Marcus Grönholm wants his protégé Jari Huttuse to have another chance in the main class of the World Rally Championship. Huttunen’s debut in Finland went wrong due to a technical fault. Grönholm is also going to talk to M-Sport Ford owner Malcolm Wilson.
Henri Pitkänen,
Tomi Tuominen,
Roope Visuri
Jari Huttunen went to the World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä with high expectations, but immediately after the first actual driving day the atmosphere was really disappointed.
Huttuse had problems with the fuel pressure in M-Sport’s Ford. He had to stop on the eighth special stage and fell five minutes short of the lead. Now he is in 21st place in the overall competition.
The race is the first for the Finnish rally promise in the main class of the World Championship. Huttunen had been chasing screen space with a monthly deal. A six-figure amount of money had also been collected for that.
– Can’t drive properly through sections. It affects the power side when the gas pressure goes as bad as it gets. When the times are not there at all, it starts to get sad, Huttunen stated clearly disappointed at the end of the day.
– I think the gas tank should be replaced. The problem would then be solved. It’s been the same problem since morning. At first they thought the problem was somewhere else. I don’t know what they’re going to do with it. It’s stupid to drive like that. You can’t drive at your full potential if you don’t dare. You don’t know when all the power will be lost. Due to the problem, power is also lost in the middle of the clip. Even if the car does not shut down, the power is lost a little. It’s quite difficult to make a result.
M-Sport team manager Rich Miller praised Huttunen’s debut as fantastic. According to Millener, Huttunen’s problem is difficult to manage. However, Millener stated that they will likely replace the gas tank in service before Saturday’s race.
– Jarin just needs to move his eyes forward. The pace is otherwise good. He has to remind himself that he has only driven this car a little, Millener tried to encourage his Finnish driver.
Huttunen’s background team also includes a seven-time winner of the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship Marcus Grönholm.
Grönholm was also very disappointed with the situation on Friday evening.
– Such a stupid mistake that you have to stop and it takes five minutes. The race is ruined. Those screens… My emotions went from a hundred to zero. It’s sad now, Grönholm said.
Grönholm understands the pain of his protégé.
– Now Jari will probably be able to continue on the weekend, but he will probably have to sweep the road first. Let’s hope for rain, that’s a good thing. But there is no longer a sense of competition here, Grönholm described.
Grönholm planned to target the founder and owner of M-Sport by Malcolm Wilson up.
– Wilson knows and is waiting for my next question, i.e. where can we get a replacement rally? It may be that he will dodge for a while, Grönholm sent his greetings.
– He half ran away from me. He knows I’ll be straight up about it if I’m angry.
What would be the replacement rally?
– I do not know. You have to look at the calendar and take the best race from there.
Would it be New Zealand?
– It fits perfectly, but it’s a bit far. Starts to cough when it is suggested, Grönholm concludes.
shows all Jyväskylä World Championship special tests live in Areena and the app. You can find everything about the World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä at EPN.fi/mmralli.