Roadbook Ramblings

"What the f*ck?"

 

If this was you reading the stage list, I can't blame you. 

I can't even judge you.

When the calendar dropped, people had certain expectations about the first round. The pin was in Finland, so there were two options: A classic Finnish summer rally, with high-speed gravel roads, jumps, thrills, and plenty of spills, too. Ouninpohja, Harju, Laajavuori, Humalamäki, so on, so forth. It didn't hurt that the previous season ended in those exact conditions, many still reeling from their humbling experience - or yet to come down from the high of victory. 

Another good guess was Arctic Rally, also known as Tunturi. Location of the pin was in Rovaniemi, which lead many to believe that this was going to be a snowy, icy event, utilising those treacherous snow-walled roads of Lapland. Winter rally taking place at early months of the year, also known as, well, winter? Apt, to say the least.

Against that backdrop, we return to the expletive-laden reaction.

Horazdovice-Komusin? Kolmenjarvet Tarmac? LYON-GERLAND?! They really put LYON-GERLAND into a FINNISH RALLY?

Yes, yes we did. In fairness, it was Thelc's idea. 

 

Chapter 1: The beginning

 Ever since the infancy of modern rallying, Finland has had three blue-ribbon events. Suurajot, Tunturiralli, and Hankiralli, known these days - respectively - as Secto Rally Finland, Arctic Lapland Rally, and bankrupt. 

Since two of the events are still ongoing and have been featured in past SRM seasons, let's talk briefly about Hankiralli.

Its story started in 1950s, shortly after Suurajot established itself. "We already have a summer rally", thought Fred Geitel and Lauri Hurme, two important figures in Finnish motorsport. "What we need is a winter rally." Of that idea Hankiralli was born.

What made it a unique event was its location. From its infancy, the rally started and finished in Helsinki, Finland's capital and daughter of the Baltic. It meant that instead of people going to the rally, the rally had now come to the people. In the 50's, when cars were much less common than today and public transport meant steam trains or slow buses, this was important. It also helped that Helsinki has had its share of wealthy motorsport enthusiasts since 1920s, with various races hosted in different locations. As such, expertise was already there, and the people were familiar with the concept of car racing. So, when proposed, it wasn't a difficult sell, even if all those vehicles swiftly veered off towards Lahti, Kouvola, and other cities in their route.

Speaking of route, rallies in 1950s were very different to the timed events we know today. Back then, it was mostly about keeping within allotted time and reliability of the cars and drivers rather than outright pace on closed roads. The inaugural event lasted two nights and the day between them, was 1800km long (!), and featured 52 competitors of whom 25 reached the finish line. Along the route were different tests, "secret checkpoints", and topping it off was an ice race on the shores of Kaivopuisto in Helsinki.

Needless to say, the sport has come a long way.

From those post-war days the event grew. It was part of the Finnish rallying championship since its establishment in 1959, and by 1962 had over 80 entrants. Its list of winners boasts the who's who of Finnish rallying, from "Professor" Rauno Aaltonen to Pauli "Tiger" Toivonen and Timo "Maestro" Mäkinen. Third generation racer Simo Lampinen piloted his "breadbun" Saab to successive victories in 1967 and -68, making it a hat-trick in 1975. Quite a feat, let alone from someone whose knees were wrecked by polio in his teens!

But, as the word "bankrupt" implied, dark clouds were on the horizon. Roads in Helsinki region had become too busy to close off for rallying by the time 1970s rolled around, forcing "Hankis" to move its special stages away from the capital. The 1973 oil crisis caused parliament to crack down on motorsport, leading to the cancellation of following year's event. 

Additionally, 1966 saw the establishment of Tunturiralli. Hosting a rally in Lapland may seem like an insane idea, but it turned out to be a smashing success, quickly gaining both notoriety and popularity due to its compelling mix of exotic nature and challenging roads. As such, it became a part of European Rally Championship already in 1972, standing shoulder to shoulder with 1000 Lakes. For the record, Hankiralli was only accepted three years later, by which point ERC had both expanded in events and seen many of its rounds lost to WRC. 

Competitors in the mid-late 70's questioned having two international winter rallies within just weeks of each other. Domestically it meant a costly affair, going from one end of the country to another, and internationally it meant diminished start lists. Finland is already an European backwater, and the low points multiplier (coefficient) of these rounds meant it was hardly worth the trip.

Enter Peter Geitel - avid rally driver, editor of Finland's leading motorsport magazine "Vauhdin Maailma", and son of Fred. In a 1978 editorial, he proposed something that would've changed the landscape of Finnish rallying forever...

 

 Continued in Chapter 2!