6.8.2007 - Toni Gardemeister won Vetomies rally in Finland
A national rally called Vetomies was rallied inside WRC Finland and its' second leg at first Saturday of August. The rally was won by Toni Gardemeister and his co-driver Tuomo Hannonen with group-F BMW M3 rally car. In five special stages and 102,61 special stage kilometres Gardemeister was superior by rallying fastest time for every stage. Toni with his experienced co-driver Tuomo Hannonen won the rally over a minute gap for Seppo Kopra and more than two minutes gap for third position driver Pekka Ruuth. Gardemeister and Kopra rallied with BMW M3 rally car.
The stages used in Vetomies were the most legendary in whole WRC world. Second stage was very famous Ouninpohja. Gardemeister showed his ultimate skills by being 30 seconds faster than Kopra. Ruuth lost over minute for Gardemeister. Also in other stages Toni and Tuomo were unbeatable.
– We had a wonderful rally which was finished with excellent result. The only problem happened at the end of Ouninpohja as one of our rims was badly damaged. Rest of the stage we rallied with caution so that technics wouldn't gain any damage, told Gardemeister.
– Co-operation with my co-driver Tuomo Hannonen was excellent and also nearly trouble-free. Only microphone of my helmet was broken and it kept me silent during the stages. However Hannonen read pace notes as the way he seeked best. And as reviewing the result, he did good job, Gardemeister continued.
Heading for Germany
The times Gardemeister clocked during the rally were even faster than top drivers did in Super1600. Now Toni is packing his bags and heading for next WRC round which is going to be rallied in less than two weeks in Germany. He aims to keep up his good performances by trying to reach podium with Citroen XSara WRC. It would be a boost for forthcoming manufacturer seat negotiations.
– Rallying in WRC has changed a lot in past few years. Traditional rally men are rallying with fat wallet people. It'll be interesting to see how season 2008 driver politics are turning to be. Me and my co-driver Jakke Honkanen are going to do everything we can in forthcoming WRC Germany - even our rally car is not as new as our fellow competitors has. We'll put Finnish flag waving high and try to keep it in there, Gardemeister planned.
Final results, Vetomies rally 2007:
1. Toni Gardemeister & Tuomo Hannonen, BMW M3, 57:28,6
2. Seppo Kopra & Matti-Jussi Partanen, BMW M3, +1:19,2 sec
3. Pekka Ruuth & Mika Leistiö, Volvo 240, +2:34,4 sec
Grant Hughes
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