As Scott Pedder prepares to tackle the shakedown at Rally Finland, two fellow Aussie’s who have faced the challenging Finnish roller coaster ride offer up their thoughts on what the reigning Australian Rally Champion will face this weekend.
“Everyone knows just how fast a rally it is, but I think what you forget is that the competition is so close because of the speeds. The margins between drivers each stage is tiny,” Brendan Reeves explained, having contested Rally Finland in 2011 and 2012.
“It’s easy to get a bit disheartened because you think you’ve had a great stage and then you see the times of the locals, or the drivers who have done Finland a number of times before. But you have to regroup and find the extra time on the next pass over the stage,” said Molly Taylor, who similarly contested the Finnish classic in 2011 and 2012.
“I think the one thing you don’t realise when you see footage of Finland is all the narrow roads between the really nice, open stages. You see all the great shots of the wide, sweeping stages, and the jumps, but all of them connect together by these narrow tracks and they can be tough going,” continued Molly.
“The challenge is setting your car up for the fast, smooth stuff but then having it be able to handle those narrow tracks too because they get cut up and there can be lots of rocks,” she added.
But what of the high-speed and the big jumps?
“I think Poland is considered faster than Finland,” commented Brendan. “So Scott should be fine having just come off that rally as a warm up for the fast stuff. The challenge definitely will be the jumps, and more specifically knowing the capability of your car over them.”
“Scott’s done a few rallies in the (Ford Fiesta) R5, but I doubt he’s had many chances to really jump it. He’s going to have to learn pretty quickly just how fast he can hit jumps and how far the car is going to travel, because those following corners can come up pretty quickly when the car is still in the air.”
Molly agreed. “In recce you see these crests and don’t think much of them, but when you hit them at rally speed they are suddenly full on jumps! It’s not terrifying but it does take some getting used to positioning the car on the road and making sure you can nail a jump and still make the next corner.”
“The good thing for Scott is that the Fiesta is awesome over jumps. After the first big jump I’m sure he’ll be used to it!”
So do they think Scott will do well in Finland?
“I think it’s a rally that will really suit him,” Molly said. “We might not have roads like those in Australia but we do have fast roads, so we get used to the challenge. Look at how Chris (Atkinson), Brendan and I did over there, I think driving in the ARC helped prepare us for those challenges.”
“He’ll love it, the whole atmosphere is amazing. The fans live and breathe rallying in Finland, they line every stage, even the transports!” Reeves added.
SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
