After a spring filled with intense competition in both the Junior WRC and European Rally Championship, Mille Johansson and co-driver Johan Grönvall are back in the world championship – ready to push hard in the fight for gold. With two rounds remaining, the Swedish duo sits second in the standings, just seven points behind Australian leader Taylor Gill heading into this weekend’s iconic Rally Finland.
– I definitely believe it’s possible to overtake the championship leader this weekend. Finally, we’re heading into a rally where things will be decided on outright speed and not luck, like the past two rounds, says Mille Johansson.
The 20-year-old from Katrineholm and his co-driver Johan from Arvika have shown strong pace this season, but bad luck with punctures and technical issues in both Sardinia and Greece has cost them valuable points. Finland offers an entirely different kind of challenge – with high speeds, blind crests and the legendary gravel roads around Jyväskylä.
– It’s an extremely fast rally where the pace notes and communication between driver and co-driver play a massive role. We’ve been putting a lot of effort into the notes and will study a lot of onboard videos to find as much speed as possible, says Johan Grönvall.
This is Mille and Johan’s first Rally Finland, but their preparation has been thorough. Ahead of the rally, they completed a test in an identical Ford Fiesta Rally3 and followed up with three days of video recce to better understand the character of the roads and the lines over the numerous crests.
– Driving fast on the roads around Jyväskylä is incredibly difficult the first time you’re here – the crests and jumps just come one after another. But the test went well and now we’re going all in and pushing for the win, Mille explains.
The rally begins on Thursday with shakedown and the city stage Harju in Jyväskylä, followed by 18 more stages from Friday to Sunday. The rally concludes with two passes through the legendary Ouninpohja – one of the most iconic and mythical stages in the world.
Ten drivers from ten different countries are entered in the Junior WRC field, all competing in identical Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars on Hankook tyres. This is round four of five in the championship, with the final taking place in October on asphalt at Central European Rally.