Three times Rally Finland winner Juha Kankkunen is not short on speed in his own backyard. But in the Leustu stage, he always found an extra second or two. MAXRALLY can reveal how…
One particular section of the stage goes right-left-right around the front lawn of a house. The drivers are all very respectful of the owner’s perfectly manicured greenery and don’t cut. The fact that there’s a pretty sturdy mailbox in the middle of what would be the perfect chop might have something to do with that decision.
Year on year, Kankkunen would lift time from everybody, leading to much soul-searching and scratching of heads. Richard Burns and Robert Reid went through exactly that while they were team-mates to Kankkunen at Subaru. Until one day, all was revealed.
“We were at a test following Finland,” said Reid. “Richard was looking through a magazine and there were these pictures of the cars up on two wheels. He asked Juha where the picture was. Juha told him, but said he never had a moment there.
“Richard said: “You mean the right-left-right around the mailbox on the lawn?” Juha nodded. “So how come you don’t have a problem there?” Juha smiled and said: “Because they take the mailbox out when I am coming and put it back after I am gone through.” So this guy whipped the mailbox out of the way, let Juha cut the corner beautifully, while the rest of us were chucked right up on two wheels going around his lawn!”
http://www.maxrally.com/2013/07/24/how-far-to-finland-juha-and-the-mailbox
