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Toyotas Elfyn Evans arrived at the final day of Rally Finland 2021 with a 9.1 second lead over Hyundais Ott Tänak. After a dominant performance on Saturday morning, Welshman Evans then came under pressure in the afternoon from the surging Estonian but held on to his lead heading into the final morning of the rally.
All Evans had to do is keep his nerve and make it through the final 45km and 4 stages of the rally.
The second day of Rally Finland consisted of 9 stages covering 152km of competitive action. Overnight rally leader Craig Breen began the day with a 2.8 second lead over his Hyundai teammate Ott Tänak.
However, over the course of the morning, there was a swing in the balance of performance, with Toyotas Elfyn Evans seemingly finding an immense amount of both speed and confidence overnight.
The FIA World Rally Championships arrived in Jyväskylä, Finland for Round 10 of the 2021 season. Affectionately known by rally fans worldwide as “The Grand Prix On Gravel”, Rally Finland is a high-speed blast through the Finnish countryside and always delivers what the fans and drivers want.
Normally run in summer and the rally that typical restarts the Championship after its mid-season break, this year’s event has relocated to a later autumn date, which in itself brings different conditions to the norm, but that same intense, flat out, full throttle, high-speed, adrenaline-filled challenge still remains.
The fifth round of the 2021 FIA European Rally Championship arrived on the stunning beautiful Mid-Atlantic Ocean island of São Miguel for the rescheduled 55th running of the Azores Rallye. This gravel rally would cover some 201km across just 13 stages and would take in some breathtaking scenery, which once again included that iconic Volcanic stage Sete Cidadesand.
TOK Sports Andreas Mikkelsen arrived on the Island leading the Championships with his new Co-Driver Elliot Edmondson, having only competed recently together for the first time on the WRC Acropolis Rally Greece.
On the final day of the Acropolis Rally Greece 2021, the Greek Gods sent rain. The long-awaited return of this iconic rally had certainly delivered unexpected conditions, couple this with significant improvements to the roads used on the event; made for an entirely different rally to what it has been synonymous with in the past.
Therefore I don’t think one should compare today’s event to the rough, tough and dusty rally, that the drivers of the past had to endure, but it was certainly a welcome return to the World Championship.
The second full day of the Acropolis rally began with just 3.8 seconds separating the top 3, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä was leading Ott Tänak with Sébastien Ogier close behind in third.
The opening test of the day, SS7 Pavliani was 24km long but the early morning conditions made for a moist surface and some likened the stage to perhaps more like Rally Chile rather than Greece. Rovanperä opened up the morning by beating Tänak by 5.6 seconds to take his first stage win of the day.
The first full day of action at the Acropolis Rally Greece featured just five stages over approx 90km; but there was no service halt. The conditions since Thursdays Shakedown had improved overnight and were more typical of what is to be expected on this legendary rally, in that, it was now hot and dry.
The opening Aghil test was 17.5km in length and was the only stage on the days’ route with double usage. Hyundai’s Ott Tänak took that first stage win beating current Championship leader and overnight rally leader Sébastien Ogier by just 0.2 seconds. Title Challenger hopeful, Thierry Neuville was well off the pace on this first test; some +10 seconds.
After an 8 year absence, the Acropolis Rally Greece also known as “The Rally Of The Gods” has returned to the FIA World Rally Championships for the 9th round of the 2021 season.
First held in 1953, The Acropolis was one of the original founding members of the WRC back in 1973. This iconic rally last ran as part of the World Series back in 2013, where current Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Boss Jari-Matti Latvala won in the VW Polo.
It is typically known as a rough, tough, hot and dry gravel rally. However, just days before the rally was due to start, heavy rain hit the stages leaving them not only wet but thick with mud, something one would expect to see on Rally GB.
The FIA European Rally Championship headed to Zlín in the Czech Republic for Round 4 of the 2021 season. Having been a part of the ERC for no less than 16 years, this years edition of the Czech rally was the 50th and once again offered up a challenging test across 15 Asphalt stages which covered some 210km.
Before the rally had even begun there was early drama for defending ERC champion and title contender Alexey Lukyanuk. The Russian suffered a sizable crash during pre-event testing which rendered his Citroen C3 out of action. Unable to repair the damage or find a replacement car ahead of the rally, he was left with no option but to sit out the rally, a terrible blow to his title defence.
Unbelievably making its first ever appearance into the FIA World Rally Championship, the Ypres Rally, Belgium hosted round 8 of the 2021 Championship.
Becoming the 35th Nation to hold the highest level of international rallying, Belgium and indeed Ypres is no stranger to rallying. For many years the roads of Belgium have been a playing field for European rallying and the Historic Ypres has been a battlefield not just through two great wars but for motorsport also.
First, held in 1965, the Ypres rally has played its part in the European Rally Championship over the years but finally was given the opportunity to test the worlds best driver on its very own challenging Asphalt roads.