The 2018 Rally Finland (formally known as the Neste Rally Finland 2018) was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 26 and 29 July 2018. It marked the sixty-eighth running of Rally Finland, and was the eighth round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship and its support categories, the WRC-2 and WRC-3 championships, and the fourth round of the Junior WRC championship. The event was based in Jyväskylä in Central Finland and consisted of twenty-three special stages totalling in competitive kilometres.
Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm were the defending rally winners. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were the rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. The TGS Worldwide crew of Eerik Pietarinen and Juhana Raitanen won the World Rally Championship-2 category in a Škoda Fabia R5, while Estonian crew Ken Torn and Kuldar Sikk won the World Rally Championship-3.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul entered the round with a twenty-seven-point lead in the World Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers. In the World Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a twenty-eight-point lead over M-Sport Ford WRT.
Entry list The following crews were entered into the rally. The event was opened to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, and the World Rally Championship-3. The final entry list consisted of twelve World Rally Car entries, eighteen in the World Rally Championship-2, and another eighteen entries in the World Rally Championship-3, fifteen of which were eligible to score points in the Junior World Rally Championship.
No. Entrant Driver Co-Driver Car Tyre World Rally Car entries 1 M-Sport Ford WRT Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 2 M-Sport Ford WRT Elfyn Evans Daniel Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC 3 M-Sport Ford WRT Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula Ford Fiesta WRC 4 5 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hayden Paddon Sebastian Marshall Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC 10 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen Citroën C3 WRC 11 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Craig Breen Scott Martin Citroën C3 WRC 12 Khalid Al-Qassimi Chris Patterson Citroën C3 WRC World Rally Championship-2 entries 31 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 32 Ford Fiesta R5 33 Tommi Mäkinen Racing Marko Salminen Ford Fiesta R5 34 ACI Team Italia WRC Škoda Fabia R5 35 BRC Racing Team Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Hyundai i20 R5 36 Citroën Total Rallye Team Stéphane Lefebvre Gabin Moreau Citroën C3 R5 37 Tommi Mäkinen Racing Hiroki Arai Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Fiesta R5 38 Hyundai Motorsport Jari Huttunen Antti Linnaketo Hyundai i20 R5 39 Nicolas Ciamin Nicolas Ciamin Thibault de la Haye Hyundai i20 R5 40 Motorsport Italia Benito Guerra Borja Rozada Škoda Fabia R5 41 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 42 Lars Stugemo Lars Stugemo Kalle Lexe Škoda Fabia R5 43 Castrol Ford Team Türkiye Murat Bostanci Onur Vatansever Ford Fiesta R5 44 Citroën Total Rallye Team Simone Tempestini Sergiu Itu Citroën C3 R5 45 Eerik Pietarinen Juhana Raitanen Škoda Fabia R5 46 Emil Lindholm Mikael Korhonen Škoda Fabia R5 47 Jarkko Nikara Sayaka Adachi Ford Fiesta R5 48 Ford Fiesta R5 World Rally Championship-3 entries 61 Johan Johansson 62 Joakim Sjöberg 63 Romain Courbon 64 65 Manuel Fenoli 66 Jürgen Heigl 67 Danilo Fappani 68 Brian Hoy 69 Jason Farmer 70 71 Kuldar Sikk 72 73 Phil Hall 74 75 76 Taisko Lario Tatu Hämäläinen Peugeot 208 R2 77 Louise Cook Louise Cook Stefan Davis 78 Darren Garrod Sanjay Takale Darren Garrod Ford Fiesta R2 Other major entries 83 Printsport Škoda Fabia R5 89 Team MRF Tyres Gaurav Gill Glenn MacNeall Ford Fiesta R5 Source:
Notes — Driver and co-driver are eligible to score points in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship.
Report Pre-event Following Citroën's sacking of Kris Meeke, the team promoted Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen to replace him and his co-driver Paul Nagle as lead drivers.
Thursday Ott Tänak, driving a Yaris, took a 0.7-second lead over championship leader Thierry Neuville, while defending world champion Sébastien Ogier was 0.1 second further behind. Andreas Mikkelsen was in fourth place in another Hyundai i20, another slender 0.1 second behind, while defending rally winner Esapekka Lappi was in fifth. Shakedown top two Mads Østberg and Craig Breen tied in sixth, followed by local Finn Jari-Matti Latvala. Hayden Paddon and Elfyn Evans cleared the stage in ninth and tenth respectively.
Friday Friday witnessed a great fight between Ott Tänak, who drove a Yaris, and Mads Østberg, who drove a C3. After rally leader changed several times, the Estonian ended the day with a 5.8-second lead. Local Finn Jari-Matti Latvala completed the day in third, with Hayden Paddon led Hyundai in fourth position after Teemu Suninen fell back in the final stage of the day with brake issues in his Fiesta. Title contender Sébastien Ogier, who was second on the road, climbed up to sixth overall after Ford gave his teammate Elfyn Evans a team order, which ordered him to slow down in SS10 before reaching the finish line. Defending rally winner Esapekka Lappi, who stalled his car at the opening stage of the day, cleared the day in eighth place, while Craig Breen, who suffered an early puncture and a late fuel pressure issue, completed the day in ninth. Championship leader Thierry Neuville, who struggled for grip all the day due to being first on the road, completed the leaderboard. Teammate Andreas Mikkelsen finished down the order after rolling his i20.
