This weekend Joonas Tokee will drive his second FIA ERC event of the season in Belgium. Ypres Rally is one of Europe’s best-known and most popular rally competitions.
The ERC Junior series consists of six rallies, including four best scores are calculated for each competitor’s final score. Tokee has had one round, as he finished fourth in Rally Azores in the beginning of June.
– We had in previous rally (Azores) very unique roads, but now the challenges will be as great this time too. For first-timers this Ypres Rally is very demanding, Joonas tells.
21-year-old driver has focused before the summer by driving lot of asphalt training:
– During the spring period I have driven many asphalt tests and I have quite a good base for this rally.
– In Ypres I need to understand to cut the corners, and then the grip varies very much. I have to be really careful, and significance of the pacenotes will be high.
Tokee and his co-driver Jani Salo will drive the familiar Peugeot 208 R2, which the duo has competed in the last two seasons in Finnish national rallies.
– In pre-event test the weather was really slippery due to rain. In those conditions even a small mistake backfires. But in dry conditions I need to attack.
– Long event is coming and we will have a tough event against asphalt drivers. We continue to target our class top positions.
Text: Jarno Saari
Photo: Josef Petru
