Alongside the 19th edition of the Lahti Historic Rally, the event in southern Finland also featured rounds for the Finnish Rally Championship (Ralli SM) and the Finnish Historic Rally Trophy (HRT) as part of the Top Building Ralli 2021.
After a strong first loop, Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) had to give up on first place during the second day as the Estonians Egon Kaur and Silver Simm (VW Polo GTI R5) dominated on the rainy stages of Saturday and won the event with an advantage of nearly 20 seconds. The final spot on the rostrum went to Mikko Heikkilä and Topi Luhtinen in another Škoda, missing out on second place by only 0.6 seconds.
Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm were the only non-R5 in the Top Ten in their newly developed Toyota Yaris N5 while Roope Korhonen and Anssi Viinikka were quickest 2WD in the Peugeot 208 R2.
The HRT section of the event was a feast for the Escorts: Ajari Piironen and Tomi Minkkinen won the event 20 seconds ahead of Toomas Palmi / Noora Saarinen and almost four minutes ahead of Tommi Huhtala / Sami Sulonen (all Ford Escort RS).
Meanwhile the main event, Lahti Historic Rally, was won by Ville Silvasti and Risto Pietiläinen (Audi Quattro A2) who fended off Kari Kivenne and Hannu Kemppinen in a similar car. Jarno Grönholm and Joose Kojo were a fine third in their Volvo 242.
1 окт 2024
