Teemu Asunmaa and co-driver Ville Mannisenmäki have finished second in the traditional Arctic Lapland Rally. Asunmaa, who had been leading the rally for a lengthy period, ultimately had to settle for second by 7,3 seconds. Taking home the most championship points among the FRC regulars, as well as winning six of the 12 stages, the Skoda Motorsport Finland’s driver started the season strongly overall.

The strategy for the opening day was to conserve tires for an assault on Saturday. Even with completing the whole day with only one set of tires, Asunmaa was leading the rally by 5,2 seconds by the end of the first day.

-We drove in accordance with our tire strategy and quite easily overall. We can improve our pace further, but as the stages are quite different in character tomorrow, we aim to start the morning cautiously, Asunmaa said at the evening service.

On Saturday, Asunmaa opened with a second-fastest time, improving upon this with two stage-winning times to complete the first set of stages. The lead stayed largely the same, with Asunmaa 5,0 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

-SS6 – Aittajärvi 2 caught me off guard as I was expecting more gravel in the grooves. Other than that, the leg was fine, now all we have to do is keep it until the finish, Asunmaa commented.

On the second leg of the day, the 32,65-kilometre Sarriojärvi 1 didn’t go according to plans, and Asunmaa dropped down to second. The Skoda-driver quickly bounced back by winning further two stages and reeling the lead down to just 3,7 seconds before the last stage of the rally, Sarriojärvi 2. Loose snow on stage hampered Asunmaa as the first Rally2 car on the road, and the Pirelli-driver was forced to settle for second place by 7,3 seconds.

-There was a lot of loose snow on Sarriojärvi 2 which hampered our accelerations. The car just didn’t fit the grooves left by Rally1 cars. We lost six seconds compared to our first run through the stage, which tells a tale. The driving was good, but it wasn’t enough this time, Asunmaa explained.

Next round of the Finnish Rally Championship, SM Tuuri Ralli, is driven at Asunmaa’s home village.

-It’s a pleasure to be able to compete in our home event, and we’re again going for win there. This time we just couldn’t put on a similar drive as we did last year. A big thank you to my cooperation partners and everyone cheering us on the stages, the atmosphere was amazing, Asunmaa thanked.

Finnish Rally Championship continues 8th to 9th of May with SM Tuuri Ralli at Alavus.

Arctic Lapland Rally results – Class SM1:

1. Mikko Heikkilä         1:41:02,8         FIN             Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
2. Teemu Asunmaa      +7,3                 FIN             Skoda Fabia RS Rally2
3. Roope Korhonen      +35,7               FIN             Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
4. Georg Linnamäe       +57,0               EST             Toyota GR Yaris Rally
5. Benjamin Korhola     +1:37,5           FIN              Hyundai i20 N Rally2