our speed with one of the WRC Academy guys. The first stage was a super special that we would drive three times during the rally. For a super special the stage was actually really good since it was 3,7km long. We just drove it through with normal speed and managed to be fastest in our class. With a huge margin of 0,1s. The main thing is not to win the super specials, but not to give any easy/stupid seconds away to the competition. Those are hard to get back in the forest between the trees.

The second stage was a proper stage with 23km of fast roads. We lost 5 seconds to the class leader, but we were happy to get the rally properly under way. I managed to be late with the pace notes once when going through somebody's yard, but luckily there wasn't anything tricky with the corner and had the time to catch up immediately. After this stage we entered the service for the first time and then headed for two long stages which were to be driven in the dark.


In addition of driving in the dark the rally there was a problem off snow dust hanging in the air. Similar phenomenon as Greece or Cyprus WRC rounds have with the gravel dust. When the temperature is cold enough and there is no wind there is a risk of snow dust and these two stages now had the dust hanging in the air. The third stage wasn't that bad with only the occasional dust. We lost 3 seconds to the class winner on the 32km stage so one could say that the battle for the lead was quite even.

After 60 stage kilometers we were 6,1 seconds from the class lead. The fourth stage was also a long one with 36km. On that stage the snow dust really was a problem and you could only see 20-30 meters in front of you. We even dried if we could see better using only the normal day time driving lights. That sometimes helps if there is really much snow in the air and the extra lights doesn't reflect so much from all the snow in the air. That trick didn't provide any assistance. One thing that really saved our day was the fact that we used an accurate trip meter for checking the distances during the recce. No we relied on the pace notes when keeping the throttle to the floor half blind. It worked. The margins weren't huge, but we managed to eat 4,9 seconds from the class leader and were only 1,2s behind when going back to Rovaniemi for the super special and overnight  service.

On the super special we attacked a bit too much and went wide one corner loosing time. Without that small mistake we would have been in the class lead, but had to settle for the second place when heading of to bed. The time difference after 100 stage kilometers was 0,9s! Excellent battle and the spirits were high since with differences like this you don't have to sleep in the car half of the rally. In the 45min service we changed the brake discs and pads and drove the car to parc fermé around 9.30pm. 

After good night sleep it was an early wake up for breakfast and getting the car out of parc fermé after 8am. Our plan was to attack on the first stage and that we certainly did. We were trying a bit too hard and our driving wasn't neat enough especially on the junctions. We lost almost 20s on the 30km stage. Luckily there were still 100 stage kilometers to go so the game wasn't over yet. We decided to tidy up the driving a bit for the next stage which was also 30km long. Well that wasn't to be. One kilometer from the start of the stage we heard a loud banging noise from the front. We thought that a drive shaft was broken, but when Andreas tried to brake he realized it might just be a brake caliber problem. Apparently when changing the discs and pads one of the brake calibers wasn't tightened properly. We stopped on the stage, took out the front left caliber and switched a spare wheel since the rim was broken too. Then drove 28km with only using the hand brake. Luckily the last 10km was a really fast section so we didn't have to slow down too much. In any case we lost 10min 35s. 

Just to make sure we were on a good mood the driver's side window got stuck 3/4 open for a 50km road section in -23 degrees temperature. It got a bit chilly in the car. We don't usually play with the windows too much, but Andreas opened it in a junction because he couldn't see through the window since it was frozen from the inside. The R2 car's heaters don't have enough power to keep the side windows open when the temperature is below -15 or so. Even our water bottles near the floor of the car were 2/3 frozen since only the area near the roof is even somewhat warm. The windshield stays open since it's electrically heated. 

Picture is from the fast 10km section. No brakes anymore, but still almost managed to jump.

On the service we managed to get 3,5/4 of the brakes working and close the driver's side window. Even though we had lost a lot of time you should never quit trying. The plan was to pick up any left over points since those might be really valuable in the end of the season. We still had two stages and 70 stage kilometers to go. Anything could happen. On the second last 23km long stage we lost only 4s to the stage winner. A really good result since the brakes weren't 100%. That helped since now we knew we didn't at least take a 30s beating. Something else helped even more. We got an SMS from our service crew before the very last 47km marathon stage. Others crews had had their share of problems(technical or digging the cars out of snow banks) and miraculously we were now second in class and third overall in the 2wd category! That really lifted the spirits and the plan was to drive "fast without risks". Below is our in-car clip from the stage.

