The biggest entry in almost 10 years will take part in this year's Secto Rally Finland [August 1-4]. Round nine of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship, Secto Rally Finland is a jewel in the global rallying calendar affectionately known as 'The Gravel Grand Prix'. With its high speed roads littered with jumps and crests, it's a rally for the brave that, each year, competitors love to test themselves on.
This year's event has attracted the biggest entry since 2015 with an impressive 80 crews taking the start in Jyväskylä, including Finland's reigning World Rally champion Kalle Rovanperä. The 23-year-old forms part of a five-star Toyota line-up as the reigning manufacturers' world champion brings Sébastien Ogier to Finland for the first time since 2021, along with defending Secto Rally Finland winner Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Finland's rising star Sami Pajari who makes his Rally1 debut at the event.
Three Finnish drivers will compete for the overall victory, with Hyundai's Esapekka Lappi joining full-season regulars Thierry Neuville and triple Secto Rally Finland winner Ott Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster represent M-Sport Ford in a pair of Puma Rally1s.
A stunning 34 Rally2 cars will do battle at Secto Rally Finland, including Toyota team principal and multiple event winner Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn, who recorded a top-five finish on a one-off outing in a Rally1 car last year, will compete in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 alongside co-driver Juho Hänninen.
Up against them will be all of the big hitters in WRC2, including Oliver Solberg, Teemu Suninen, Emil Lindholm, Gus Greensmith and Pierre-Louis Loubet as well as a host of leading Finns Lauri Joona, Roope Korhonen, Mikko Heikkilä and Teemu Asunmaa. Young 17-year-old talent Tuukka Kauppinen is also one to watch, as he steps up to a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 for the first time on his maiden WRC event.
A further 25 Rally3 cars have entered Secto Rally Finland, which forms part of the Junior WRC schedule in 2024 for the first time in five years. Leevi Lassila, the recently-crowned Flying Finn Future Rally Star for 2024, will make his WRC debut in this Junior WRC field as he looks to prove himself and follow in the footsteps of previous winners Suninen, Lindjolm, Pajari and Joona.
In total, a staggering 28 nationalities are represented across the 80 competing crews at this year's Secto Rally Finland.
Kai Tarkiainen, Secto Rally Finland clerk of the course, said:
"It's brilliant to have 10 Rally1 cars on our entry, three of them driven by Finns which is a good story for us. Especially Sami Pajari, who in 2019 was the Flying Finn Future Star, drove with a Fiesta Rally4 here and actually ended up in a bush. But he showed his speed and after that he's taken huge steps. To go from your first WRC event to a Rally1 car in five years is a Cinderella story.
"To see such a commitment from Toyota, bringing five Rally1 cars to the event, is special, and we'll have three world champions out on the stages in Kalle Rovanperä, Sébastien Ogier and Ott Tänak who'll need to push hard to beat defending winner Elfyn Evans.
"We have 34 entries in WRC2 which is equally strong - again with so many Finns on the list like Teemu Suninen, Emil Lindholm, Mikko Heikkilä, Roope Korhonen, Lauri Joona and of course Jari-Matti Latvala. Witnessing Latvala jump into a Rally2 car and fight all these hungry youngsters will be a treat for all the spectators, and it'll be fascinating to see where he slots in against Oliver Solberg and all the others up at the front who'll be curious how they measure up to Latvala.
"We are delighted to welcome Junior WRC back to Secto Rally Finland for the first time in five years too. Added to eight guys in similar cars competing in WRC3, we have 25 Rally3 cars all doing battle which will be spectacular.
"In total to have 80 crews lined up this year is really healthy, with crews coming from all corners of the world. We have 28 different nationalities of drivers competing, with people from South Africa, Paraguay, Peru, Oman, Kazakhstan, Australia, Japan and most of Europe - name the country, we have them. I would like to extend a thank you to all the Finnish guys as it is extremely difficult to get sponsorship in our country today, so to have 25 Finnish crews is huge.
"It's a very good looking entry list which just further ramps up the excitement for what will be another epic Secto Rally Finland.”
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Entry list of Secto Rally Finland 2024.
Photos available for journalistic use from links below.
Photo credits: McKlein Photography
Contact
Press Officer Terhi Heloaho, terhi.heloaho@autourheilu.fi, +358 40 6822 662
