FRC Kokkola rally 2023
The last one is taken and everyone knows the goal of the weekend!
“This race doesn’t require a lot of premeditation and tactics. The points situation is tight enough that the winner is the winner and that’s the tactic we’ll start with!”
Good tests were done last week and everything is fine for the end of the FRC season!
I hope all the competitors will be successful in the race and we will have a decent race for the spectators and fans!
Good luck in the race Lauri, Teemu and of course Juha and others, now let’s enjoy and at the finish line we’ll see who is the champion in this country!
SM FUTURE rally 2023
When I started the rally, everything was fine and the disappointment of Jyväskylä had already melted a little.
Then when the rally started, from the first clip, we couldn’t get up to speed. Sometimes we tried to ride calmly and sometimes we pushed hard and times just didn’t come.
So the rally left a bit of a strange feeling, and at times I thought that “is it wiser to just do WRC when you can’t do well in FRC”.
Just kidding, the points situation is still quite exciting, three drivers are within 6 points and we are clearly going to Kokkola with only victory in mind.
Thanks again to co-driver Antti and Printsport!
And of course to all partners!
FRC Itäralli Joensuu 16-17.6.2023
WIN and the fastest of the overall race with a difference of 20.4 seconds to the next ones!
The dust is already starting to settle from the road and social media. It was an eventful race, the roads were in top condition and the weather was perfect!
The tests already boded well, when the car felt good in the hand and there was a nice feeling already at the beginning. The rally got off to a good start with a 0.7 second lead in the Joensuu city crowd lap. Friday’s second special test was a bit of a talking point, but the dust left on the road in the evening sun was really thick, as many drivers from Incar can tell. The jury canceled the clip and went to the night break according to the results of EK1.
Saturday started with the EK 3 Kuusvaara 1 special stage and there too the bottoms came with a difference of 2.8 seconds to Lauri Joona. EK 4 went to Lauri, with a difference of 0.9 seconds we were second. EK 5 Oskola was a bit more technical and it was possible to make differences from the others. It turned out well and the 8.5 second bottoms were recorded for us. By the break, the lead of the overall race was 12.1 seconds.
After the break, EK 6 Kuusvaara 2 came again in the bottom time, 1.0 seconds ahead of Lauri. EK7 Mäkrä 2 again went to Lauri by 1.6 seconds. EK 8 Oskola 2 then came to us in the fifth bottom of the race and we went to the final Tervavaara special stage with a lead of 16.1 seconds.
EK 9 came out well again and the bottom time was recorded with a margin of 4.3 seconds and with it the victory of the general competition with a margin of 20.4 seconds!
From here it’s good to continue to Lahti, now the car and the kart are the best possible and when Printsport is in charge of the maintenance, you can’t help but enjoy these rallies.
Of course, in the meantime, we will do everything we can to be on the line in Jyväskylä Secto Rally Finland!
Thanks to all sponsors and fans!
FRC Pohjanmaa 19-20.52023
New car, fast Pohjanmaa rally roads and summer weather! All good when the rally started.
“The new car was a great to drive, a little different than the older model and we didn’t get it yet utilized to its full potential. However, the base time was obtained for three special stages. Third place is of course a very good ranking in Finland’s tough main class. However, we always strive for victory and now we didn’t get it. Then we’ll try again in Joensuu”
The competition started on Friday evening with two special stages. SS1 Kuusenmäki, which is just over 11 km, was the third fastest, 2.1 seconds behind Teemu Asunmaa and Lauri Joona. SS2 12.84 km Länskikylä and the same third place, 3.7 seconds from Asunmaa.
On Saturday, were made small changes to the car and the first fastests time was recorded in Palonkylä 9.54 km SS3! The fourth special stage Päkki was the longest of the race at 22.49km and as a result the third fastest time was 7.8 seconds behind Lauri Joona. Before service there was still SS5, 14.69 km Naarajoki and it was also third, 3.9 seconds from the top.
At the service, the car was adjusted a bit again, and at the beginning of the afternoon’s run, we drove SS6, 1.4 km Seinäjoki City, i.e. the city run. It recorded the second lowest time of the race with a margin of 1.4 seconds. SS7, the rather 19km long Ooperi, also went well, the third fastests time this rally of 3.6 seconds from the others. Going to the last one, the difference to the top was 7.2 seconds. SS8 was the same as the 14.69 km Naarajoki run in the morning, and the goal for that is exactly that 7.2 seconds! At the finish, however, the clock showed a loss of 3.7 seconds to Lauri Joona and for us it sealed third place in the overall competition.
