Irish man and Junior World Rally hopeful Shaun Gallagher landed in Finland this week to compete in the Finnish round of the World Rally Championship.
After the summer break, Gallagher stands in joint second place of the junior World Rally Championship with 16 championship points.
Shaun Gallagher said; ‘I am ready for a win in Finland. This is my fourth round of the World Championship in 2008 and I want a victory for all my fans in Ireland.
‘It is all about your pace notes in Finland and the stages are extremely fast and you must be committed for every second of this rally. Finland does not allow for any inaccuracies and I will be happy to see the finish line on Sunday.’
With Irish champion Paul Kiely back in as navigator, the couple will be looking to build on their strong second place finish secured in Jordan earlier this year.
The current championship leader & French man Sebastian Ogier had dropped Finland from his calendar and this is another factor the Irish men will be looking to capitalise on.
Pundits are predicting a mammoth battle for victory between Gallagher of Ireland, Kosciuszko of Poland and Sweden's Patrik Sandell, the driver who won this event last year.
Tommy Mullen, Chief Executive Officer – World Rally Team Ireland, said: ‘Shaun had a great result here in Finland last year and we hope he can deliver another good result for everyone.
‘Every rally driver starts a rally wanting to win the event, but I have a good feeling that this could be Gallagher's time to shine for Ireland. Your co-driver means so much in Finland and they do not come any better than Paul Kiely so we are extremely hopeful.’
Rally Finland will see the Irish paring competing in over 340 km of loose gravel, over three days based around the City of Jyvaskyla.
Rally Finland is the quickest World Championship event of the calendar and it is the last gravel of the year for the juniors before they head to Germany in a few weeks.
