Fantasy WRC Preview: Finland

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
07/28/2014 at 13:00 • Filed to: fantasywrc, rally

Christ, we're up to Finland already? Alright then! Finland is the wet dream of every rally driver and co-driver around the world. Ridiculous speed, ridiculous jumps, ridiculous roads, and with half a million people showing up for the rally (in a country with a population of just five million) ridiculous fans. If only rally were this popular everywhere! Two of our Fantasy WRC players, Chris Duplessis and Alex Kihurani, actually competed in Rally Finland back in 2012 as part of the WRC Academy. They've both said it more than lives up to the hype and, at the time, was their favorite rally anywhere. Alex has since run a few rounds of the European Rally Championship, including !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! so he may have a new favorite at this point. How about it, Alex?

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Rally Finland is an event that tends to favor Scandinavian drivers, with only five non-Scandis winning the event since the advent of the World Rally Championship back in 1973. That said, there's been a bit of a Scandinavian dry spell as a "local" hasn't won the event since Latvala won it in 2010. Monsieur Loeb, the only non-Scandi to win in Finland more than once, won it in '11 and '12 (he also won it in 2008), and last year Seb Ogier took his first Finland victory.

For top contenders this year the safe money is on the ones who grew up driving these roads, but that really doesn't narrow your picks down much. Between Finland and Norway there are seven drivers entered at the top level. Hirvonen, Latvala, Mikkelsen, and Ostberg are all very strong picks this time around, and if I were ever to declare Ostberg a favorite to win a rally it would be now while he's still riding high from beating Marcus Motherfucking Gronholm at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! The Scandinavian wild cards are Henning Solberg, who has scored points in nine of his last ten WRC events, factory Hyundai driver Juho Hanninen, and Jarkko Nikara, who has three previous WRC starts, all in Prodrive Minis, with two no-scores and a fifth in Spain, so who knows how he'll do. Before you go filling your roster with Finns and Vikings though, do keep in mind that Sebastien Ogier is still Sebastien Ogier.

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WRC 2, by the way, has a Finn as well, with Jari Ketomaa running one of the DMack-backed R5 Fiestas. Ketomaa has scored points in Finland twice in WRC-spec cars, and last year finished seventh in an R5 Fiesta, so he could sneak into the top 10 and steal some point this year as well. You know, just in case you were looking for a real sneaky dark horse pick. Other notable WRC 2 drivers include Ott Tanak, Karl Kruuda, and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

And with that it's time to make some picks and start the ritualistic smacktalk. If you've forgotten the rules or are new to Fantasy WRC (WELCOME!) be sure to read them all !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Below are the WRC competitors entered for Rally Portugal. For the full entry list (WRC2 drivers, etc. Remember, you can pick any driver on the entry list ) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! And, as always, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! are available for you numerophiles.

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VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT
Sebastien Ogier - Avg points last 10 races: 22.6 / Avg points Finland: 16.5
Jari-Matti Latvala - Avg points last 10 races: 15.4 / Avg points Finland: 9.1

CITROEN TOTAL ABU DHABI WRT
Kris Meeke - Avg points last 10 races: 4.9 / Avg points Finland: 0.0
Mads Østberg - Avg points last 10 races: 8.6 / Avg points Finland: 5.4

M-SPORT WRT
Mikko Hirvonen - Avg points last 10 races: 7.1 / Avg points Finland: 12.8
Elfyn Evans - Avg points last 8 races: 5.5 / Avg points Finland: N/A

HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT
Thierry Neuville - Avg points last 10 races: 8.5 / Avg points Finland: 9.0
Juho Hanninen - Avg points last 10 races: 2.4 / Avg points Finland: 0.0

SINGLE CAR TEAMS AND INDEPENDENTS
Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) - Avg points last 10 races: 9.4 / Avg points Finland: 0.3
Robert Kubica (FORD) - Avg points last 4 races: 1.5 / Avg points Finland: N/A
Martin Prokop (FORD) - Avg points last 10 races: 4.5 / Avg points Finland: 1.0
Henning Solberg (FORD) - Avg points last 10 races: 6.1 / Avg points Finland: 5.0
Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) - Avg points last 2 races: 2.0 / Avg points Finland: N/A
Jarkko Nikara (Ford) - Avg points last 10 races: 3.3 / Avg points Finland: 0.0
Craig Breen (Ford) - Avg points last 1 races: 2.0 / Avg points Finland: N/A
Michal Solowow (Ford) - Avg points last 3 races: 0.0 / Avg points Finland: N/A

POINT-SCORING WRC2 DRIVERS
Jari Ketomaa - Avg points last 10 races: 1.6
Ott Tanak - Avg points last 10 races: 0.6

DISCUSSION (30)

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 13:52

1. Ogier

2. Neuville <—Power

3. Ostberg

4. Hirvonen

5. Mikkelsen

Hermann > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 14:30

Ah, Rally Finland. That's one no one should miss!

