39. 1000 Lakes Rally 1989
25. 8. – 27. 8. 1989, Jyväskylä • gravel 507.83 km • total distance including road sections - 1447.34 km • Other years
Info
SS37
Off road
SS36
Turbo failure
SS31
Lost wheel
SS27
Rolled, hit a bridge because of a punctured tyre
SS19
Stopped for two minutes, fuel pump problems
There's something weird in the timing belt, it didn't run properly during the last 20 km of the stage. Now the service is removing the timing belt gears and checking, maybe we're late from the next stage start. I think we can continue, but the situation was developing in an interesting direction so I wouldn't have wanted to have a setback like this but I've had bigger setbacks in my life!
Rolled
I think we're retiring, we've lost the engine. There was already misfire on the second stage of the day and in the beginning it was running only three cylinders and made banging noise. At one point the temperature peaked and now we have one plug off, I think we're out of the game. This is motorsport, there's nothing you can do about it.
SS18
Spin
SS16
Of course we try to drive as fast as we can but those professionals out in the front go so fast that we cannot keep up
It's been moderately good. It's slippery, but it's for others too. We're trying different tyres, cutting and whatnot, we need to find a cure for them.
We've come well, Juha made a really great time for this stage. It was so slippery that I couldn't go anywhere. The tyres have been alright.
We caught Markku six seconds over these two stages, so we've driven well, but Juha drove a good time on this stage, there was a lot to improve for us. We haven't had punctures and the grip on these tyres is incredible. We tried yesterday the new Michelins which I haven't gotten used to and I couldn't believe how good the grip was!
SS12
"Everything is working well. SS3 was the most difficult stage for me today because I had chosen wrong tyres."
"The cobblestones surprised me. This stage was difficult because it was so slippery"
"The new car feels good but I still want to get to know it better."
"We take a standing water. The car is good, we have a little problem with the central transmission and I think we'll change that at the end of the day. The car still is noisy.
"The secret is to put together new car and old driver, it's a good combination. The four wheel steering makes the car more stable and when you're as old as I am, you need all aids, all wheels must turns. The last stages after Pieksämäki have been a bit tacky, but the roads tomorrow are good, I think will go well again."
"Everything has gone OK, we haven't had any problems. It's a heavy weather for a 1600cc car. Our car has never had the same fault as Hannu Mikkola had (on SS6), the clutch just broke. On this stage we were slipping and sliding for the spectators, it was very slippery. Tyre choices have been good, Michelin works in every weather. We don't need meteo guys, you can just see yourself that it's raining, it's wet. "
"Finnish roads are fantastic for the feel of driving. I should learn to know better but OK, next year. Everything's all right"
"Doesn't feel like home advantage, Markku has driven these roads as much or more than I have. We just have to keep going, Michelin seems to have a better functioning tyre. Always when it has been very wet they just get away from us. But Markku has great pace as well! The car is working well."
"Everybody goes flat out, there's no tactics involved. It could be tactical to start second or third tomorrow. "
Differential problems
Spin
Off road, puncture
Spin
Spin
Spin
SS7
Broken center diff
The tactic is to retain the current pace and get ahead of Sainz and closer to Kankkunen, but it's easier said than done. The car has worked well. It was a bit soft in the beginning, then we put in some stiffer springs and now it's down to the driver.
SS6
We don't know what happened, clutch just failed. We don't know if the main axle is broken or if the clutch disc went over the center and didn't return. Something happened when I switched to a smaller gear and there was no drive. I thought at first I had missed the gear but unfortunately it wasn't that. Nothing to do, the car doesn't move anywhere. I would have wanted to finish my 25th 1000 Lakes Rally.
SS2
Broken windshield wiper, half-overshot a junction
SS1
Hit a pole