Lest any of you think that I don’t care about rallying anymore (not the case), here’s a little update on the Rallye Finland, which started today…

It’s been both a typical Finnish rally and a surprising one. The local drivers are ruling the roost at the moment (halfway through Leg 1), with Marcus Gronholm, Sebastien Lindholm and Janne Tuohino leading the pack. Ford’s Markko Martin, who broke the Finnish stranglehold on the event last year, is lurking in fourth place, followed by more Finns. Current championship leader Sebastien Loeb has been well off the pace, but he’s only a second out of the points at the moment.

Now, the surprises. Peugeot’s Harri Rovanpera had a torrid start, setting three scratch times, but it all went wrong rather quickly on SS6, when Rovanpera rolled his 307 out of the rally. Petter Solberg also started well, but a crash on SS4 ended his rally, and perhaps his championship hopes. He’ll be pulling for Loeb to stay out the points….

Posted on 6 August 2004