Miikka Anttila, who has gained considerable experience and success in his WRC career, has joined the Neste Rally Finland organisation, strengthening the team as Deputy Clerk of the Course and Rally Expert.
Miikka Anttila, aged 47, has a total of 220 World Rally Championship competitions under his belt – a large number is enough to currently beat all the other WRC drivers. Anttila’s career as a co-driver in the World Rally Championship begun in 1999, so after this year’s Rally Sweden, it can be stated that he has competed on the highest level of the sport on four different decades. In recent years, Anttila has been sharing the cockpit with driver Jari-Matti Latvala.
Now, for the 70th anniversary of Rally Finland, Anttila will join the top officials of the event as an expert adviser. In his role as Deputy Clerk of the Course, he will be taking responsibility for several different aspects of the event – especially in those sectors where his extensive experience as a competitor and the insight it brings, will be most useful.
– We warmly welcome Miikka into our crew. Working alongside myself and Deputy Clerk of the Course Kari Nuutinen, Miikka will certainly have a lot to give, especially when the “secret art of rally-making” starts to unfold. During these exceptional times we currently live in, the Rally Finland organisation too is planning the future with very close team-spirit, and having Miikka joining us is positive news for the entire organisation, says Rally Finland Clerk of the Course Kai Tarkiainen.
Anttila has indeed had a small taste of rally-making already, as he acted as the Rally Finland Competitor Relations Officer in 2006. And it was that same year that the seed was planted for the idea finally coming to fruition this year. The experienced rally veteran is very excited about his new challenge.
– There will be a lot to learn, which makes this even more exciting and motivates me a great deal. It can be said, that until now I have been a customer and a service subscriber in this event and that I am now switching over to the service provider’s side, so the starting points will be quite different. Acting as the Competitor Relations Officer a while back gave me a little better understanding of the bigger picture, so to speak, but joining the Rally Finland top officials will certainly open my eyes even more. It will be great to see things from the other side too, outside of the cockpit of a rally car, Anttila says about his expectations for the new role.
– I hope that my expertise will benefit the rally organisation. I believe I can bring some perspective to the work and at least I’ve got the right references – I’ve seen what others do and what I’ve dove myself. Rally Finland is already at such a high level that it can be quite difficult to see much room for improvement in the current situation. However, maintaining that high level and staying in the forefront of development presents a great challenge, Anttila says with a smile.
This year’s Neste Rally Finland is scheduled to take place at the beginning of August (6 – 9 Aug 2020), and that’s when the Control Centre will really get down to business.
At present, the rally organisation is following the emergency regulations and orders of Finland’s government very closely, as well as the instructions of the Federation Internationale de L´Automobile FIA and WRC Promoter GmbH, and will keep publishing up-to-date information of any possible changes and required actions on all their channels when needed.
Picture: Santeri Rosenvall / AKK
