Privateer Nikara flies in Finland

Jarkko Nikara demonstrated the accessible nature of the FIA World Rally Championship when he steered his ageing, family-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX to Class 3 victory on Neste Oil Rally Finland last week.

The 26-year-old from Saarijarvi in Finland, a former member of the FIA’s Pirelli Star Driver scheme, completed the high-speed gravel rally in 13th position overall and could have finished higher up the order had a loose turbo pipe not cost him 1m40s on the opening stage.

“Our private team can be really happy with this result and the speed I managed to keep during the event,” said Nikara afterwards. “I was actually a bit surprised that I could be so competitive against those faster cars and maybe this was the first time a Group N car did so well against the Super 2000 cars. It was frustrating we had the problem after just a few corners of the first stage because we were just cruising for the rest of the stage but my speed was good afterwards.”

Nikara, who was co-driven by his brother Petri, was fastest in his class on all remaining 17 stages. He won Class 3 by a margin of 4m32s over the Estonian driver Sander Parn.

Unfortunately for Nikara, Rally Finland is likely to mark his sole appearance in this year’s WRC due to a lack of funding.