04 February 2004 - 15:17 Pykalisto wins, Tuohino retires in Arctic Rally Finland's Rally Championship

P>The first round of Finland's Rally Championship got underway this weekend with the Arctic Rally. A prestigious event that attracted many drivers who will compete in the Swedish Rally next weekend.

The list of famous names included: Sebastian Lindholm (Peugeot 206 WRC), Janne Tuohino (Ford Focus), Jouni Ampuja (Ford Focus), Kaj Kuistila (Ford Focus), Ionnis Papadimitriou (Ford Focus), Juuso Pykalisto (Toyota Corolla), Jarri Latvala (Toyota Corolla) and former F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen (Toyota Corolla).

A battle between Janne Tuohino and Juuso Pykalisto took place during the first leg of the event. Tuohino stayed in the lead even if Pykalisto came within ten seconds of the leader.

Juuso started the second leg with another attack, bringing the gap down to four seconds on Tuohino. Lindholm was the fastest driver in SS 8 but had to retire on the next stage because of mechanical problems. Janne Tuohino also retired in that stage, also because of mechanical problems.

With the retirement of Tuohino, Juuso Pykalisto took over the lead of the race, more than a minute in front of Ampuja and three minutes ahead of Mikkonen. Latvala takes fourth place while Mika Hakkinen finishes in seventh position in his second participation in this event.

Hugo GIGUERE
CAPSIS International [02/02/04 - 22:01]

Arctic Rally : Final results

1  PYKALISTO-OVASKAINEN  Toyota Corolla WRC      2h14'43"4
2  AMPUJA-LIUKKONEN      Ford Focus WRC      at    01'11"8
3  MIKKONEN-ERVASTO      Ford Focus WRC      at    04'19"6
4  LATVALA-REPO          Toyota Corolla WRC  at    07'27"7
5  PYLVANAINEN-TYLLINEN  Ford Focus WRC      at    07'28"7
6  MIETTINEN-MARKKULA    Mitsubishi Lancer   at    09'45"5
7  HAKKINEN-PIETILAINEN  Toyota Corolla WRC  at    15'10"4
8  JUNNILA-TUOMINEN      Mitsubishi Lancer   at    18'01"8
9  NIKUPETERI-TIKKANEN   Mitsubishi Lancer   at    21'25"8
10 SAARINEN-MAKI         Audi Coupe S2       at    32'42"4
11 SAVELA-TUORI          Mitsubishi Lancer   at    33'38"9