• Hello from Conrad

    Hello from Conrad

    Hello and howtzitgoing? Welcome to my site. Take a trip around the place and see what you think. I'm going to be putting loads of news and features up through the season, so come back and visit more often. Ciao.

    Read More
  • World Rally Radio

    World Rally Radio

    World Rally Radio is proudly presented by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and broadcasts live on wrc.com covering all 12 championship events.

    Read More

Friday, July 03, 2009
Text Size
   

Cut to Conrad

Next Rally

Rally Finland
July 30-August 2

Known as the Finnish Grand Prix, Rally Finland is the big one – the one everybody driver wants to win. But, for 40 years, if you didn’t hail from Scandinavia, you didn’t stand a chance. From the first running of the event in 1951, the rally was won by a succession of local drivers and those from neighboring Sweden, until 1990, when Spaniard Carlos Sainz broke that domination. Eighteen years on from that and, still, only two other non-Scandinavians have won: Frenchmen Didier Auriol and Sebastien Loeb. That’s how specialist this rally is. The event starts from the university town of Jyvaskyla in the centre of the country and returns every day for service. One of the downsides to this year’s event is the loss of the stunning Ouninpohja test. This stage is so good, Colin McRae named his race horse after it. In a route shake-up, the organisers have left that road out. But the ones they have replaced it with aren’t bad either!

Conrad says:
This is always one of my favourite rallies. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of flying for 30 or 40 meters at a time with a World Rally Car firmly planted in top gear. Finland is one of the absolute classics in the championship, but it’s also a really technical rally – it’s not all about having a heavy right foot. The recce in Finland is crucial: you’re not just grading the corners and measuring the straights in Finland, you’re actually deciding where to place the car on the road for the jumps – don’t forget when you approach these crests at 180 or 190kph, you can’t see over the top of them. Talk about blind faith…

 

In Detail

Rally Finland

In detail:
Round: 9/12
Date:
July 30-August 2
Based:
Jyvaskyla
Surface:
gravel
Previous starts:
five
Start:
Jyvaskya (Thursday, July 30, 1900)
Day one:
ten stages (130.84km)
Day two:
nine stages (166.87km)
Day three:
four stages (47.44km)
Finish:
Jyvaskyla (Sunday, August 2, 1400)
First run as WRC round:
1973
Last run as a WRC round:
2008
Most driver wins:
Marcus Gronholm (7)
Most makes wins:
Ford (8)

Last Time Out
2007 African Rally Champion

Rally Poland

Given that nobody had competed on Rally Poland in recent seasons – it was the country’s first WRC round since 1973 – nobody really knew what to expect from the stages. Heavy rain in the lead up to the event threatened to ruin the soft, sandy stages, but in the end, they stood up to the weather and the World Rally Cars exceptionally well. The stages turned out to be super-quick, as well. Conrad’s pace was slowed slightly by an engine which was a down on power towards the end of the first day. With the motor firing on all cylinders, he moved up the order on Saturday, but then backed off on Sunday to let Sebastien Loeb – recovering from a problem on Friday – past to take more points.   

Check the news section for details...

 

Picture of the week


All aboard

Boats are becoming a bit of a feature for me on rounds of the World Rally Championship. In Greece it was a boat up the Corinth Canal and last time out in Poland it was a pedalo race on one of the 10,000 lakes in the country. Teamed with my fellow Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier, we started the number one boat, but just missed out on the win. We did get a podium, though!

We have 3 guests online