Neste Oil Rally Finland - Latest news

Be part of the world's best WRC event!

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:48:00 GMT

Be part of the world´s best WRC event!

One of this year highlights in RC racing will be held in Jyväskylä, Finland 29-31 of July. It´s all about nitro buggy race as a supportive event for Neste Oil Rally Finland. Nitro buggy event is called Rally Finland Nitrocross Championship. Race will be held in the Service Park area which is the heart of whole Rally Finland. The Nitrocross Champ is decided by two separate races and the Champ will get fame and fortune. And of course champagne in the WRC podium!

Event is organized by AKK Sports (the organizer of Neste Oil Rally Finland) and Motorsport club of Vaasa (Organizer of electric buggy Worlds in 2011). When you combine that with Scotty Ernst and 70 000 spectators during the weekend, what do you get? World class event which will be one the highlights during the 2010 season. Race format will be brand new. It is thought from the spectator point of view but we haven´t forgotten the racer either. Race format will be announced during next few weeks.

Registration starts 1st of March for foreign drivers and 15th of March for Finnish drivers. We have limited maximum amount of entries to 100, so be quick to get your seat in a superb ride. Entry fee is 60 euros covering both races and a T-shirt. Also ticket to Saturday night party is included. Check out our website www.rallyfinlandgoesrc.com for more information.

What is Neste Oil Rally Finland? This is how Neil Cole defines Neste Oil Rally Finland in his article: "Rally Finland is already the fastest, craziest, most flat-out rally of the year - the "Gravel Grand Prix" - and I cannot WAIT to endure the mosquitoes and vodka´d-up Finns in the lakey forests outside Jyvaskyla to catch a glimpse of a WRC car always sideways, usually in mid-air, often millimetres away from disaster. Normal... for the Finns."

Be part of history of RC-racing and join the ride!

Premilinary schedule
Thursday 29.7.2010 Free practise
Friday 30.7.2010 Race 1
Saturday 31.7.2010 Race 2

More information
Rally Finland NitroX Championship website
http://www.rallyfinlandgoesrc.com/

Contacts
Jussi Luopajärvi
Promoter
Motorsport club of Vaasa
+358 50 3342625 +358 50 3342625
jussi.luopajarvi@vaasanua.net

Scotty Ernst
info@trackside.com

Rally Guide 1 reveals the route details of a WRC classic

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:56:00 GMT

Neste Oil Rally Finland 2010

Rally Guide 1 reveals the route details of a WRC classic

Details of the route for this year´s Neste Oil Rally Finland have been released together with the Rally Guide 1, which can be found in the Competitors´ section of the website. The 60th anniversary event on July 29-31 is a combination of old and new. Laajavuori - a traditional opening stage in past decades - makes a return, while firm spectator favourite Myhinpää also remains on the bill. The route´s 19 stages total 310 kilometres.

- Neste Oil Rally Finland´s three-day format has been tweaked to run the actual special stages on the Friday and Saturday, whereas scrutineering, shakedown and the opening Special Stage will have taken place on Thursday, explains Deputy Clerk of the Course Seppo Harjanne.

Harjanne underlines that particular consideration has been given to ease of spectating, obviously within the constraints allowed by regulatory demands on schedules and stage mileage.

- We want to give a choice of stages in a geographically wide area, with past years´ feedback from spectators, competing crews and teams in mind, says Harjanne.

- There was a desire to include in the route everything that made this rally famous and popular with the fans worldwide. For the competing crews it again offers familiar, fast stages and some new roads, too, he sums up.

In celebration of its 60th anniversary the event is sparked off on the Thursday by the tradition laden Laajavuori stage, which now takes the place of recent opening test Killeri. A novelty for Neste Oil Rally Finland is the re-seeding of competitors on the basis of results from Laajavuori. The top ten from that stage will be able to pick their slots in the running order for Friday.

Otherwise the jubilee rally´s route follows the pattern of recent events. On Friday morning the Urria and Jukojärvi stages are both tackled twice. After service the crews head north-east for the afternoon. Lankamaa and new stage Sirkkamäki are followed by Myhinpää, which proved super popular last year.

On Saturday the route heads south-west. First stages in the morning are Kolonkulma, Väärinmaja and Surkee, before service back at Jyväskylä Paviljonki. Next come Leustu and Himos before a re-run of Surkee and another service in Jyväskylä.

The day, and indeed the rally, is concluded with second runs through Leustu and Himos. The top crews will receive their awards at Jyväskylä Paviljonki at 19.30. The night will climax with a grand anniversary celebration.

Schedule and route maps to be found here

Promoter announces breaking news in the countdown to World Rally Championship lift-off

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:41:00 GMT

PROMOTER ANNOUNCES BREAKING NEWS IN THE COUNTDOWN TO WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP LIFT-OFF

Today, at the launch event for the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship season, Promoter North One Sport announces a raft of developments to mark the dawning of a new era for the sport and unveils breaking news on growing audience figures and new television deals for the WRC.

The first round of 2010 season takes place in the ice and snow of Sweden on February 11th with new cars, teams and drivers joining the current line-up of WRC heroes. The sense of anticipation could not be higher, especially with the news that world renowned drivers Kimi Raikkonen and America´s Ken Block will be joining the ranks of WRC.

