Tom Williams will continue his FIA Junior World Rally Championship campaign on the fastest round of the series, when he contests the Neste Rally Finland (1-4 August) in his M-Sport developed EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2T.
The 20-year old from Oxfordshire, who is one of the youngest and the only British driver in this year’s JWRC, has successfully completed all of the stages he’s started in the previous three rounds (Sweden, Corsica and Sardinia) so far this year – which is a key aim in 2019, as maximising the competition mileage available at JWRC level is an essential part of Tom’s learning process. After all, Rally Finland might be his 16th WRC start (having made his WRC debut in 2016, finishing second in the RC4 class and 45th overall on Wales Rally GB), but Tom only started competing four years ago (in 2015).
Partnered by 30-year old Nottingham-based co-driver Phil Hall, Tom finished an excellent sixth in the JWRC on Rally Finland last year – and whilst results are important, evolving his pace note system and continuing to develop his speed and skill behind the steering wheel are the aims for this year’s event.
And on such a high-speed rally that is affectionately known as the Finnish Grand Prix, Tom has been preparing himself both mentally and physically for Rally Finland – as it’s a very long and demanding challenge. Furthermore, the weather is often very changeable in central Finland, with one hot, sunny and very humid day often followed by a rainy day; with the levels of grip often changing overnight.
Tom said: “Rally Finland is the fastest round of the Junior World Rally Championship and it’s one of the best for drivers because the gravel stages are so smooth and flowing. Unlike some of the rougher events, where you’re always trying not to destroy the car and you don’t know if a huge rock has been pulled out around the next corner, Finland is an event where you can really concentrate on your pace notes and the intensity of your driving, and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing. In fact, Phil [Hall] and I have a lot of pace note improvements planned – it’s a system that we are constantly evolving, and our hard work is making them more accurate with every rally that we do.
“With all the very fast blind crests, big jumps and high-speed corners, you need to have a lot of experience on the Finnish roads to do well. We completed all the stages last year, so whilst it’s far from a familiar event for us, we’ll take all the experience we have gained before into this year’s event and try to improve in every area.”
This year’s Rally Finland begins on Thursday 1 August, after the Vesala shakedown stage and ceremonial start, with a mixed-surface Harju street stage in central Jyväskylä, starting at 19.00. Friday (2 August) is the first full day of flat-out forest rally action, with the Moksi, Urria and Ässämäki stages all tackled twice and finishing with a repeat run over the Harju stage. Saturday (3 August) is the longest day of the event, with 82.6 miles (133kms) of action, spanning more than 14 hours on roads around Jämsa. Pihlajakoski, Päijälä, Kakaristo, featuring roads from the legendary Ouninpohja, and the returning Leustu stage (which hasn’t been used since 2014 and is the only significant change in this year’s route compared to last year) are all driven twice. The final day on Sunday (4 August) contains two runs through the classic Laukaa stage and the big jumps of Ruuhimäki. The finish ceremony is in Jyväskylä at 16.00. The four-day event contains 23 stages, totalling 191.12 miles (307.58kms).