WRC3

Joona wins WRC3 in Finland with a comfortable lead

1 Mins read
Credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

The local hero Lauri Joona won the WRC3 single-make class during the Secto Rally Finland over the weekend and ending the last stage with a 4 minutes and 23.8 seconds lead over the rivals and also did a nearly clean-sweep across the four days by winning almost all except one of the stages.

The FIA Junior WRC regular however did not have the perfect weekend, he faced some power steering issues in his M-Sport Poland built all-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta Rally3 car but despite that he managed to take all stage wins. Before the final day of the rally he had a lead of 3 minutes and 34.7 seconds over the Rally Estonia winner Jan Cerny.

The class win is seeing him moving closer to his fellow countryman and championship rival Sami Pajari, who swithced class for the weekend as he was entered in a Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo fielded by Toksport WRT in the WRC2 class. Joona is now only one point short of snatching the championship lead.

Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool

Cerny finished the rally in second place meanwhile class debutant Henri Timonen ended up further 17 minutes behind in third place, the FIA European Rally Championship regular Toni Herranen completes the leaderboard in fourth and Tommi Heino had to retire on Friday after he went off the road.

Official rally results for WRC3:

Pos.NumberDriver / Co-driverCountryTeamModel
1.#38Lauri Joona / Tuukka ShemeikkaFinlandPrintsportFord Fiesta Rally3
2.#39Jan Cerny / Jan TomanekCzech RepublicAll RacingFord Fiesta Rally3
3.#43Henri Timonen / Jossi KärpijokiFinlandDogbox OyFord Fiesta Rally3
4.#40Toni Herranen / Sebastian VirtanenFinlandPrintsportFord Fiesta Rally3
RET.#41Tommi Heino / Patric ÖhmanFinlandKMS RacingFord Fiesta Rally3
Avatar photo
1010 posts

About author
Covering off-road news for The Checkered Flag since 2019, with over 10 years of experience working with all sorts of publications, media & PR-related things in motorsport.
Articles
Related posts
WRC3

Herranen aims to join the 2023 WRC3 class with start in Sweden

1 Mins read
Toni Herranen is aiming to do a part-time program in the 2023 WRC3 season
Junior WRCWRC3

Dominguez confirms continuation in 2023 Junior WRC

1 Mins read
Diego Dominguez has confirmed he will be continuing in the 2023 Junior WRC and WRC3 series
WRC3

Lauri Joona becomes the 2022 WRC3 champion after victory in Spain

1 Mins read
Lauri Joona is the 2022 WRC3 world champion as he won the Spanish round