Rally Finland Final!!!!
(thank goodness it is over!)

Oh my gosh, the entire Rally Finland started crumbling day by day until it was over!! It was unbelievable! My heart has been broken twice (actually three times) this weekend!

First Jari-Matti retires and can't restart due to damaging his roll cage! Then the next day Petter retires due to team orders because the car is nothing but rubbish really! It is uncontrollable, no handling at all. He drove most of day one on what was close to 2WD. I have no idea what is wrong with that silly Subaru! The reports from people watching the TV coverage (sad-I can't see in Japan) is that the car was handling like a snake! No control at all. They retired the car and packed it up and sent it back to Prodrive immediately to get it analyzed and sorted out. Petter must use the same engine in Germany, it was wise to retire and save the car as it was so hopefully they can figure the problems out in two weeks time!

There are some good points to this rally though! I hate to take away from them with all the sadness...

Chris Atkinson came in 4th!! He did very well and worked hard and was not plagued by the same car troubles as Petter. Congratulations Chris! Job well done! We love you-as always!! Hiromo loves you more! :-)

Marcus and Mikko kept Loeb behind them which is fantastic. It was nice to see Seb Loeb struggle in a rally, it usually doesn't happen. He claimed he just couldn't match their speed! GREAT to hear him say that! Congratulations Marcus and Mikko! You won your home rally 1-2 in front of your fans and friends!

Young Norwegian Mads Östberg came in 8th scoring his first ever driver's points in a WRC rally! He is very young! What a fantastic accomplishment! Congratulations Mads!!!!!

Finland is a tough rally, it is the fastest and has the biggest jumps. All that can equal trouble depending on how you land! Last year many co-drivers were injured to the point they couldn't even talk after landing and having the wind knocked out of them and being in pain! This rally claimed a lot of good drivers this time!

Now we look forward to Rally Germany coming up in two weeks time. Petter will be back in action with his car sorted out! Jari-Matti will not lose his concentration and end up damaging his roll cage.. it will be a fantastic rally!!

I can't take any more bad news and luck!! For me personally the whole weekend just went down hill fast. Even my own luck was horrible. Whew, what a weekend! Looking forward to a Monday, maybe restart the luck again?

Love,
Viki