1) Latvala

2) Hirvonen

3) Østberg

4) Mikkelsen

5) Hanninen

Voima - Ogier

nobody > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 15:04

1. JML

2. Mads

3. Mikko

4. Hanninen

5. Solberg

Power: KUBICA

Marzobomber > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 16:16

1. Latvala

2. Hirvonen

3. Ostberg

4. Neuville

5. Solberg

PS. Hirvonen

McNewbie1 > nobody
07/28/2014 at 16:40

Power Kubica? Dude.

McNewbie1 > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 16:54

Ogier/Ingrassia

Hirvonen

Neuville/Gilsoul

Ost/Andersson

Mikkelsen

Henning Solberg

PS Ogier/Ingrassia

ChrisDuplessis > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 17:36

Ogier POWER

Hirvonen

Ostberg

Neuville

Mikkelsen

This will always be my favorite rally.

Dusty Ventures > McNewbie1
07/28/2014 at 17:43

You know you picked six, right? ;)

Hoccy > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 17:54

Finally we're in Jyvaskyla. I've been looking forward to this rally.

1. Jari-Matti Latvala - Ogier who?

2. Mads Østberg - Didn't really want to pick him this time, but the Helsinki win can't be overlooked.

3. Mikko Hirvonen - He's a Finn, in Finland, in a Ford. He will be flying.

4. Juho Hänninen - Also because Finland.

5. Robert Kubica - This may be either brilliant or catastrophic, but I think the packed solid gravel of Finland will suit him well.

Power stage: Jari-Matti Latvala

Dusty Ventures > McNewbie1
07/28/2014 at 17:56

Hoccy > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 17:56

Also three of them is without a codriver?

Dusty Ventures > Hoccy
07/28/2014 at 17:58

After the speed of the drivers without co-drivers during the Helsinki Battle they decided to give drivers the option of running without the extra weight.

Hoccy > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 18:04

Well, Henning Solberg would be better off losing some weight himself than leaving Ilka Minor behind :P And I think Mikkelsen/Fløene is a good pair! Mikko know these roads, so he can drive alone.

McNewbie1 > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 18:26

Ugh. Take off Henning. Was looking at his stats, and accidentally marked him down.

marric > Dusty Ventures
07/28/2014 at 22:29

Ogier (and power)

Mikkelsen

Ostberg

Neuville

Hirvonen

antmicmkii > Dusty Ventures
07/29/2014 at 00:07

Hirvonen

Ogier

Mikkelsen

Ostberg

Hanninen

P. Latvala

WorldRallyBlog > Dusty Ventures
07/29/2014 at 15:55

Here are the results of the Failopolis jury.

1) Jari-Matti Latvala

2) Mikko Hirvonen

3) Mads Ostberg

4) Thierry Neuville

5) Andreas Mikkelsen

P.S. Sebastien Ogier, who will also win, but if I put him among the 5 picks, he wont. Yeah.

Raphael Orlove > Dusty Ventures
07/29/2014 at 16:34

1. interplanetary disturbances have troubled JML lately. You can see the variations in his fifth dimensional wave-form. Recent reports from reporters re-particalized down into the first dimension, able to commune with deepest Finnish soil seem to confirm my hopes and fever dreams: JML has been tentatively re-configuring his physical form and should be ready to blitz the field at this rally, though he's been down as of late. It is not clear, however, if a ripple on the 12th dimensional string will upset his quantum balance. That or he'll hit a rock.

2. Ostberg: he fast

3. Neuville, after defeating Ogier in a duel over the proper preparedness of a slightly runny but not too runny omelette, will capture third

4. Kubica, because maybe there is a sweetness in this world, intangible, that tastes like honeysuckle and gives our heroes victory under the sun

5. Prokop - if you keep shooting, eventually you're gonna hit something

Power: JML

Is this where I pick WRC2? If this is where I pick WRC2, I'm picking the dude that has 'fuck' in his twitter name for WRC2.