RALLY FINLAND, ACCORDING TO RECONNAISSANCE SATURDAY WILL BE THE DECISIVE DAY FOR THE RACE
As was easily predictable, even for Rally Finland, which will experience its first special stage this evening, the drivers have stocked up on soft tyres, opting for the maximum possible, namely 28. After all, as Pirelli engineers' analysis after reconnaissance confirms, the 2023 edition of Rally Finland is more than ever a soft-tyre race, with fast but low-grip road surfaces, made even more slippery by the humidity and weather conditions.
The gravel will generally be damp if not completely wet on all days of the weekend, particularly on Saturday which promises to be not only the longest but also the toughest of the entire rally, particularly on the second pass.
As well as tackling the very long jumps that are characteristic of Finland, the Scorpion Soft tyres, once again, will have the difficult task of consistently generating grip on the 2 types of surface that the drivers will face during the race, namely, medium gravel and soft gravel.
THE MAIN DATA AT A GLANCE
Ambient temperatures: fairly small fluctuations, with a minimum of 15 degrees to a maximum of 22
Ground temperatures: generally higher than ambient, ranging from 19 to 23 degrees, with the highest expected for Friday's Myhinpaa 2 (SS 8)
Surface conditions: the poor grip typical of Finnish surfaces is complicated by the particularly high humidity on Saturday, with peaks of 100%; wet surfaces are also expected on both Saturday and Sunday (Vekkula and Moksi in particular)
Surface types: ranging from medium to soft gravel, with the former predominating.
Surface abrasiveness: generally poor; the bottom is predominantly soft to the detriment of grip
Level of grip: generally medium to medium-low. The maximum is in the Lankamaa test.
Risk of tyre damage: in Pirelli engineers' classification, which adopts a scale of 1 to 5, Rally Finland gets a rating of 2.5, the same as Estonia.
Tyre stress and wear: the most demanding tests are Myhinpaa and Vastila, which present fairly high levels of both wear and tyre fatigue
Most demanding section: Section 6, the second stages on Saturday afternoon
Most demanding special stages: the rating of most stages is average (3/5) due to a combination of factors, ranging from the speed of the courses to the type of surface. The most challenging is once again the Myhinpaa, especially on the second pass.
Below are the day-by-day analysis tables in detail and the tyre allocation table, driver by driver
PIRELLI TYRES IN FINLAND
Scorpion KX WRC, which in the soft SA compound version are the optimum solution for a race on slippery surfaces, being designed to ensure grip even in the most difficult conditions on wet surfaces in a balanced way to ensure performance and endurance. The hard HA compound version is the option and is suitable for the most abrasive surfaces and the longest trials.
As for the other categories, in Finland Rally2 will have Scorpion K6B (soft) and K4B (hard) tyres available, while Rally3 will have K6A (soft) and K4A (hard). For these cars, the allocations are 22 and 8 tyres for the prime and option respectively, to which must be added a set for the shakedown.