The FIA World Rally Championship heads to the ‘Finnish Grand Prix’ for round eight of the series and the start of the second half of the season. Perceived as the home of the sport, Finland is a highlight on the calendar where cars fly from jump to jump over the fast and flowing smooth gravel roads. Here, the brave and committed crews reap the rewards.

The rally dates back to 1951 when it ran as a means of deciding the Finnish entries for Rallye Monte-Carlo. It was then first included in the Championship in 1973, the inaugural year of the WRC, and the specialised nature of the event means local drivers have dominated it; 54 Finns have won during the 65 editions of the rally. Based in the university town of Jyväskylä, the challenge of Rally Finland is immense and pace notes have to be perfect in order to judge the speed and positioning of the car over blind crests that hide a following corner. Mastering the jumps, precision delivery of pace notes and fearlessness are key to success in Finland.

Eighty-one crews are on the entry list, including a season-record 21 World Rally Cars. There is a strong field in the FIA WRC 2 Championship category and 10 drivers will be competing for Junior WRC Championship honours, Juuso Nordgren - the only Finn in the category - hoping to shine as the 2016 Future Rally Star of Finland. 

THE 2016 ROUTE

Following the tradition of changing the route annually to provide fresh challenges and variety, 43% of this year’s Rally Finland itinerary is new. Just three stages are identical to those run in 2015 (Mökkiperä, Surkee and Pihlajakoski), six are totally new (Halinen, Äänekoski-Valtra, Päijälä, Saalahti, Lempää and Oittila) and the remaining stages all have modifications.

The rally kicks off with the Harju street stage in Jyväskylä on Thursday evening before heading to the forests on Friday for some of the event’s classic stages. Saturday heads south towards Jämsä for a mix of new and traditional roads, including the legendary Ouninpohja, while Sunday takes in two repeated stages, both of which are new. Lempää was last driven in 1999, while Oittila - doubling as the Power Stage - last featured in 1994 when it was called Mutanen.

The Harju street stage, run twice, will be broadcast live on television, as will the closing Power Stage on Sunday.

RALLY DATA

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located in the Sokos Hotel Alexandra, Hannikaisenkatu 35, 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland. The opening hours are:

RALLY FINLAND TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, RALLY FINLAND

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES 

‘Meet the Crews’: On Friday and Saturday the top three drivers will attend a ‘Meet the Crews’ session for media and fans. This will take place on the WRC Stage in the service park at the earliest opportunity during the 45' service.

Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day service at the teams’ service areas.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found on the following link:

http://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/standings

STAGE CHART

Shortly after the finish of the event, a downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally will be available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following link:

http://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/stage-chart-6