Lancia Corse HF delivers encouraging performance on Rally Finland’s legendary gravel
Secto Rally Finland once again lived up to its reputation as one of the most spectacular and demanding events on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar. The legendary “Rally of the Thousand Lakes”, with its ultra-fast gravel roads, blind crests, huge jumps and significantly revised special stages compared with previous editions, provided an exceptional challenge for crews and machinery alike.
Rapidly changing weather conditions throughout the weekend added another layer of complexity, with grip levels constantly evolving and pushing drivers to the limit. The intensity of the competition was reflected by several incidents involving leading crews, underlining just how demanding every kilometre proved to be on one of the most technically challenging rallies of the season.
Against this backdrop, Lancia Corse HF continued its development programme by fielding five Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale cars. Competing on a specific surface, the team nevertheless gathered highly encouraging data while continuing to expand its experience on one of the fastest and most specialised gravel events in world rallying.
As expected, the battle for victory was largely contested by the Nordic specialists, particularly the Finnish crews, whose intimate knowledge of the unique roads and natural ability to interpret the flowing rhythm of Rally Finland once again proved decisive.
The strongest result for Lancia Corse HF came from Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov, who finished seventh, narrowly missing out on a top-five result after delivering a consistently competitive performance throughout the weekend.
Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand also produced another encouraging display. Léo Rossel and Guillaume Mercoiret continued their steady progress with another solid performance, while Pablo Sarrazin and Yannick Roche, together with Conner Martell and Alessandro Gelsomino, completed another valuable learning weekend on one of the toughest rallies of the championship.
Rally Finland marks another important milestone in the ongoing development of the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale. The experience and data gathered over the weekend provide valuable foundations for the next rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship, as Lancia Corse HF continues its fight for the WRC2 Teams’ Championship during the final events of the season.
Didier Clément – Team Principal, Lancia Corse HF
“Although Rally Finland was not one of our nominated scoring events for the Drivers’ Championship, it proved to be an extremely valuable weekend for the entire team. Rally Finland is unlike any other event on the calendar, with its unique high-speed gravel roads demanding absolute precision, complete confidence in the pace notes and perfect harmony between the crews and the car. It was a very challenging rally, but one that allowed us to make further progress in understanding and developing the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale on one of the most specialised surfaces in the World Rally Championship.
Looking at the bigger picture, we leave Finland in a strong position. Lancia Corse HF currently occupy second place in the WRC2 Teams’ Championship, keeping us firmly in contention for the title as the season enters its decisive phase
