After a series of accidents in Finland: Thierry Neuville calls for slower rally

– Thierry Neuville believes that the Rally Finland last weekend was “too fast.” This followed an unusually high number of serious accidents at the fast gravel round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).

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“The rally should be slower. That was the fastest Rally Finland I have ever driven,” says the Hyundai driver in an interview with the English edition of Motorsport.com.

Finland is famous for its extremely fast gravel stages. This year’s edition went down as the second fastest in WRC history – with an average speed of 128.2 km/h, it narrowly missed the record from the previous year.

Only the rain prevents a new speed record

Neuville had already predicted beforehand that the rally could become the fastest in history, as the route was changed by 66 percent compared to the previous year and virtual chicanes were omitted. The record would probably have fallen if the rain had not started on Friday.

The 2024 world champion was one of many drivers who got into trouble during the rally. On the fifth special stage, he went off the road and damaged the front left suspension.

Compared to some of his Rally1 rivals, however, he got off lightly: Sebastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans, Martins Sesks, and Esapekka Lappi all rolled over. For Ogier and Lappi, the rally ended prematurely after their heavy crashes.

Why chicanes do not bring safety

Asked about the challenges of the event and the enormous drama, Neuville explains: “It’s the pace. It’s super, super fast and honestly it was too fast. We have average speeds of 145 or 147 km/h. In some sections, it’s just over the top and the roads were too straight.”

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While Neuville made no secret of his opinion about the pace demanded by the crews, the competition did not share his view at all. “If you say the rally is too fast, they just put up chicanes – and that doesn’t change anything at all,” replies the championship leader Evans.

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“I don’t think there is [a specific reason for the accidents]. I think everyone just pushes to the limit, that’s part of the sport today. Because the cars hardly drift anymore, people sometimes think we’re not going that fast. But I can guarantee: We are.”

Only three cars get through the rally unscathed

Evans adds: “The gaps are minimal and the potential of these cars is fantastic. You have to drive absolutely on the limit to make a difference. So the window is obviously extremely small and something can happen quickly.”

Neuville’s teammate Adrien Fourmaux responds with a wink to the criticism: “The rally only gets too fast when you get too old.” However, the Frenchman also explains that changing grip contributed to the many serious accidents.

“There were only three cars without damage this weekend,” Fourmaux continues. “Those are Sami [Pajari], Oliver [Solberg], and me. Everyone else drove their car into the trees or rolled over. Everyone had their scary moments, that’s clear. The grip was much more inconsistent this year than last year. It kept changing, the surface was much harder, and it was difficult for the tires to bite in.”

Do drivers have to push too much to the limit?

M-Sport Ford driver Jon Armstrong sees the cause more in the extreme competition at the top. The drivers are simply forced to take more risks to gain more time.

“There were an extremely high number of accidents,” says Armstrong, “Through Rally TV we can all see what the others are doing. As I said: You can prepare and analyze exactly how much you have to start flying.”

“But that also means that everyone is extremely close in performance. So you have to take more risks in more places and try to be even faster in sections where you normally wouldn’t even try,” says the Irishman.

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