The Neste Rally Finland, would be the fourth event out of seven of the 2005 FIA JWRC Junior World Rally Championship. It started last Thursday evening (August 4th) at 7.00pm with the spectacular 'super special' specator-friendly stage. Mirco Baldacci - with co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini alongside - in the officially-entered Fiat Punto Abarth, would be bidding to be in contention for the overall JWRC win in Finland, along with another twelve crews who are also registered for the championship. The Fiat Punto has been fast but fragile this year, Baldacci having turned in a string of blistering prformances this year - most notably on the Monte Carlo and Sardinia Rallies.

THE FIA JUNIOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

The FIA Junior World Rally Championship (For Drivers) is a support championship to the pinnacle of rallying - the WRC – for upcoming younger drivers aspiring to reach the highest level of the championship. 2005 sees 13 drivers representing nine countries who are doing battle in eight rallies across the world.

The cars they are competing in are smaller and lighter than the World Rally Cars with an engine capacity of 1600cc and regulations allow for significant performance and safety modifications. Manufacturers who have produced cars to compete in the 2005 JWRC are Citroën (C2 and Saxo), Fiat (Punto), Renault (Clio) and Suzuki (Ignis and Swift). In recent years many J-WRC graduates have shone in WRC, among whom are Sebastien Loeb (current World Champion), Dani Solà (2002 champion) and François Duval. The J-WRC youngsters are the drivers of the future WRC.

FINLAND - TOUGH, ULTRA-FAST RALLY REQUIRES MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION

After Thursday morning’s shakedown (the last pre-event test with the rally cars) and the evening 'super special', Baldacci and Bernacchini would face the 3 legs of the Finland Rally proper, which would be made up of 21 special stages - eight on Friday, eight on Saturday and four on  Sunday August 7. The whole route would be on fast dirt roads, not ideally suited to the little Punto. However with development of the car carried out by N.Technology proving very successful recently - in Europe Giandomenico Basso's Punto has become the car to beat - the team were quietly confident that the package is heading firmly in the right direction. The 2005 edition of the Neste Finland Rally would finish at 2.50pm on Sunday after the competitors had completed 356 km against the clock.
 

Baldacci would be able to count on previous experience of this unique rally - last year he finished in fourth place in the JWRC category - then at the wheel of a factory Suzuki Ignis.

DAY ONE DOUBLE ROLL ENDS BALDACCI'S HOPES OF VICTORY
 

Dubbed the Grand Prix of rallies, Finland’s rollercoaster roads and high-flying spectacular jumps make it a speciality of the locals and few non-Nordic drivers come out on top here, highlighting its specialist character. It also requires precision driving; if the driver is not millimetre perfect it could all be over in a second and so popular is rallying in Finland that it is estimated that a fifth of the country’s entire population show up to watch the event.

Mirco Baldacci rolled the N.Technology-entered Super 1600 Fiat Punto Abarth twice on leg one, and even though the San Marino driver restarted leg two, he dropped further time on the opening stage after being a little overcautious, wanting to make very sure the car was in one piece again. However he soon regained his confidence, and a fine drive saw him work his way back up to sixth place in the JWRC category. This became fifth place when Czech youngster Pavel Valousek was forced to retire his factory Suzuki with a lack of oil pressure while lying in fourth place, just two stages before the finish.
 

DEBUT WIN FOR CITROEN'S DANI SORDO

Carlos Sainz protégé Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti rewarded themselves with JWRC victory after a stunning drive in their Citroën C2, on the youngster’s first ever outing in Finland. The Spanish duo finished with a comfortable lead of 1min 32secs ahead of Estonian Urmo Aava in his Suzuki Ignis, while Guy Wilks won over a third of all the rally’s stages in his all-new Suzuki Swift to collect third place. Eager for a win on this rally, the Englishman may have been disappointed with third but the points were enough to promote him to the top of the JWRC leaderboard with 29 points, ahead of Dani Sordo and reigning champion P-G Andersson (Suzuki) who hold equal points, just four behind Wilks.

In the FIA Junior World Rally Championship points standings (after 5 events), Baldacci double his points tally to eight after collecting four points in Finland, his second consecutive points scoring finish. This moves the factory Fiat pilot up from 11th place to 8th place in the points table. He is now just 5 points behind Suzuki driver Kosta Katajamaki who is in 7th place, and 6 points behind the Italian former Fiat Punto driver Luca Betti (now racing a Renault Clio) who is in 6th place, both realistic targets for him to overhaul.

by Marco Tenuti