The story
Rally Finland in Jyvaskyla
Rally Finland, first held in 1951 as the Jyvaskyla Grand Prix over a grueling 1,700-kilometer route, is the fastest event on the World Rally Championship calendar and has been part of the WRC since its founding season in 1973. Nicknamed the Rally of the Thousand Lakes and the Grand Prix on Gravel, it draws hundreds of thousands of spectators to roadside stages each year.
Rally Finland began in 1951 under the name Jyvaskylan Suurajot, or the Jyvaskyla Grand Prix, when twenty-six competitors set out on a grueling 1,700-kilometer route connecting Jyvaskyla to Rovaniemi via Kokkola and Oulu, with Arvo Karlsson driving an Austin Atlantic to victory on accumulated penalty points rather than a straightforward finish-line result.