A big THANK YOU to Eero for the car and the Printsport crew for the professional setting! Also special thanks to Antti, even though he is currently one of Printsport’s line-up!
Congratulations Lauri and Tuukka!
1. Lauri Joona / Tuukka Shemeikka 52:21.2
2.Teemu Asunmaa / Ville Mannisenmäki +5.8 s
3. Jari Huttunen / Antti Haapala +10.9 s
From the next rally to Joensuu, we will go for a win again!
FRC Jyväskylän talviralli 3-4.3.2023
The overall victory again from the rally!
The competition started with Killeri public special test on Friday evening. A special test was conducted on the trotting track and the pond ice inside it. The ride went well and we were second, 0.4 seconds behind Teemu Asunmaa. After the special test, I thought about what we could improve in the car, and we set out to implement that idea on Saturday.
There was not enough time in the morning service on Saturday, so the two special tests in the morning were started with the same setup. They went a little slow with the rankings being fourth and second. At the service, new setup put in the car, EK 4 started well right from the start and recorded the first bottom time of the race with a difference of 4.0 seconds to Roope Korhonen. At the same time, we took the lead. EK5 also went well, victory with a difference of 2.6 seconds to Juha Salo. The leading margin before the last two was 4.8 seconds.
EK6 was already towards the end of the afternoon and a little snow fell on the route. Still, the fourth bottom time of the race with a difference of 0.3 seconds compared to Teemu Asunmaa. At the last 14.90km Parkkola special stage, the foundations were still laid down and the victory of the general competition was waiting at the finish line!
The winter season is over now, two wins out of three competition is a good achievement. Now there is a break of a couple of months and the team is living in interesting times regarding the future. We will inform you more about them when things progress.
Thank you to everyone, Antti Haapala for the excellent co-driver job, to our own maintenance men added with Printsport’s professional team and all the partners!
And of course for YOU all the fans!
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27.2.2023
FRC Jyväskylän Talviralli 3-4.3.2023
The third championship rally of the season and the last of the winter season will be held next weekend. The victory in Kuopio and of course also the speed of the Arctic Lapland rally gives only one goal and we start driving for the victory.
There is 7 special stages (86.02km) and the total of the route is 304.49km. The race starts the public special stage on Killeri on Friday, March 3, 2023 at from 19:00.
On Saturday we starting at 10:00, the rally will go around the special stages familiar from the Secto rally Finland, and we will arrive the final about 18:00.
Co-driver is Antti Haapala.
Come and enjoy the rally atmosphere in Jyväskylä at the end of the week, and if you can’t make it, check out the social media pages!
Instagram and Facebook follow the situation of the rally almost in real time.
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14.1.2023
Rally Sweden 9-12.2.2023
The rally was run around Umeå in excellent conditions. There was a lot of snow and the roads were frozen everywhere. The initial atmosphere was really expectant and it was nice to go to the first World Cup rally of the season.
The start of the rally was the 5 km long Umeå Sprint 1 near Umeå on Thursday evening. We recorded the bottom time from that special test, so the race started in the best possible way.
On Friday, the special test times were in places 4-8, but as in the Swedish rally, the differences are always small, the situations vary and in the overall race we were third in the evening.
Saturday got off to a great start and there were three of us on the morning run twice. We started the afternoon in 3rd place in the overall competition and the fierce battle for the podium place continued. EK 12 came to a really fast race and the car drifted a bit wide and although usually when the gas remains at the bottom the car rises from there but not this time. We were left on the bench for a good 3 minutes, even though there were quite a few spectators. After a couple of special tests, we faced new troubles when the car’s gearbox failed and there was an interruption for Saturday.
The service took the car to the garage in the evening and after three hours in the evening the car was fine.
On Sunday, it was planned to drive good special test times, but the problems with the steering took away the best opportunity. Everything possible was tried in maintenance, but the race had to be abandoned.
In the end, the pace was good during the race! You can always think about the difference between the older Skoda R5 model and the newer ones, but we did everything and it was enough for now.
Thank you, co-driver Antti Linnaketo, Thank you Service and Thank you All partners and fans!
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Isovalkeinen FRC Kuopio 3-4.2.2023
The rally week was really lively, there was a presentation day at the Kiuruvesi Osapalvelu, and from there straight through the test day to the note work on Friday.
