After a successful visit to Estonia, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team is ready to fly through the forests of Rally Finland next week, targeting a podium finish at round nine of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
Notorious for being the fastest rally on the WRC calendar, Rally Finland combines hard yet smooth roads with blind crests and jumps, requiring pin perfect pace notes and commitment from crews. The high speeds mean tight margins between competitors and enthralling battles for position; even the smallest of mistakes can prove to be extremely costly.
Having demonstrated its competitive pace on fast gravel at Rally Estonia last week, Hyundai Motorsport now turns its attentions to Finland where it looks to continue its momentum with another strong result. The team has finished on the podium for the last four years at the Jyväskylä-based event, scoring five top-three finishes in total.
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were victorious in 2022 after a commanding performance that saw the crew lead from the opening stage of Friday morning until the Power Stage. In 2023, Finland marked the first podium of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe’s partnership at the event, and they successfully repeated the result in 2024 with another second-place finish. They were joined on the podium by Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria in third, competing for M-Sport.
Rally Finland has a refreshed itinerary for 2025. While Thursday and Friday feature the same stages as 2024, Saarikas (SS3/7, 15.78km) is run in reverse. On Saturday, new tests in Parkkola (SS11/15, 15.51km) and Leustu (SS14/18, 16.44km) join Päijälä (SS11/17, 20.19km) and Västilä (SS12/16, 18.94km).
With Tänak now leading the drivers’ battle by one point, and the gap to Toyota in the manufacturers’ reduced to just 52 points, the goal for Finland is to continue this positive trajectory in all three championship fights with a strong showing from all three crews.
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said:
“We achieved several objectives in Estonia, so now everyone is focused on continuing that momentum next week in Finland. As a team we have performed well here in the past, and all three of our crews know what is required to finish on the podium. The performance of our crews and the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at the last round underscored our improved performance at these fast gravel rounds, and we believe we can bring home another strong result. While Ott is now leading the drivers’ championship, it is by the smallest of margins, so our task is to help him carve out his advantage more, while also making sure the team scores as many points as possible for the manufacturers’ fight. With only six rounds to go, we have to extract the maximum from every opportunity that is presented to us.”
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Estonians sit top of the standings after second-place finish at home event
- Crew looks to continue podium success at Rally Finland
Tänak said: “For me, Rally Finland is the best event on the WRC calendar. It’s all about pure performance; it’s very demanding for the car as well as the crews. Setup is crucial to performing well because of the mix of high speeds and jumps; you need grip and stability, and to be absolutely precise with where you place the car at all times. The margins are so small that if something isn’t working, or you’re not on the pace, it’s the end of the game. Sunday will be a new challenge, with just one long stage we haven’t driven for a few years, and it is a proper test.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#1 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Neuville/Wydaeghe have two back-to-back podium finishes in Finland (2023 and 2024)
- Belgians looking to take advantage of road position at fast-gravel event
Neuville said: “Rally Finland is a special event. I consider Finland to be the home of rallying because it has some of the greatest roads that you can drive a rally car on. It’s not the most technical event, but it has very fast stages and a lot of blind corners. We’ve been competing here for many years, so we know what to expect, but you always want to be in the fight there. With just two runs of Ouninpohja on Sunday it’s going to be a pure sprint, so we need to make sure we know the roads as best as we can – we’ll be flat out. We have some positive momentum from our podium in Estonia, and we want to finish on the top steps again in Finland.”
Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- French crew aiming to capitalise on pace demonstrated in Estonia
- Fourmaux/Coria finished third on their last outing in Finland (2024)
Fourmaux said: “Rally Finland is a part of the WRC’s legacy; it’s an unmissable event. The stages are fantastic and so is the atmosphere thanks to the fans. You have to fight in Finland from the very first stage; the gaps between drivers are small, the roads are fast and you can’t miss an apex. It can be really demanding in the car because you have to push in every corner, and there are so many crests and jumps – particularly in this year’s Power Stage. I finished on the podium in Finland last year, and I want to replicate that this year too.”
Weekend at a Glance
- Rally Finland kickstarts on Thursday evening with Harju (SS1, 2.58km), bringing FIA WRC action to the streets of Jyväskylä
- Nine stages form Finland’s Friday: Laukaa (SS2/6, 17.96km), Saarikas (SS3/7, 15.78km), Myhinpää (SS4/8, 14.47km), Ruuhimaki (SS5/9, 7.76km) followed by another trip to Harju (SS10, 2.58km)
- Saturday presents the longest day of the weekend, with eight stages covering a competitive distance of 142.16km
- Two loops of the infamous Ouninpohja (SS19/20, 23.98km) round out the 2025 edition of Rally Finland, with the second run acting as the weekend’s Power Stage.
