A twitter discussion mentioned the amount of excellent rally roads in the Moksi region, which I have written earlier about. It was suggested you could arrange a whole WRC event in the area. Of course I had to take up the challenge!
Cover image by Ville .fi / Flickr
I decided to set myself some rules. Every stage would have to be found within the triangle formed by the roads 9, 18 and 604 (a bit more than just the Moksi road network). The only exceptions to this limit would be the service area and super special, but those would be irrelevant anyway.
The rally would have to comply with current WRC regulations of 300-350 km of overall competitive length. Any part of a stage could be driven only twice at most.
I also decided that I would use only roads used previously in the WRC event. However, things like obtaining permissions or checking current road conditions were ignored for this fantasy event. Some of the stages could also be slightly – but not outrageously – too fast for the current WRC cars.
Thursday
This area contains at least four previous Rally Finland shakedown stages – Kokkila, Kuohu, Muurame and Vesala. For the occasion I chose Muurame, in its 2010 format. The biggest reason however was to leave the other stages for the actual rally!
Friday
Friday would start with Painaa – Moksi, the only stage title which I made up. It starts where Painaa 2014 did, but proceeds straight to join the route of Horkka 2016 in reverse. Finally it merges into the Moksi – Leustu route, also in the opposite direction. Finally the stage ends upon reaching the Moksi public road – in order to leave some of that for the following day.
The second stage Sahloinen would be the longest and trickiest of the whole rally at 35 km of mostly forest roads. The beginning is basically a partial of the Parkkola stage from 1997, although the forest roads are also familiar from Moksi – Leustu in the opposite direction. Once the 1997 Parkkola route finishes, the stage proceeds like the 1995 Surkee stage. However, the stage again ends abruptly at the village of Parkkola in order to spare some roads for future use.
The next two stages are shorter. Tiilimaa and Vesala would be driven just like they were in 1999 and 2019.
Saturday
Saturday would begin with the rather short Kuohu stage in its familiar form. Next up would be Surkee, starting like Parkkola 2004 and proceeding like Surkee 2010 in the opposite direction. This stage would go quite near three other stages of the rally, driven on other days. Ehikki would be using its 1993 format but augmented with an additional loop of forestry roads used in the 00’s in the opposite direction. Finally there would be Leustu, pretty much like in 2013.
Sunday
Like usually, Sunday would consist of two stages where the second repeat of the second one acts as the power stage. Basically I have just cut the 2006 Vellipohja stage in pieces to make two stages.
This Vellipohja version would start like in 2008 but end already before reaching the regional road 607 in order to turn back towards the next stage (if we would allow driving on roads not previously used, the road 607 in this direction would offer huge jumps!).
The power stage would be Tuohikotanen, essentially the beginning of the 2006 Vellipohja stage ending where Painaa in 2014.
The challenge is completed. The whole length of the rally would become 321 km and each leg between services at under 80 km. Liaison lengths would most likely be shorter than in the actual rally, but it’s another story how bad the traffic jams would be in the area!
Thursday |
||
| Shakedown | Muurame | 4.46 km |
| SS1 | Harju | 2.31 km |
| Day Total | 2.31 km | |
Friday |
||
| SS2 | Painaa – Moksi 1 | 20.33 km |
| SS3 | Sahloinen 1 | 36.47 km |
| SS4 | Tiilimaa 1 | 10.26 km |
| SS5 | Vesala 1 | 4.26 km |
| Leg Total | 71.32 km | |
| SS6 | Painaa – Moksi 2 | 20.33 km |
| SS7 | Sahloinen 2 | 36.47 km |
| SS8 | Tiilimaa 2 | 10.26 km |
| SS9 | Vesala 2 | 4.26 km |
| SS10 | Harju 2 | 2.31 km |
| Leg Total | 73.63 km | |
| Day Total | 144.95 km | |
Saturday |
||
| SS11 | Kuohu 1 | 7.80 km |
| SS12 | Surkee 1 | 24.59 km |
| SS13 | Ehikki 1 | 22.47 km |
| SS14 | Leustu 1 | 9.38 km |
| Leg Total | 64.24 km | |
| SS15 | Kuohu 2 | 7.80 km |
| SS16 | Surkee 2 | 24.59 km |
| SS17 | Ehikki 2 | 22.47 km |
| SS18 | Leustu 2 | 9.38 km |
| Leg Total | 64.24 km | |
| Day Total | 128.48 km | |
Sunday |
||
| SS19 | Vellipohja 1 | 13.04 km |
| SS20 | Tuohikotanen 1 | 9.86 km |
| SS21 | Vellipohja 2 | 13.04 km |
| SS22 | Tuohikotanen 2 (Power Stage) | 9.86 km |
| Day Total | 45.80 km | |
| Grand Total | 321.54 km |
It Gets Faster Now! 