The summerbreak is over, and we are finally ready for another rally again. Next weekend we will be in Finland and the city of Jyväskylä – ready for Rally Finland. Jyväskylä is about 270km north of Helsinki and is a university town with 85.000 people. The city’s big congresscenter, Paviljonki, hosts both servicepark and headquarter.

23 special stages will be run during the weekend, 360km special stages and 1015km roadsection. There are 4 Norwegian drivers on the entry list among the 102 others; Petter, Henning, Mads Østberg and Andreas Mikkelsen.

Rally Finland is one of the most popular events on the calendar. On fast gravel roads you can expect to see rallycars going over 200kph, and with an average speed of 120kph this is the fastest rally on the calendar.

Marcus Grønholm, who was the winner in 2006, has won Rally Finland six times. Petters best result is his 2nd place in 2003. In 2006 he went off the road on SS11 and had to retire.

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8 of 16 rounds are already done, and we are halfway through the 2007 season. WRC is now enjoying summer-holiday, and will be back in August for Rally Finland. So – while waiting for august to come, here is a short midseason report. Petter is number five in the championship with 26 points.

1. Rally Monte Carlo

The season started on tarmac in France, with a change of tyres for Petter, from Pirelli to BF Goodrich. The rally was moved from Monte Carlo to Valence, a 3 hour drive from Monte Carlo. The lack of snow and cold weather made the rally a tarmac-rally. Thursday night opened with a stage in the dark, a big challenge not only for the drivers – but also for the codrivers. On Sunday everybody moved down to Monte Carlo for a super special.

Petter finishes number 6, and hands over his driversgloves to Prince Albert at the finishing ceremony. Loeb is the winner, Sordo number two and Grønholm number three. Chris manages to beat Hirvonen on the final stage, and takes fourth place.

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