The race day was then Saturday and we started on the route already at 7:30. During the day, there were 8 special tests and more than 94 km of special test kilometers were accumulated.
The race started well and in the first special stage we were second only 0.6 seconds behind Teemu Asunmaa. In the second special stage, we were third by 4.7 seconds behind the leader.
In the first service, we changed the suspension completely, because Kuopio was supposed to be a preparation for the Swedish World Rally Championship the following week. The third came well and the first class bases with a difference of 3.0 seconds to the SM rally champion Juha Salo. The fourth and fifth special stage then went to Juha Salo, the differences are really small 1.1 and 0.4 seconds. The foundations were then laid for special tests 6, 7 and 8, and the victory of the general competition came off with a “fair” 2.1 second difference.
The race was tight, but victory always tastes good and we head towards Umeå with a good mood. Rally Sweden will be run on 9-12 February 2023 in the surroundings of Umeå.
We can expect a lot of encouragement and support from Finland and the locals!
Come and meet us at the service park!
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Tunturirallin kärkipaikka haihtui hankeen
Tänään Rovaniemellä päättyneessä Ralli SM -sarjan avanneessa Tunturirallissa Skoda Fabia R5:llä kilpaillut Jari Huttunen joutui keskeyttämään kilpailun viimeisellä erikoiskokeella ulosajon takia. Kilpailua kuuden ensimmäisen erikoiskokeen ajan johtanut Huttunen oli keskeyttämishetkellä kilpailussa sijalla 10, sillä hänen tulostaan rasitti erikoiskokeella seitsemän tapahtunut ulosajo, jossa hän menetti paljon aikaa.
Ensimmäisenä ajopäivänä perjantaina Tunturiralli sujui Huttusen ja kartanlukija Antti Haapalan tiukassa komennossa. Kaksikko kellotti pohja-ajan neljälle päivän viidestä erikoiskokeesta, ja Rovaniemen yötauolle tultaessa he johtivat rallin yleiskilpailua ja SM1-luokkaa 19,3 sekunnin erolla toisena ajaneeseen Teemu Asunmaahan. Huttunen oli päivän päätteeksi tyytyväinen suoritukseensa, vaikka ajopaikka ensimmäisenä autona ei ollut irtolumen ja sohjon peittämillä erikoiskokeilla paras mahdollinen.
– Ajo sujui hyvin, auto toimi ja ajat olivat hyviä, vaikka meidän numerollamme tien pinta oli todella liukas eikä rengasvalinta osunut aivan nappiin. Lauantaina pitää koittaa jatkaa samaan malliin, mutta maaliin on vielä pitkä matka, hän kertoi perjantai-iltana.
Lauantaiaamuna rallin olosuhteet olivat entistäkin haastavammat, kun yön aikana alkanut lumisade jatkui ja ensimmäisenä autona reitillä jatkanut Huttunen joutui tosissaan aura-auton rooliin. Aamun avauserikoiskokeella hän kellotti kuudenneksi nopeimman ajan, mutta pysyi kilpailun johtopaikalla 12,6 sekunnin turvin. Lumisade ja huono pito mietityttivät miestä erikoiskokeen maalissa.
– Nyt tuli kyllä sellainen keli, että vaikeaksi meni. Jos tällaisena jatkuu niin en tiedä miten pystytään menemään, mutta koitetaan puristaa.
Seuraavalla erikoiskokeella Aittajärvellä haastavat olosuhteet kostautuivat ja kilpailu ratkesi Huttusen osalta, sillä pitkän suoran päässä jarrutus jäi liukkaassa kohdassa aavistuksen myöhäiseksi ja auto juuttui hitaassa vasemmalle kääntyvässä mutkassa penkkaan. Kalusto ei vaurioitunut, mutta nostotyössä kului aikaa niin paljon, että erikoiskokeen pohja-aikaan tuli eroa 6 minuuttia ja 40 sekuntia. Samalla kärkipaikka karkasi kauas eikä voittoon ollut enää mahdollisuuksia.
– Se oli sitten siinä. Ei voi muuta kuin pyytää anteeksi kaikilta tukijoiltamme, jotka mahdollistivat tämän kilpailun meille. Tällä kertaa tämä ei onnistunut.
