The current Polish rally champion, Jari Huttunen, and his co-driver Mikko Lukka had a serious accident during the tests for the Rally Finland. The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 left the gravel road, landing on the roof between the trees. The latest information about the accident is still coming in from Finland.
What is the condition of the Polish champion?
High speed crash for @HuttunenRacing today at their #RallyFinland pre-event test. It was the same corner, but opposite direction, that caught Hayden Paddon in 2019. #WRC pic.twitter.com/Heaz107IRL
– Rally Rink / Teemu (@HartusvuoriWRC) September 27, 2021
The 27-year-old Finn, like most of the participants in the Rally Finland (October 1-3), was preparing to start in the home round of the World Rally Championship. From the morning the best driver of the last season of the Polish Rally Championship was setting up the car together with the 2Brally service from Czechowice-Dziedzice. Unfortunately, in the afternoon there was an accident and the car was not suitable for further driving.
According to the testimony of witnesses, both the driver and the pilot were fortunately not injured. It was, however, a serious accident, but how established the Finnish portal KeskisuomalainenThe Hyundai i20 N Rally2 should be repairable before Rally Finland starts. The 2Brally team in an interview with Motorsport.com does not confirm this yet, but has until Thursday to deal with it. Then the crew from the WRC 2 rate at the latest must appear for a scrutineering before the 10th round of the World Cup.
Huttunen rolled new hyundai R5 this morning at Rally Finland test. Same fast place where Paddon rolled testing in 2019. Car not too damaged but it wasnt small roll…
Photo: Anders Altberg pic.twitter.com/HGCt9UFbKH– Alex Lesk (@alekslesk) September 27, 2021
Paddon’s cursed place
Interestingly, this is not the first accident on this forest road in Finland. In 2019, once promising rally driver Hayden Paddon crashed a Ford Fiesta WRC there, which greatly thwarted his career. In the car rented with the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, the safety cage was damaged at that time, which precluded a start in Finland. The New Zealander was then supposed to return to the WRC car once in the Rally Australia, but this one was canceled due to fires. Then the pandemic ensued and the ex-factory Hyundai driver’s budget fell a bit.
–
