At the Äänekoski SC, Pohti SkiTeam celebrated the first Finnish championship in the club’s history, when Joni Mäki left Jämi Jänte with anchor Lauri Lepistö’s anchor section. In Rovaniemi, Jämi had Ristomatti Hakola as anchor, but the result was the same again: Pohti was first, Jämi second.
– A bit like the feeling of Lada against Ferrari. Yes, that age does, apparently, that the skiing movements are a little slower, 32-year-old Hakola admitted after the race.
Mäki, 29, defeated Hakola by 1.2 seconds. He admitted that he did not think about the final solution as much as Äänekoski.
– Risto kept a good pace, so I had to think about keeping up. Fortunately, there was a winning end, so the peesai had a small profit.
Hakola knew where he should have decided, because the track had a couple of hilly sections in a row. However, he did not succeed in this and made another small mistake on the final straight, and Mäki thanked him.
The two’s encounters from this season ended here, as Mäki is not going to participate in Sunday’s 50 km race.
– Yes, my vacation started today, he said.
Interviewed by Laura Arffman.