Mikko Heikkilä grabbed the first reindeer antlers of his career by winning the traditional Arctic Lapland Rally. At the same time, the duo Heikkilä – Temonen will go down in history by driving the classified Toyota’s new GR Yaris Rally2 car to the highest podium for the first time.
Mikko Heikkilä and map reader Kristian Temonen have won the traditional Arctic Lapland Rally. The Toyota duo celebrating their first Hilltop Rally victory of their career will also go down in the history books, as it is the first victory of the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car classified for this season. The solution could be strained until the last special test, and finally the reindeer antlers came off with a difference of 7.3 seconds.
Now it’s almost the same feeling as when I won the Finnish championship. Last season was such a disaster that this came more than a good break. However, the victory of Tunturi is the most coveted thing in Finland after the SC championship, so it’s great that it came to us, says Heikkilä.
Heikkilä came out on top of the competition again on Saturday afternoon’s first special stage, the nearly 33 kilometer long Sarriojärvi 1. After this, the Michelin driver did not look back. The victory was finally decided on the second run of Sarriojärvi, which ended the race, where Heikkilä drove his fourth bottom time of the race.
-I have to say that there have rarely been special tests with as many situations in my career as the last special tests, and quite often we were on the bench. I fed pretty hard for the last clip, and it’s good that it was enough. A big thank you to Kristian, it worked out great and it’s great to start the collaboration like this, Heikkilä explained the last special test download.
Heikkilä’s racing season continues at the Swedish World Rally Championship in two weeks, where Heikkilä will also compete in TGS Motorsport’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car. The first win with the Rally2-classified GR Yaris is also proof of the fleet’s competitiveness.
-Initially, there were no plans to come to Tuntur or even to Sweden, so a huge thank you to all my partners for getting the package together and getting to the finish line. It was greatly rewarded today. The hill also served as a great training for Sweden. We still have to do some work before Sweden with the car’s adjustments, so that it fits better in the hand. Otherwise, the car is really capable and you can win with it. Many thanks also to Michelin for the winning tire, Heikkilä thanks.
Mikko Heikkilä’s rally season continues at WRC Rally Sweden on February 15-18. The summary of the Arctic Lapland Rally will be shown on Yle TV2 and Yle Areena on Sunday, February 4. at 7:45 p.m. from
Final results of the Arctic Lapland Rally – SM1:
1. Mikko Heikkilä 1:41:02.8 FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
2. Teemu Asunmaa +7.3 FIN Skoda Fabia RS Rally2
3. Roope Korhonen +35.7 FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
4. Georg Linnamäe +57.0 EST Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
5. Benjamin Korhola +1:37.5 FIN Hyundai i20 N Rally2
