WRC Arctic Rally Finland driven this weekend is Mikko Heikkilä’s first WRC event of his career. He is keen to take the fight to the WRC stars on the fast and snowy stages of the Lapland.
Mikko Heikkilä, 28, along with his co-driver Topi Luhtinen, 26, compete in the WRC Arctic Rally Finland driven on the 26th to 28th of February. The second event of the WRC season is the first of its kind for Heikkilä. However, the biggest race of his career so far doesn’t bring any more pressure on him.
-We are delighted to be able to drive again on the fast roads of Lapland, and the feeling is even better since it’s my first WRC event. There is a lot more people watching the rally, but the roads are more or less the same as in the Arctic Lapland Rally. I’m not feeling more pressure than usual.
Heikkilä’s experience with the Arctic Lapland Rally has helped him set up the car well for the event. Despite being familiar with the character of the stages, there is no big home field advantage.
-We have a decent understanding of the character of the stages. We also drove a part of one stage this year in the Arctic Lapland Rally and one last year. New pacenotes are required nevertheless, so not any major advantage there.
The WRC3 class is highly competitive and the R5 cars also contest the WRC2 class, which features ex-WRC drivers and factory teams. Heikkilä doesn’t lay any specific goals for the event and is focused on his own driving instead.
-Our goal is to drive cleanly and consistently as fast as possible. I’m definitely not going to slow down, it’s flat out all the way. We’ll see where we are at the finish line.
-The competition is immense here. Nothing is given for free and one really needs to drive fast in order to keep up. We are here to focus on our own rally, Heikkilä explains.
WRC Arctic Rally Finland is driven on the 26th to 28th of February in Rovaniemi. The event consists of ten stages and 251,1 special stage kilometres. Spectating the event is forbitten. First stage is set to run on Friday at 15:08. WRC Arctic Rally can be followed at www.wrc.com, via the WRC application, WRC+ service and YLE Areena, YLE Ralliradio and YLE TV2 (SS1, SS4, SS7, SS9, SS10 Power Stage and highlights. Finnish only).
WRC Arctic Rally Finland Schedule
Friday 26.2.
| Time | Special Stage number | Special Stage name | Special Stage lenght |
| 13:30 | SS1 | Lähtö/Santasport | |
| 15:08 | SS2 | Sarriojärvi 1 | 31,05 km |
| 18:38 | SS3 | Sarriojärvi 2 | 31,05 km |
Saturday 27.2.
| 07:50 | Service B | Santasport | |
| 09:08 | SS3 | Mustalampi 1 | 24,43 km |
| 10:38 | SS4 | Kaihuavaara 1 | 19,91 km |
| 12:08 | SS5 | Siikakämä 1 | 27,68 km |
| 14:05 | Service C | Santasport | |
| 15:38 | SS6 | Mustalampi 2 | 24,43 km |
| 17:08 | SS7 | Kaihuavaara 2 | 19,91 km |
| 18:38 | SS8 | Siikakämä 2 | 27,68 km |
Sunday 28.2.
| 09:00 | Service E | Santasport | |
| 10:08 | SS9 | Aittajärvi 1 | 22,47 km |
| 13:18 | SS10 | Aittajärvi 2 (Wolf Power Stage) | 22,47 km |
Writer: Juho Koski