Without doubt the surprise of the World RX of Finland so far was Juha Rytkönen taking second place on home soil in Kouvola.
The Finnish national rallycross champion for Supercar used all his experience of the track to get onto the podium on his FIA World Rallycross Championship debut.
After qualifying Rytkönen found himself with a front row start for the semi-finals. He beat Mattias Ekström to turn one to take the lead and win the race as others faltered.
In the final, he kept his head and drove superbly to hold onto second place behind winner Johan Kristoffersson.
Rytkönen said: “This is absolutely amazing! The car was so easy to drive and the team around me helped a lot. “Throughout the day I learned a lot from my teammates and my spotter [Toomas Heikkinen] kept pushing me in the Final. I am really happy with the result.
“Tomorrow we might have a wet race, but I’d prefer it to stay dry.”
GRX Taneco Team Principal Marcus Grönholm added: “We knew Juha would be fast and could possibly secure a place in the Final, which he did. But for sure the podium was an unexpected surprise.”
The World RX of Finland continues tomorrow as Rytkönen will look to impress once again in the GRX Set Promotion Hyundai i20.