ALR 2012 Stage 10, 47km

Meaning not taking any risks, but also not to lift the throttle if there wasn't any reason to take the bend slower than normal. In the end of the stage we found out that we had been fastest in class by 17,6s and secured the second in class and third overall in 2wd!

Goes without saying that the spirits were quite high in the car! Starting with 0,9s to the lead in the morning, the dropping over 10min and then fighting back to second place. An emotional roller coaster, but that's why the Arctic Lapland Rally has the reputation of being an adventure. After the Arctic Lapland Rally we are now third overall in the 2wd championship standings since the SM2 and SM3 classes are fighting for one title only. The next championship round is on the 25th on February in Mikkeli. Before that we have AKK's training weekend and also one small rally on the previous weekend before Mikkeli.

Riihimäki -rally 14th of January 2012

Riihimäki -rally had the honor of being the first rally of the 2012 Finnish Rally Championship. The weather had been really warm and things weren't looking too good for a winter rally. On the previous weekend we headed 450km north of Helsinki to Nilsiä where one could test tyres and car in proper winter conditions. Two days of testing went well and the whole crew got the chance to get some routine of their tasks.

Any worries of a proper winter rally vanished during the week before the Riihimäki -rally. Colder temperatures and some snow enabled a nice winter rally. The first stage of the rally was super special held in the center of Riihimäki on a horse race track. We didn't try anything special and kept driving really clean. The stopwatch appreciated that and we were the fastest 2wd car in the Finnish championship. This year the 2wd cars have been divided into two categories. SM2-class competes with maximum 2 liter cars (civics, fiestas, R2 clio) and the SM3-class with R2 and R1 cars. Both classes fight for one 2wd championship. The R2s are faster on narrow and technical roads and the bigger engined cars on faster stages. Our SM3-class in funny in that way that we are the only crew driving a Ford Fiesta. Everybody else has Citroën C2 R2s in normal or max guises.

The second stage we drove too calmly and lost 12 seconds to Joonas Lindroos in our class. Lindroos was second in Finnish 4wd championship in 2011 and now stepped one step down back to 2wd drive cars. So we didn't loose to a slow driver, but anyway would have been nice to continue leading our class. Third stage was more to our pace and we only lost a few seconds to Lindroos. We headed to the first service second in our class.

After the service there were three stages where we basically drove neck and neck with Lindroos. Didn't manage to close down the gap however. After those three stages we headed back to the service area for our second service. The tactic for the last two stages was quite obvious. No heroics and secure good points with the second place. That was quite easy to do. We also finished fourth overall with the 2wd category. A couple of civics were also faster than us on the fast roads. Next day after the rally we went and drove the stages though again to see where we could have driven faster, improve our pace notes and read the notes with better timing. An exercise I definitely recommend.

Next rally in the championship is the legendary Arctic Lapland Rally 27th-28th of January in Rovaniemi at the Arctic circle. A two day rally with 233 special stage kilometers and some epic scenery. Since the rally is so long we'll fly to Lapland already on Sunday and start the recce on Monday.

Plans for season 2012

The plan for season 2012 is to co-drive in the Finnish Rally Championship for Andreas Amberg. Andreas' web pages can be found from www.andreasamberg.com. New web pages will be published before Christmas. After the last rally in September Andreas sold the Honda Civic and we'll be driving a Ford Fiesta R2. Andreas' long time sponsor Trailerikeskus Oy really showed their support by enabling us to compete with the Fiesta next year. First impressions are that it's really a rally car after the group N Civic. Very light, handles nicely and everything is designed for racing. Lacks power compared to the 220hp Civic though, but the other areas of the car compensate the power deficit a lot.