Ulosajon jälkeen Huttunen jatkoi siitä mihin perjantaina jäi ja kellotti pohja-ajan kolmelle seuraavalle erikoiskokeille nousten päivän aikana kahdeksanneltatoista sijalta kymmenenneksi. Viimeisellä erikoiskokeella sattui kisan toinen ulosajo, jonka jälkeen Huttunen joutui keskeyttämään.
Lisätietoja:
Jari Huttunen, p. 044 970 5538
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12.1.2023
Jari Huttunen jahtaa viikonloppuna Tunturirallin voittoa
Jari Huttusen kilpailukausi käynnistyy viikonloppuna ajettavan Arctic Lapland Rallyn eli tuttavallisemmin Tunturirallin merkeissä. Huttunen lähtee Rovaniemen ja Kemijärven ympäristössä ajettavaan Ralli SM -sarjan avauskilpailun SM1-luokkaan Skoda Fabia R5-autolla. Tavoitteena on taistella legendaarisen rallin voitosta SM-sarjan kärkikuljettajien kanssa ja pitää samalla ajotuntumaa yllä. Arktiseen seikkailuun Huttusen kartanlukijaksi lähtee suomenmestaruussarjasta tuttu Antti Haapala. Kaksikon ajokkia ylläpitää Printsport Racing.
– Tunturirallin ajaminen onnistuu hyvien yhteistyökumppaneiden myötä. Keski-Suomen Betonirakenteen Tuomas Skantz tarjosi meille autonsa ajettavaksi ja tartuimme ilman muuta tilaisuuteen. Saimme hyvän paketin kasaan, siitä iso kiitos tukijoillemme, Huttunen kertoo.
Huttunen on edellisen kerran nähty Ralli SM -sarjassa vuonna 2017, jolloin hän ajoi Mikkelin osakilpailussa Opel Adam R2:lla SM3-luokan voittoon. Tunturirallissa hän on kilpaillut uransa aikana yhden kerran vuonna 2015, jolloin hän sijoittui SM3-luokan kolmanneksi Citroen C2 R2:lla. Tuolloin Huttunen voitti kauden päätteeksi SM3-luokan Suomen mestaruuden.
– Täällä on todella nopeat erikoiskokeet ja omanlaisensa olosuhteet. Lumen määrä ja tien kunto reitillä vaihtelevat, ja ne tuovat kisaan oman mausteensa. SM1-luokassa on kovia nimiä, joilla on paljon kokemusta tästä kisasta, joten luvassa on hieno ralli. Täällä pitää olla alusta asti hereillä.
Huttunen valmistautui uuteen haasteeseen kahden päivän testirupeamalla Rovaniemen maisemissa. Yhteistyö uuden kartanlukijan kanssa sujui, joten hän lähtee matkaan luottavaisin mielin.
– Skoda Fabialla ajamisesta on hyviä muistoja takavuosilta ja se tuntui jälleen heti osuvan hyvin käteen. Ajoimme erityyppisillä teillä testiä noin 100 kilometriä ja fiilis on hyvä. Auto ei ole viimeisin kehitysversio, mutta uskon, että saamme sillä hyvän tuloksen aikaiseksi.
Vuonna 2022 Jari Huttunen ajoi M-Sportin Ford Fiesta Rally2-autolla rallin MM-sarjassa kuusi osakilpailua. Kauden aikana ansiolistalle kirjattiin WRC2-luokasta kaksi kolmossijaa. Hän ajoi Rally1-luokan Ford Pumalla Jyväskylän MM-rallissa, josta tulokseksi tuli teknisten murheiden sävyttämä yhdeksäs sija. Huttusen vuoden 2023 kilpailuohjelma on vielä auki.
– Tulevista ralleista ei ole vielä tarkempaa tietoa, joten keskitymme nyt ajamaan hyvän tuloksen Tunturirallista. Hienoa on jälleen päästä tositoimiin tauon jälkeen.
Arctic Lapland Rallyssa ajetaan perjantaina ja lauantaina 11 erikoiskoetta ja yhteensä 231,5 erikoiskoekilometriä. Rallin kilpailukeskus sijaitsee Rovaniemellä Hotelli Pohjanhovissa ja huoltoalue Mäntyvaaran raviradalla. Kisan ensimmäinen erikoiskoe alkaa perjantaina kello 12:03 ja viimeinen lauantaina kello 16:38. Jari Huttunen ja Antti Haapala kilpailevat rallissa numerolla 1.
Lisätietoja:
Jari Huttunen, p. 044 970 5538
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