Saturday
Saturday in Rally Finland was dominated by three Yarises. Ott Tänak, who stormed away with a 39-second over Mads Østberg, Jari-Matti Latvala, who closed the gap the Norwegian to only 5.4 seconds, and Esapekka Lappi, who climbed up four places after his effort, took all eight stage victories of the day to make Toyota a 1-3-4 finish. Hayden Paddon, who led Hyundai in fifth place, manage to stay ahead of local Finn Teemu Suninen despite brake problems and high tyre wear. Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier, who struggled to come to terms with new shock absorbers and an upgraded aerodynamic package, and teammate Elfyn Evans cleared the day in seventh and eighth respectively, while Craig Breen completed the day in ninth overall in another C3. Championship leader Thierry Neuville, who failed to make up yesterday's lost time, completed the leaderboard in tenth place.
Sunday Ott Tänak took his second rally victory of the season with a Power Stage win in Finland to gain a maximum thirty points after a master-class performance. Mads Østberg edged Jari-Matti Latvala by only 2.8 seconds to finish second overall. Hayden Paddon completed the rally in fourth place after defending rally winner Esapekka Lappi went off in SS20. Sébastien Ogier climbed up to fifth place after Ford gave another team order to Teemu Suninen, who was ordered to check in late at a time control so that he was given a 20-second time penalty and dropped behind his five-time world champion teammate in sixth. Elfyn Evans finished in seventh in another Fiesta, followed by Craig Breen in eighth. Championship leader Thierry Neuville ended his rally ahead of his teammate Andreas Mikkelsen in ninth place. Despite an unsatisfied outcome, he still leads the championship by twenty-one points over the defending world champion.
Classification Top ten finishers The following crews finished the rally in each class's top ten. Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Class Stage Overall classification 1 182:35:18.1 0.0255 2 2102:35:50.8 +32.7184 3 372:35:53.6 +35.5153 4 462:36:53.7 +1:35.6120 5 512:37:33.1 +2:15.0100 6 632:37:37.3 +2:19.280 7 722:37:47.6 +2:29.560 8 8112:38:26.5 +3:08.441 9 952:39:09.9 +3:51.822 10 1042:43:55.5 +8:37.410 World Rally Championship-2 11 145 2:45:18.4 0.0 25 — 12 238 2:46:25.2 +1:06.8 18 — 13 332 2:47:53.3 +2:34.9 15 — 14 441 2:47:55.2 +2:36.8 12 — 15 535 2:49:23.4 +4:05.0 10 — 18 640 2:56:40.6 +11:22.2 8 — 23 737 3:06:43.7 +21:25.3 6 — 29 834 3:18:08.6 +32:50.2 4 — 36 944 3:31:05.5 +45:47.1 2 — 38 1043 3:42:31.8 +57:13.4 1 — World Rally Championship-3 19 171 3:03:07.2 0.0 25 — 20 262 3:03:17.1 +9.9 18 — 21 363 3:04:53.4 +1:46.2 15 — 24 466 3:07:15.3 +4:08.1 12 — 25 568 3:09:14.1 +6:06.9 10 — 26 673 3:13:12.4 +10:05.2 8 — 27 776 3:14:41.0 +11:33.8 6 — 28 870 3:14:49.9 +11:42.7 4 — 32 967 3:20:35.9 +17:28.7 2 — 33 1069 3:25:24.5 +22:17.3 1 — Junior World Rally Championship 19 171 3:03:07.2 0.0 25 9 20 262 3:03:17.1 +9.9 18 12 21 363 3:04:53.4 +1:46.2 15 0 24 466 3:07:15.3 +4:08.1 12 0 25 568 3:09:14.1 +6:06.9 10 0 26 673 3:13:12.4 +10:05.2 8 0 28 770 3:14:49.9 +11:42.7 6 0 32 867 3:20:35.9 +17:28.7 4 0 33 969 3:25:24.5 +22:17.3 2 0 34 1074 3:29:50.8 +26:43.6 1 0 Source:
Other notable finishers The following notable crews finished the rally outside top ten.
Position Driver Entrant Car Class Time Points Event Class Stage 34 11 74 3:29:50.8 0 37 37 12 Khalid Al-Qassimi Chris Patterson Citroën C3 WRC 3:41:28.3 0 39 11 65 3:43:17.8 0 12 — 40 11 46 Emil Lindholm Mikael Korhonen Škoda Fabia R5 3:45:52.4 — 43 12 42 Lars Stugemo Kalle Lexe Lars Stugemo Škoda Fabia R5 3:52:21.1 — 44 13 36 Stéphane Lefebvre Gabin Moreau Citroën Total Rallye Team Citroën C3 R5 3:52:46.8 — 45 12 64 3:53:24.6 0 13 — 47 14 78 Darren Garrod Sanjay Takale Darren Garrod Ford Fiesta R2 3:55:20.3 — 48 14 47 Jarkko Nikara Sayaka Adachi Ford Fiesta R5 3:55:24.2 — 50 13 72 4:28:54.6 0 15 — 51 15 48 Ford Fiesta R5 4:35:58.2 — Source:
Special stages