The championship starts from Riihimäki on the 14th of January and one week later we are already off towards Rovaniemi for Arctic Lapland Rally recce. Arctic Lapland Rally is on the 28th-29th of January. After that only one winter rally left in the championship which is Mikkeli on the 26th of February. Summer season starts after a three month break in Lapua on the 9th of June, then Kouvola 14th of July, Siikainen 18th of August and traditional Kerava 15th of September. Somewhere between those days you fill in all the training weekends, own testing sessions, pace note training and physical training. In addition to the "normal" life stuff that people have: visiting your friends, going to parties, national holidays etc. For sure I don't have to spend my time sitting on the couch during Jan-Feb, Jun-Aug.

October-December has now been spent trying to find sponsors, training, booking hotels for the first rallies, planning schedules and so on. Now that Christmas is knocking on the door it's time to rest a couple of weeks before starting final preparations for Riihimäki rally and Arctic Lapland Rally. The "big boys" said that the Fiesta R2 heater isn't really suited for keeping the cabin warm at temperatures below -15 Celcius. As a philosophical question one might wonder that how cold can it be spending 2 days in that kind of a rally car at Rovaniemi when the temperatures usually are between -25 and -35 in the end of January? Luckily the windshield is electrically heated keeping it unrozen. No worries then...

Physical tests in Vierumäki 21-22th of October

I have mentioned earlier about belonging to the rally training. In October it was time to the bi-annual physical tests in Vierumäki sports training center. The Sports Institute of Finland supports professional sports and Vierumäki is the place where it's easy to test athletes.

The two days basically held rowing with a gas a mask on until you drop and the normal push ups etc other physical tests. In addition to tests everybody had discussions with the coaches about the past year in general and about the plans for the 2012 season.

The two days basically started with the rowing test. There you sit on the normal rowing machine. In addition to that you get a mask(think fighter pilots mask and you get the picture) on your face with a tube going to a machine which analyzes your exhaling gases and calculates how well your body can utilize oxygen. In rallying the physical fitness helps on long stages and on rallies lasting several days. The test itself was as fun as you can imagine. You row all the time except every three minutes the pace is lifted to a higher level and somebody takes a blood sample from your finger. You continue this as long you can...

When you are waiting for your turn to the rowing tests everybody had their session with the coaches. You went through the physical training programs, but also the rally training part. Basically a summary of the year. What went well, what needs improving, how do you see different aspects of the sport, what are the plans for the next season etc. It's good to have that kind of talks so you'll get different views on the topics.

On Saturday we had the more common physical tests including push ups, abs etc. On the afternoon we went through the results, then basically packed our bags and went home. The test weekend effectively ended my 2011 season, but of course the work for 2012 is going on all the time. No major secrets regarding the next season, but still not the time to reveal the plans yet either. I'll write about the plans sometime in December.

Kaakkoisralli 15th of October 2011

Final rally of my 2011 season. But finally the first rally for my brother's BMW M3! I have been looking forward to sit in it and find out what the M3 is like. The word out on the street is that the M3 has power...

The Kaakkoisralli in Hamina was the only rally that we could even think of so late into the season since it was relatively close to Joensuu. Only 300km or so from Joensuu. We wanted to test the car before the first rallies in 2012 so that we would have even some kind of idea how it handled and if we would have any small technical problems to solve.

Picture: Kaj Lindberg

After the normal routines in the rally center we headed towards the first stage. The start was a welcome surprise since the organizer had managed to locate it on tarmac. Eliminates nicely the deep struts. For the M3 the first stage wasn't the optimal however. Most of the stage was driven on a small road and the M3 was suffering from lack of grip. We didn't draw any conclusions just based on that stage.

On  the second stage we got to drive on a faster road. The crew also managed to get to a "rally feeling". Have to say that an M3 really has to power to go even on a bigger gear. The car just keeps on accelerating even on  5th gear. The downside of a big car is that it doesn't stop or turn like some of the lighter ones. Can't complain though, it's just so fun when you've got enough power under the pedal. The suspension felt too hard on a faster road so that we have to soften in the future. After the second stage it was time to head for the first service. The plan was to change different tires to the rear and see how the traction would change. If it would change at all. In the service our mechanic Teuvo switched the tires and that was pretty much that. The aim is not having to repair the car during the rally. Cars should last for 70km without major repairs. In the end of the service we decided to change one front tyre also. It was leaking air and a minor detail like that would have been fun to notice on the following road section. After the service there was a refuel possibility, but we had enough petrol in the M3's tank for the following two stages. In this rally the aim was not to optimize car weight so that's why the extra petrol. Any opinions about the third stage? What a great stage! 19km long stage on a fast road and easy to look a head so that you didn't have to on your guard all the time guessing where the stage would turn. The stage was just like the ones you were dreaming about before starting rallying at all. I'm sure the crowds like it too since the BMW was all the time sideways in some direction. Some of the people on the outside banks of corners must have gotten " a few" rocks flying at them. At the time control after the stage we complimented the stage to the officials. They said that nobody had complained so far... The fourth stage was also a nice one. Had fun and no complaints.

