2023 Rally Finland will bring sport to the people, say organisers
More than 25% of the stage mileage that makes up the competitive route of this summer’s Secto Rally Finland - round nine of the World Rally Championship - is entirely new compared to last season, organisers have announced.
‘Classic roads combined with more modern stages’ in previously unvisited territories are at the heart of the changes for the 72nd instalment of the gravel classic, which takes place from August 3rd-6th.
The event will break with recent tradition and begin with a ceremonial start on Wednesday at the harbourside of host city Jyvaskyla followed by the traditional pre-event shakedown stage on Thursday morning and the Harju city special stage later that same evening.
While the service park and rally HQ remain in Jyvaskyla’s Paviljonki, construction work has meant mrelocating the finish podium to Jämsä. In all, Rally Finland will comprise 22 special stages totalling 320.56 competitive kilometres.
The bulk of the changes concern the first full day of competition, with nine stages making up the Friday leg (104.76km) that will be played out to the northeast of Jyvaskylä. Highlights include the ‘Myhinpää’ test that returns for the first time since 2015 and ‘Halttula’ which is brand new for 2023.
‘Västilä’ has been tagged on to Saturday and at 20.65km is the longest of the entire weekend. It is one of eight timed runs World Rally crews will tackle that day, followed by four tests on the Sunday that features the points paying end-of-rally Power Stage.
Speaking about the wide-ranging tweaks, Clerk of the Course Kai Tarkiainen, said: “With an expanded route we are able to make it easier to attract yet more spectators and volunteers to the rally, while keeping the traditional character of the roads that drivers love.
“As well as some new stages there are familiar names on the itinerary, but even these have often been extensively revised, so they will be new to many of the drivers.
“This is a significant event as it’s the first time in many years that we are reaching out to new territories and covering such a wide geographical spread, underlining the enduring popularity of rallying in our country,” he added.
