Karl Kruuda demonstrated just why he won the 2014 Finnish Rally Championship with a rapid start to last weekend’s Arctic Lapland Rally, held in temperatures that dipped as low as minus 29 degrees centigrade.
The 22-year-old Estonian ace, who was competing in a Printsport-run Citroën DS3 R5 for the first time, was fastest on four stages and only once featured outside the top-two stage times. He was leading the Rovaniemi-based event when his car’s engine lost pressure and forced him to retire following the penultimate stage.
“It’s one of those things – quite disappointing but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Kruuda.
“We had a good feeling with the car and we certainly had the speed and the ability to win the event, so I think we made our point. I had hoped that we could hang on to the end, but it was not to be. Now we move on and look forward to the next rally. I really enjoyed the Arctic Rally: the roads are fantastic and there is always a very special atmosphere, so it was great to be competing there. Thank you to everyone for the support.”
Juho Salo, who Kruuda beat to last year’s Finnish title to become the first non-Finn in 59 years to take the coveted accolade, won the 50th anniversary Arctic Lapland Rally, which consisted of 12 ice and snow-coated stages over a distance of 290.09 kilometres from January 22-24.
Kruuda, who is mounting a WRC2 title challenge this year alongside selected international rallies, is entered for next month’s WRC-counting Rally Sweden but is currently unsure whether he will take the start due to parts availability issues. His aim, however, is to win the WRC2 title this year – a championship he missed out on last year despite being consistently one of the fastest drivers in the series.
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