Picture: Niina Hakulinen

After the fourth stage to the service again. This time we had to refuel. After all the M3 isn't some diesel with a 3,9L/100km fuel consumption. What it looses on the fuel consumption side it more than compensates on being that much more fun to drive around. For the last stage we decided to adjust our tactics a little bit. This time we wouldn't drive on the safe side. We were going to drive like little old ladies. On the hindsight a good decision since there were some nasty places on the last stage. Last thing we wanted to do on the first rally is to crash the car. According to the stopwatch we lost a decade, but that was to be expected since we were driving through the stages without any risks. A little bit of training and setting up the suspension should equal to a decent gentleman rally driver pace.

Volunteer work as a marshal in Teijo-Talot rally 1st of October 2011

Everybody knows that you need a lot of volunteers dedicating their time as officials, marshals and doing whatever to arrange a rally. I try to do my bit from time to time to ease my conscience. My motoring club called once again and since I had declined twice(I was co-driving in both rallies) already this year thought there wasn't any "excuses" to not help out. I co-drive in a lot of rallies and even though it seems that spare time is a luxury nowadays I still try to help even sometimes. In a way the safety car trip in September was this kind of help, but since it's almost like rallying I don't consider it as a chore. Being a marshal and keeping an eye on some junction to make sure nobody enters the special stage is more like a chore. That was something I was doing on Teijo-Talot rally.

Luckily the weather was good and I could also see the cars for a long time. Only a handful of spectators in my junction so I could also relax and focus on the cars.  There was even one sierra among the cars. A rarity especially compared to the huge amount of mk2 escorts in every Finnish rally.

Talotekniikka 10 SM-ralli 16th-17th of September

The final round of the Finnish rally championship in 2011. This time co-driving for Andreas Amberg who also belongs to the rally training program. Friday the 16th of September and heading to Kerava for the recce. Easy trip this time since it's a 30 minute drive from home. The recce was a relatively short one, because almost all the stages were run twice and so you only had to do "half" of the pace notes compared to normal. After the recce we stayed at a hotel near Kerava. even though the rally is close to home it's good to take some time of from the normal everyday routines and concentrate on the rally. As a co-driver I spent most of the evening cleaning up the pace notes before having dinner and a good night sleep.

Saturday and the normal routines at the rally head quarters. Checking that everything is OK with the car, rigging up in-car camera, camel bags, putting on the racing overalls, checking official time from HQ etc. Then off to the stages. The first stage was familiar from the previous years. A fast stage on a wide gravel road, but probably a bit slippery since it had been raining for several days. Our aim was to start at maximum attack, but the conditions didn't make it easy for us. The road was very slippery and we were fighting for grip. Then on a fast left/right combination we lost the rear and spun the car when travelling around 120 km/h. Unfortunately the rear of the car hit the side of the road during the spin even though we were traveling quite slowly already. That caused us to roll on the road. Not significant damage to the car except we lost the exhaust which of course meant we didn't have all the power from the engine.

Photograph by Valokuu.com

We did drive through the stage, but decided to retire because we were missing the exhaust and had lost too much time during the stage to fight for a podium finish. Sometimes these things happen in the rallies when you are pushing, but we are not planning to make a habit of it. After our retirement we left the car for our mechanics and went to see other guys on special stage 5. Lots of people in the same corner watching and even some of my friends. I forgot that I had recommended the corner when they had asked for a good viewing spot. My next rally as a co-driver will be in October again with my brother in a BMW M3 in it's maiden rally. Before that some volunteer work as a marshal in one rally to help other crews to enjoy their day driving/co-driving.