Mille Johansson targeting another top result at Rally Finland
This weekend, Mille Johansson from Katrineholm and co-driver Johan Grönvall from Arvika will make their seventh WRC2 start of the year as Rally Finland gets underway. The Swedish duo will compete with M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, making their fourth and final planned WRC2 start with the team this season.
Mille and Johan head to Finland with renewed confidence after achieving their best result of the season at Rally Estonia two weeks ago, where they finished fifth in WRC2 and third in WRC2 Challenger.
– Above all, we take confidence and a good feeling with the car from Estonia, but also valuable experience from the fast roads, which in many ways are similar to what we will face in Finland, says Mille Johansson.
Rally Finland is renowned as one of the fastest events in the FIA World Rally Championship, with high average speeds and spectacular jumps. This year’s WRC2 field consists of 27 cars, with most of the championship’s leading drivers taking part.
– Finland is one of the fastest rallies of the entire season, so the biggest challenge will be to feel comfortable in the car straight away and have complete confidence in both the car and the pacenotes. The speeds are very high and there is very little room for error. You need to be fully focused from the very first metre, Mille continues.
After four events together with M-Sport Ford, the planned WRC2 programme with the British team now comes to an end. The aim is to build on the sixth-place finish Mille and Johan achieved the last time they competed in the Ford, at Rally de Portugal.
– I hope we can finish our final planned WRC2 event with M-Sport on a high and come away with another strong result. Every rally at this level is important, and hopefully we can take another step forward, Mille concludes.
Rally Finland gets underway on Thursday, 30 July, with shakedown followed by the classic Harju spectator stage in Jyväskylä. Nine special stages follow on Friday and eight on Saturday, before the rally concludes with two stages and the Power Stage on Sunday.