Hirvonen reports positive progress from TGR youngsters

Kogure and Yamamoto live in Finland and were looking forward to what they saw as a ‘home’ round of the world championship. While neither driver completed the route – Kogure went off the road on Friday and Yamamoto suffered a mechanical issue on Saturday – Hirvonen said the challenging weather conditions through the opening day taught the two GR Yaris Rally2 drivers plenty.

Former Rally Finland winner Hirvonen said: “Hikaru and Yuki were excited to contest what has become their sort-of home rally. They knew the roads well but not the conditions, which presented a tricky challenge.

“There were plenty of positives: the main goal was to reduce the gap to the fastest drivers in WRC2 when the conditions were more consistent and they achieved this. There’s nothing Yuki could have done to prevent his retirement and he drove a smart rally when the conditions were difficult.

“It was a pity for Hikaru because he had a strong Friday morning and the plan was to continue in the same way for the afternoon. It was only a small mistake and he tried to save it but unfortunately the car rolled over. Sometimes rallying delivers tough moments and after missing Estonia through injury as well, Hikaru is going through one of those – but he can still bounce back.”