Lauri Joona on the podium in Rovaniemi

Lauri Joona is in second position in the Finnish Championship points standings after two rounds.

Kuva: Hannu Rainamo

The Arctic Lapland Rally or more familiarly Tunturi Rally, offered both drivers and spectators winter rallying at its best: legendary rally roads and exciting battles for seconds. The premier class of the series (SM1) featured a very high level of driver coverage. In addition to Finnish Championship points the Tunturi Rally, which covered almost 222 extra kilometers was used to determine the preliminary positions of the Finnish drivers in the class for the WRC Rally Sweden to be held in February.

Esapekka Lappi, who won the opening round of the season started the first special stage in Rovaniemi strongly but already on the second stage Lauri Joona responded to the challenge by driving the fastest tage time in the class. Six special stages were driven on Friday of which Joona drive two fastest time. After Friday Lappi led by 10.7 seconds before Lauri Joona.

- Friday went really well, one small situation was at Aittajärvi 2. The car and tires are working well and there is a really good feeling in the cabin. The flow is good at the moment so let's continue doing good work on Saturday, said Joona at the end of Friday.

Kuva: Taneli Niinimäki

On Saturday, Mikko Heikkilä also joined the top of the SM1 class. Lappi continued in first place and the tightest races were between Joona, Kauppinen and Heikkilä for places 2-4. The final decision was made only on the last and longest special stage of the race in Sarriojärvi, where last year's winner Kauppinen finished second ahead of Lauri Joona. Lauri Joona continued his strong performance and finished third in the final results.

- The overall mood is a bit mixed. Really good feeling from a successful race but at the same time a bit sad that we couldn't hold on to second place. We got what we could in the last stage and didn't lose to the bad guys, said Joona at the finish in Sarriojärvi.

- Overall, a really great rally and very nice roads. We managed to keep up a good basic pace. We enjoyed ourselves in the car and tires worked well. A big thank you to all the supporters and partners for this race! It's a good start to Sweden.

Kuva: Taneli Niinimäki

After two races, Esapekka Lappi is the number one in the Finnish Championship points. Lauri Joona is second and Tuukka Kauppinen is third with his second place in Tunturi. The next Finnish Championship points will be awarded at the end of February in Riihimäki but before that Joona and co-driver Antti Linnaketo will participate in the World Rally Championship in Sweden from 12 to 15 February.

61st Arctic Lapland Rally

Final results / SM1 class

1. Esapekka Lappi, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 1:49:27.2

2. Tuukka Kauppinen, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +25.2

3. Lauri Joona – Antti Linnaketo, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +32.5

4. Mikko Heikkilä, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +36.4

5. Roope Korhonen, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +1:02.7

Points / SM1 class, 2/7 races

1. Esapekka Lappi 50

2. Lauri Joona 33

3. Tuukka Kauppinen 18

4. Benjamin Korhola 15

5. Takumi Matsushita 14