A few changes to a very popular event
Even though the start of Neste Oil Rally Finland 2006, the Finnish round of the FIA World Rally Championship, is still six months away the preparations for the event are already in full swing.
The route of the upcoming rally follows quite closely along the lines of the 2005 competition. There will certainly be one or two changes to the route, and there are also some changes planned for the layout of the service park located in the Jyväskylä Paviljonki.
Neste Oil Rally Finland Clerk of the Course Mr. Kai Tarkiainen recounts the basis of route planning: “We received a lot of positive feedback about last year`s route. Competitors commended the demanding special stages and the good condition of the roads, and spectators felt that the rally was easy to follow thanks to a successfully planned itinerary. As we begun planning for this year with the route team we did not want to make too many changes to a route that had already proven to be good. On some special stages we need to make changes to the start or finish due to safety reasons, and we need to shorten some stages in order to facilitate e.g. parking arrangements.”

“The route of Neste Oil Rally Finland 2006 follows the traditional scheme: Friday`s leg is driven near Jyväskylä, Saturday takes place around Jämsä and on Sunday the competitors head towards Keuruu. The biggest change from last year is probably on Sunday`s leg, where one of the stages driven last year is replaced with a new one. On the Killeri super special stage the start is at 8 pm on both Thursday and Friday,” Mr. Tarkiainen continues.

The service park of Neste Oil Rally Finland is again located at the Jyväskylä Paviljonki. Clerk of the Course Mr. Tarkiainen explains the changes in store for the service area: “The biggest change in the Paviljonki service park will be the location of different operations. This year the J-WRC service area will be located next to the WRC teams. This way the spectators can really get their moneys worth of service action. In addition, the working areas of tyre manufacturers BF Goodrich and Pirelli will be placed in between the WRC teams, allowing the public to follow closely the tyre roulette that often plays a crucial role in the competition.”

Judging by the rallies already run in the early part of this season and by the information received by Neste Oil Rally Finland, we can anticipate a rather high class competition in August after all, there will be many top drivers taking part. An interesting new addition to Neste Oil Rally Finland are the competitors of the new Ford Fiesta International Sporting Trophy. Also the Vetomies 2006 participants will of course be competing on Saturday`s leg.

The Finnish round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Neste Oil Rally Finland, takes place in Jyväskylä 17 - 20 August 2006.

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