FRC Porvoo: Japanese driver crowned Finnish Rally Champion

Rio Ogata has become the first Japanese driver to win a Finnish Rally Championship title in a close final-round decider between two TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program drivers.

Ogata claimed his third victory of the season in the SM2 class for Rally3 machinery at the Porvoon Ralli, finishing 5.4 seconds ahead of Kanta Yanaguida. After seven rallies, Ogata secured the SM2 championship title by just one point over Yanaguida. 

Hiroya Minowa meanwhile continued his learning in his debut rally campaign, finishing fourth in the SM3 class for Rally4 cars.

Information

Results (SM2 class)
1 Rio Ogata/Mikael Korhonen (Renault Clio Rally3) 41m00.7s
2 Kanta Yanaguida/Ville Mannisenmäki (Renault Clio Rally3) +5.4s
3 Pekka Keski-Korsu/Hannu Lamminen (Renault Clio Rally3) +31.4s
4 Leevi Lassila/Juha Lummaa (Renault Clio Rally3) +45.4s
5 Ville Vatanen/Joonas Ojala (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +49.5s
6 Aatu Hakalehto/Patric Öhman (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +58.0s

Results (SM3 class)
1 Lauri Halonen/Niklas Heino (Peugeot 208 Rally4) 43m27.8s
2 Vili Hakala/Tero Korhonen (Ford Fiesta Rally4) +36.8s
3 Tuomas Huikuri/Joona Rönkkö (Ford Fiesta Rally4) +1m50.5s
4 Hiroya Minowa/Juho Koski-Lammi (Renault Clio Rally4) +2m19.0s
5 Petri Gullans/Hanna Kukkonen (Peugeot 208 Rally4) +6m48.3s
6 Kerli Vilu/Hendrik Klausson (Ford Fiesta Rally4) +7m17.9s

Quotes:
Mikko Hirvonen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program chief instructor):
“This was an exciting rally for us, with Kanta and Rio going head-to-head for the championship in a close fight to the end. The conditions were difficult with rain and mud, and the competition level was high with all the top Finnish Rally3 drivers taking part, but both drove well with a good rhythm, kept their heads under the pressure and didn’t make mistakes. Rio made his gap already in the first stage and then held the lead all the way to the finish. Since the winter, he’s really fought back well, showing the speed he has on these fast Finnish roads, and it’s a great result for him. Kanta also did really well. He’s struggled a bit to find his rhythm in previous rallies, but here he was able to rise to the challenge, return to his true performance level, and fight all the way to the finish. Both can be proud after a fantastic season. It’s a great achievement for our WRC Challenge Program to have two Japanese drivers finishing first and second in the Finnish championship. There’s still lots of work to do with them, and that will continue with their next rally in Fafe in Portugal next month. For Hiroya, I think it was difficult to find the confidence in his first rally in such conditions. After his retirement last time out, it was important for him to finish this time, and he can take that experience forward to his next event in Estonia in a couple of weeks.”

Rio Ogata
“I tried to approach it like any other rally. As we came straight from the previous rally in Italy, we didn’t get to have a pre-event test this time, so I didn’t go in confident about winning, but maybe it helped me mentally, as I felt no pressure. Like in other rallies, I just tried to drive with my own rhythm, and that turned out to be surprisingly good. The conditions were damp and muddy and difficult, but I felt I was driving close enough to the limit and I think I really managed the speed well. It was really fun to have this battle with Kanta and to be pushing each other all the way until the last stage of the season. We’ve both had some mistakes or issues during the year, but we could end the season in a really good way and it’s a great achievement for this Program. I can feel the quality of my pacenotes getting better all the time, and I think that’s maybe starting to show in my results. I want to say thank you to everyone who is supporting us to make this possible, and I’m really grateful to them and for this opportunity.”

Kanta Yanaguida
“In this rally the conditions were very tricky because of the rain. On the first stage, I couldn’t find the grip and lost around six seconds. After that, the battle with Rio was very tight. I also struggled in SS8, but in the last two stages, I pushed as much as possible and did my best to catch up. It’s a pity that I lost so much time earlier, but I was happy with my driving in the last two stages, and feel that I improved more during this rally. During this season, I was strong in the snow rallies and got some good results, and struggled a bit more in the middle with my pace and with reliability issues, but I am very happy that I could find good pace in the final round and finish the season with a good feeling. Well done to Rio; I really enjoy competing with him. He’s very fast, but sometimes I’m able to learn from him. This time I finished second, but it’s still just the beginning. I will keep improving and work hard to become a top rally driver. I am very thankful to the whole team and our instructors for their massive support, and to everyone else who is supporting me.”

Hiroya Minowa
“It was good for me to be able to finish this rally and gain this experience in these kinds of tricky and messy conditions. Because of the conditions, there were some places where I wasn’t able to trust and commit to my pacenotes, and where I just tried to stay on the road. Still, I was able to find a lot of places where I can improve my pacenotes and make them clearer, so this was really nice. In particular, I had to concentrate a lot on the places where the drivers ahead were cutting, which was making the surface very messy, so it was good to experience and understand which corners were slippery and which ones had more grip. I also found things I can change with the car setup and will work on that in testing before my next rally in Saaremaa where we could face similar conditions.”

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