The introduction of a new S-WRC series, for Super2000 cars, alongside an enlarged calendar of 13 Events, a host of new television deals, and the appointment of the sport´s first ever Championship Promoter, all point to a ground-breaking year ahead.

This sense of momentum is further reinforced by the breaking news that in 2009 the average number of television viewers per rally grew by a healthy 12% (source: TNS Sport). Rally GB, the last event of the 2009 season, culminated in a winner-takes-all shoot-out between Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen, which attracted a massive 61 million viewers worldwide.

For 2010 the good news is that WRC fans around the world can look forward to even more coverage of their favourite stars with the announcement of a range of new television agreements. These include 5 year deals with MTV3 in Finland and Network 10 and One HD in Australia. Multi-year agreements have also been reached in important territories including Italy (RAI), Scandinavia (Viasat), Portugal (Sport TV), France (Orange and Motors TV), the USA (Discovery), China (national and regional broadcasters) and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi TV).

A selection of further new deals for 2010 have been secured in France (TF1 and France Television), Greece (SKAI), South America (Fox Sports), New Zealand (Sky TV), the UK (Dave and S4C) plus global news syndication via Reuters and SNTV. A number of additional agreements will be announced in the near future.

All of these agreements reflect North One Sport´s commitment to securing the best possible mix of quality international, regional and local media coverage.

Other things to look out for during 2010 include transmission of live television from a number of events starting in Rally Sweden, spectacular aerial coverage from our TV helicopter, new on-board camera technology and the development of state-of-the-art High Definition TV coverage for introduction in 2011.

A new WRC video game franchise, a re-vamped wrc.com website and digital offering later in the year will provide fans with more opportunities to interact than ever before. The future of the WRC looks very positive with renewed interest of many car manufacturers, teams and drivers, and a series of pioneering changes to the sport´s regulations designed to reduce costs and improve the show.

Neil Duncanson, Chairman of Championship Promoter, North One Sport comments "This is a genuine new era for the sport and every stakeholder involved in the WRC believes the future is extremely bright. This year is just the start. The WRC will become the one of the world´s premier sporting brands in the next 5 years."

Simon Long, Chief Executive, North One Sport, adds "We´re really encouraged by this evidence of the enduring appeal of WRC and the confidence broadcast partners around the world are showing. With our exciting plans for the future and so many positive developments in the pipeline, just buckle up and enjoy the ride!"

Season's Greetings!

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Season´s Greetings!

We would like thank you for the past year and wish you a Merry Christmas. Have a successful motorsport year 2010!

Kimi Räikkonen joins WRC with Citroën

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:57:00 GMT

Kimi Räikkonen joins WRC with Citroën

Citroën has announced that Kimi Räikkonen will join its World Rally Championship line-up in a Red Bull-backed Citroen Junior Team car. Like in his earlier rally outings Kimi will be accompanied by Kaj Lindström. The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion will contest 12 WRC rounds in 2010.

Kimi Räikkönen will be joined in the Red Bull Citroen team by former Junior WRC champion Sebastien Ogier, who completed an impressive WRC rookie season last year.

Raikkonen made his top flight rallying debut in an S2000 Abarth at his home round of Neste Oil Rally Finland earlier this year, earning the respect of the series regulars for the speed with which he adapted to driving on the stages. Earlier in the year he was also seen in the Finnish Rally Championship, making his mark among the Championship regulars.

Citroen team boss Olivier Quesnel said he was delighted by Red Bull´s increased involvement, and that they had such a strong Junior line-up in Raikkonen and Ogier alongside factory drivers Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo.

World Rally Championship Calendar 2010

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:44:00 GMT

World Rally Championship Calendar 2010

The FIA World Motorsport Council met in Paris on 21 October and decided on e.g. the 2010 World Rally Championship calendar.

The World Rally Championship 2010 consists of 13 rounds, one more than in 2009. The Finnish WRC round Neste Oil Rally Finland is the 8th rally of the season, and it will be driven on 31 July - 3 August. In addition to the WRC aces, drivers of both the Production Car World Rally Championship (P-WRC) and new WRC Cup (for S2000 teams) will compete for glory in the legendary "Grand Prix on Gravel". The young drivers of Pirelli Star Driver Programme will also have chance to experience the fast roads and yumps of Rally Finland.

In accordance with the decisions of the World Motor Sport Council (June 2009), event organisers have been given flexibility to evolve the character of their events to create a unique flavour. Rallies may run over two, three or four days, but must finish on a Saturday or Sunday. Individual schedules will be communicated by event organisers, but for simplicity Sunday is noted below as the current completion date of the rally.

World Rally Championship 2010

11.-14.2.	Sweden
4.-7.3.	Mexico
1.-4.4.	Jordania
15.-18.4.	Turkey
6.-9.5.	New Zealand
27.-30.5.	Portugal
8.-10.7.	Bulgaria (Saturday finish)
29.7.-1.8.	Finland
19.-22.8.	Germany
9.-12.9.	Japan
30.9.-3.10.	France
21.-24.10.	Spain
11.-14.11.	Great Britain