One way to spend Saturday evening in Finland...

[Kuplamies]

I just want to tell, how I and couple of thousand more Finns
spent their Saturday...

Well, I was watching a rally event! In Finland rallysport is very famous amongst all petrol heads and car enthusiasts

I went to the woods to watch two Special Stages; I spent there almost 7 hours. I also visited at the service area to take some pics.

The weather was quite cold; the temp was between -17 to -24 degrees of Celsius in that day (1 to -11 F). There were 185 participants in that rally; most of them were old rally cars.

Here´s some pictures, which I took.
And also a link if somebody wants to watch a video (cars slipping)... I was in that same corner with 200 other spectator

Finnish people are crazy...

YouTube - Riihimäki ralli 15.1.2011

[Kuplamies]

Some more...

[jason m]

Very nice!

[SixChuter]

Thank you for posting the pics. The 911 with the Gulf paint job was my favorite.

[Kuplamies]

Gulf Porsche

[Palmettoguy]

Oh, wow. Very COOL. Thanks for sharing. That is awesome

[Tico4Life]

WOW, great pics, thanks for posting. The silver escort brings back so many memories. A friend of mine had one when I was growing up. Can not remember what the model was called but it was made specifically for rallies. It had an original twin cam Lotus engine and a 4 speed manual tranny. We sure had some fun in that little car.

Thanks again, just awesome!

[bug_dude]

Looks like fun!!

[Kuplamies]

Thank you all for the comments and replies

To J.Arce: yes, Ford Escort Twin Cam was quick car at it´s own time here. It was very successful in rallying also. I believe you had a good time with it

[dnyed]

Awesome! I love rally cars!

[Kuplamies]

One way to spend Saturday in Finland, part 2.

This time I went to ski. I made two separate trips; one with my friend and one alone. The weather was perfect for winter sports!

I managed to ski a total amount of 24 kms (15 miles) which is a good result for me. It was so fun, I almost forget that I´m exercising!

And after that ski trip I went to a hot sauna! That´s very obvious, because I´m a Finn Oh boy, it was so relaxing...

[Kuplamies]

Originally Posted by dnyed

Awesome! I love rally cars!

Thank you

I have been a rally fan all my life.
I have lots of model cars, dvds, literature, magazines etc...

[Wingnut_rb]

The old VW Type 3 notchback was my favorite. And as far as the skiing goes, I love it....as long as gravity is doing all the work!

[Kuplamies]

Originally Posted by Wingnut_rb

The old VW Type 3 notchback was my favorite. And as far as the skiing goes, I love it....as long as gravity is doing all the work!

VW notchback is also very cool rally car. And quite rare model here. As a new car it has been too expensive for many Finns so they preferred Bug instead

Yeah, I think you mean slope skiing... I like it also very much, but I don´t do it often.

About skiing... I have to tell, that yesterday I broke a 500 kilometers mark! I mean that so far this winter I have managed to ski over 500 kms (310 miles) I am very proud of my achievement

I love our forests and snow white sceneries. When I ski, my mind rests... It feels so good mentally and physically

PS. I enclosed one more skiing pic. I snapped it in the darkness... I like the shadows and contrasts

[Kuplamies]

Ice Speedway event

Some info about the bikes:
* 500 cc four stroke engine
* only 2 gears
* no brakes (for safety reasons!)
* max lenght of the stud is 28 mm
* amount of studs per bike: approximately 300 (not limited)
* top speed approximately 130 km/h (80 mph)

[ElectricalCreatures]

Yikes! Watch out for that back tire.

[Kuplamies]

Last Saturday: Finnish Championship event for group F rally cars (no turbo, only two wheel drive allowed).

There were 190 cars participating. Lots of Toyota Starlets and Corollas, Ford Escorts, different BMW models, Honda Civic and Integra Type-R cars, big Volvo 240s and one very fast Mercedes Benz 190. Oh, almost forget to mention... Also many VWs!

Cars with engine capacity over 1600 cc belong to a class 2, and cars with less than 1600 cc are in class 1. Interesting to notice, that little 1500 cc Starlets can compete against powerful BMWs very equally. Of course Toyotas are much lighter.

Overall results for cars:

Winner: Volvo 240, second MB 190, third VW Golf GTI 1.9
4. Volvo 240
5. Toyota Starlet
6. Toyota Corolla 1600 GT
7. Toyota Starlet
8. Toyota Corolla 1600 GT
9. BMW M3
10. Honda Civic Type-R

[Kuplamies]

One more pic.

[Opelmania]

Great pics! Definitely looks like a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I liked seeing the Manta and Ascona.

[Kuplamies]

On skis again; watching the signs of Spring
Weather was quite warm: +4 Celsius (39F), snow will melt soon...

Btw. I broke 1400 kms (870 miles) mark


Yesterday I also visited in a VW swap meet. I will post some pics to the GTG-section...