WRC Finland Historical Stats

The second half of the 2007 WRC gets under way after a long summer break. Round 9 will be the Neste Oil Rally Finland. In the points, Mr. Finland (Marcus Grönholm) has a 9 point advantage in the championship and looks to add to it, as well as another Finnish victory.

Finland has been included in the WRC Drivers Championship 27 times, dating back to the inaugural 1979 season. The rally was rotated to 2-Litre Championship in 1995. Rally Finland has been known by four names:

1000 Lakes Rally (1979-1994)
Neste 1000 Lakes Rally (1996)
Neste Rally Finland (1997-2005)
Neste Oil Rally Finland (2006-present)

Debut WRC wins in Finland:

Timo Mäkinen (FIN) – 1973 in Ford Escort RS1600
Hannu Mikkola (FIN) – 1974 in Ford Escort RS1600
Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) – 1994 in Ford Escort RS Cosworth

Notable WRC debuts in Finland
Urmo Aava (EST) – 2002 in Ford Focus WRC (retired)
Pentti Airikkala (FIN) – 1973 in Opel Kadett Rallye (retired)
Markk Alén (FIN) – 1973 in Volvo 142 (finished 2nd)
Grégoire De Mévius (BEL) – 1988 in Mazda 323 4WD (finished 22nd)
Toni Gardemeister (FIN) – 1996 in Opel Astra GSI 16V (retired)
Marcus Grönholm (FIN) – 1989 in Lancia Delta Integrale (finished 23rd)
Pasi Hagström (FIN) – 1993 in Toyota Corolla GT (finished 26th)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) – 2002 in Renault Clio S1600 (finished 21st)
Juha Kankkunen (FIN) – 1979 in Ford Escort RS (finished 14th)
Kosti Katajamäki (FIN) – 2001 in Volkswagen Polo GTI (finished 53rd)
Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) – 1987 in Lancia Delta HF 4WD (retired)
Markko Märtin (EST) – 1997 in Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (retired)
Jani Paasonen (FIN) – 1997 in Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III (finished 21st)
Juuso Pykälistö (FIN) – 1996 in Opel Astra GSI 16V (retired)
Harri Rovanperä (FIN) – 1993 in Opel Manta 2.0 E (retired)
Timo Salonen (FIN) – 1974 in Mazda 1300 (finished 22nd)
Rudi Stohl (AUT) – 1975 in Lada 1500 (finished 54th)
Henri Toivonen (FIN) – 1975 in Simca Rallye 2 (retired)
Janne Tuohino (FIN) – 1996 in Opel Astra GSI 16V (retired)
Ari Vatanen (FIN) – 1974 in Opel Ascona 19 (retired)

For complete list of Winners and Historical Stats click here.

History in the Making

With a win, Grönholm will have seven victories in Finland. That would be a new record for wins (in the WRC Driver’s Championship Era) on one rally. Currently Magic Marcus is tied with Didier Auriol who dominated France to the tune of 6 WRC wins.

Did You Know?

Finns rule Finland, everyone knows that, but did you know that 3 of the 4 times a non-Finn won here happened within a four year span? That’s right, the first foreigner to conquer Finland was Mikael Ericsson of Sweden in 1989. The next year Carlos Sainz was victorious and in 1992 it was Didier Auriol. No one could match it until Markko Märtin prevailed in 2003 following retirement from the rally by Grönholm.