Ville Silvasti and Risto Pietilainen win Lahti Historic Rally

Ville Silvasti and Risto Pietilainen win Lahti Historic Rally

The #101 Audi quattro A2 of Ville Silvasti and Risto Pietilainen won the 2021 Lahti Historic Rally, the Finns ending the day by 53.8 seconds ahead of the the #104 Audi of Kari Kivenne and Hannu Kemppinen.


After sunshine and warm temperatures on Day 1, the weather decided to add another dimension to the event with heavy rain during the morning stages.  By the afternoon the dry weather returned but the rain had made the stage conditions slippery and challenging.


The #109 Ford Escort RS1800 of Ernie and Karen Graham finished the Lahti Historic Rally in 8th overall and at the head of Category 2.  With the demise of the #118 Ford Escort 1300 GT of Mika Karpiola and Mika Karpiola, Will Graham and Michael Johnston finished second in the #111 Ford Escort RS1600, just over 3 minutes behind the #109 Escort.

The #117 Volvo 244 of Siegfried and Renate Meyr suffered a misfire on the morning stages and the crew worked hard during service to repair the car.  The problem returned in the afternoon, but the Germans finished the event on three cylinders in 10thoverall and as the top FIA EHRC Category 3 finisher.  The Category was won by #106 Volvo 242 of Jarno Gronholm and Joose Kojo, the Finns finishing third overall.


The #130 Alfa Romeo Guilietta t.i. of Teuvo Hamalainen and Pirjo Rosberg finished the second day as the Category 1 winners of the Lahti Historic Rally .  The Finns finished in 17th overall, 2m27.5s ahead of the #121 BMW 2002Ti of Sverre Norrgard and Anni Villikka.


The next rally on the 2021 FIA European Historic Rally Championship schedule is the Rally de Asturias Historico in Spain on the 2-4 September.


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