The 55th Rally Finland takes place this coming weekend - the tenth round out of sixteen in the 2005
FIA World Rally Championship.
Finland will also play host to the fifth round in the 2005 FIA Junior WRC.
The rally starts on Thursday August 4 with a sprint around a Superspecial stage at the Killeri horse-trotting track. The rally comprises three legs, 355 competitive kilometres and 21 timed stages. The winning car is expected to cross the finish ramp at 1450hrs on Sunday August 7.
Special notes:
Often referred to as the 'Finnish Grand Prix', Rally Finland is regarded as one of the classics on the WRC calendar and is unquestionably the fastest of the season.
Smooth, wide, undulating gravel stages enable drivers to reach speeds of more than 200kph, while the numerous 'yumps', the famous jumps that punctuate the route, demand the ultimate in confidence and pace-note accuracy.
Technically, the event is a difficult one. Jumps can launch a rally car 50 metres through the air and lead directly into blind crests and sixth gear corners.
Formerly known as 'The Rally of the Thousand Lakes' the event runs through stunning Finnish scenery and around the numerous lakes that gave the rally its original name.
Finland is regarded as the spiritual home of rallying and it is estimated that a fifth of the entire population turn out to watch their nation's round of the World Rally Championship. Since it was first run in 1951, local knowledge has proved a major key to success. Locals grow up building a detailed knowledge of the specialist conditions and, as a result, only three drivers from outside the Nordic region have ever claimed victory - Spaniard Carlos Sainz in 1990; Frenchman Didier Auriol in 1992 and Estonian
Markko Martin in 2003.
Once again, the base for this year's rally is the university town of Jyvaskyla: home to many of Finland's greatest champions.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Sebastien Loeb continues to lead the World Rally Drivers' championship - having again extended his advantage after winning - for the sixth successive time - in Argentina. The Frenchman is 27 points ahead of
Petter Solberg and a further 3 points up on Marcus Gronholm, who is third.
In the Constructors' championship,
Citroen lead Peugeot by 6 points.
