Max Vatanen gained more vital experience in the cut and thrust of the World Rally Championship with a stage-winning performance on Rally Finland, the fastest WRC event of them all.The 23-year-old son of Finnish rallying legend Ari Vatanen was taking part in the Jyvaskyla-based event for the first time as part of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy series.
He made a flying start by winning his class on the opening Lankamaa stage, the rally’s longest at 23.44 kilometres. While that performance was the undoubted highlight, his eventual fourth-place finish in the one-make category in 27th overall after 360 timed kilometres was nevertheless a fine achievement for the inexperienced Finn.
“It was quite good to be leading the rally until Friday morning but then the rally became a bit like the stages: a rollercoaster,” said Vatanen. “I made a mistake on the second stage on Friday and we had a big moment. I lost confidence there and after we had a puncture and then we had a fuel pump problem, which put us a long way back. We had two punctures again on Saturday due to my mistakes because I am the one behind the steering wheel. But the afternoon went better, I avoided the stones and I started to enjoy although I didn’t have so many tyres left for the final day so I had to be careful.”
While he was brought up spectating on Rally Finland, this was Vatanen’s first chance to drive through the famous high-speed gravel stages.
“It was harder than I imagined,” said Vatanen, who was co-driven by fellow Finn Mikko Lukka. “I have been driving here in Finland in the Finnish championship but seriously it’s nothing compared to what we have here. Normally in the Finnish championship the roads are really smooth and we don’t have so much four-wheel drives that eat the roads. But on this rally the condition of some of the stages on the second pass was quite bad and we were surprised about all the stones.”
Looking back on the rally, Vatanen said the experience he gained would serve him well for the future. “I have to see the positive things I have learned. I will leave from here with new experiences. We got through a long event and have shown our speed. Now I just have to keep it consistent and try to have a clean run without mistakes and without taking any unnecessary risks.”
Vatanen’s next challenge takes him to Germany for the all-asphalt Rallye Deutschland from August 21-24, which he will also be contesting for the first time. However, he can at least count on some recent Tarmac experience having contested the sealed-surface Ypres Rally, a round of the European championship, in June.
Story and photo: Maxrally