Lauri Joona ready to takeoff Rally Finland - "Jyväskylä's atmosphere and roads are in a class of their own"

Lauri Joona has a successful test race behind him and the Fifth Jyväskylä World Rally Championship is ahead.

Lauri Joona has the most anticipated race week of the year coming up because the legendary Secto Rally Finland starts on Thursday. The preparation for the highlight of the season has gone very well for the driver from Sastamala who is starting his fifth Rally Finland.

- The HYAcenter Rally run as a test race went well and we got the best possible preparation. The win was of course a plus but the main thing is that the race was successful in terms of driving. We tried a few adjustments to the car and finally got a good package together and the right feel for the car, says Joona.

For Lauri Joona, the World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä has always been special.

- The feeling in Jyväskylä is something incomprehensible and the roads are one of the best in the world. The best race memory is certainly the first race and actually the first start of the World Championship in 2019. We participated with Markus Määttänen in the front wheel drive class and really just drove through the race. In the final results, we were third in the class and I also bagged the best novice driver award. But it was great and everything was new and wonderful. Another memorable moment was when we won the WRC3 class with Tuukka Shemeika in 2022, recalls Joona.

This year, it is possible to create new memories in the amount of 20 special stages. The race starts on Thursday with the Harju special test. There will be nine special tests on Friday and six special stages on Saturday. There are still four special stages of the race left for Sunday. The route gets a lot of praise from Joona.

- This year's route is partially familiar from previous years. There are many legendary clips, e.g. the returning "real Ouninpohja", which I have not driven before. I'm looking forward to that. Saarikas is familiar from the junk years, it must have been the first SM race more than ten years ago where I drove it. Actually, all the favorites are included: Myhinpää, Ruuhimäki, Ouninpohja and of course Päijälä, that's what I'm looking forward to the most. That's everything a good special stage requires, Joona lists.

Lauri Joona and Co-Driver Janni Hussi compete in the WRC2 class of the World Rally Championship with the TGS Motorsport team's Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car. The level of the class has been extremely hard and even. In Jyväskylä there are no less than 39 Rally2 classified cars, of which 31 are competing for WRC2 class points.

- In Jyväskylä, a podium position would be tough, there will certainly be a very hard frost for many drivers. It's not easy to get there when you look at the list of participants, but now there are good conditions for that. There are good test kilometers behind, the car feels good and the cooperation works. Lauri Joona says, "Let's make relaxed bets without any big pressure."