Team MRF Tyres took maximum points with the win in the Ralli SM (Finnish Rally Championship) and the Top Building Ralli in Lahti this weekend.
The driving team of Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen were strong over each of the nine stages and 110.45km of competitive action, finishing second overall but as the leading driver was not registered for points, it is a maximum haul for Team MRF Tyres.
The rally took place on dry gravel roads and it is important for Team MRF Tyres as the team came into the rally just two points off the lead in the Driver’s Championship.
The first three stages, Rapala (11.94km), Kukkolanmäki (11.54km) and Ylemmäinen (12.16km) took place on Friday afternoon and Lindholm/Hämäläinen took two stage wins and a second place to lead into the night’s service.
The Saturday running saw two loops of three stages, with two runs through the Porvola (14.78km), Neroskulma (10.34km) and Avus (13.17km) stages.
Lindholm and Hämäläinen were immediately on the pace again, always keeping inside the top five in the stage times.
With an eye on the Championship, it was more important to look to the likes of Mikko Heikkilä and Teemu Asunmaa and not Egon Kaur. Kaur had not registered for Finnish points while Lindholm Heikkilä and Asunmaa are engaged in a tight championship battle.
Though the day, Egon took the lead of the rally but Team MRF Tyres held onto the lead of the Finnish Championship beating their title rivals.
In the end, Lindholm and Hämäläinen finished the nine stages in 54:00.4 which was ensured that they beat their Championship rivals.
The weather became quite treacherous and it became a matter of managing the gap, knowing that second on the road would bring the Finnish Championship win. The management was done to perfection with Lindholm/ Hämäläinen taking the position by 0.6 second.
MRF Tyres were also found on customer entries. Juuso Metsälä/Matti Kangas won the SM6 class in their Ford Fiesta Rally3.
Jere Pensas and Jouni Saarijärvi were leading the SM4 class overnight but were forced to retire on Saturday.
With just one round to go of the Finnish Rally Championship, the points are tight. The best four of five scores count for the first five rounds.
The Mikko Heikkilä leads the Championship on 86 points (including the dropped score), from Lindholm on 85 points and Teemu Asunmaa on 79 points. The SM KokUA 60-v Juhlaralli will take place on the last weekend of September and it will be a winner-takes-all event.
Team MRF Tyres will be back in action next at the Czech Rally Zlin in the FIA European Championship on from 27-29 August.
Quotes
Emil Lindholm, Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo
“The last stages of the rally were clearly muddy after the rain, and it was somewhat difficult for us. The line left for us by the historic cars didn’t fit the Rally2 cars which made it challenging. I am very happy to have come out of the difficult conditions with maximum points for us and for Team MRF Tyres in the Finnish Championship.”
“We once again took a lot of important data for MRF Tyres. We rallied in circumstances in which I haven’t driven before with MRF Tyres, and of course development has an important part for every rally.”
“Egon Kaur drove fast and all the credit to him for winning. For us, maximum points were more important this time. We saw his speed after the morning and we didn’t have any sense to go raise our own speed and increase the risk. In this rally we had more in the form of points and being the fastest in the Finnish Championship.”