The 71st edition of the Finnish round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Secto Rally Finland – taking place this summer on the gravel roads of Central Finland 4 – 7 August 2022 – and ŠKODAS’s Finnish importer Helkama-Auto Oy have signed a cooperation agreement for 2022 – 2023. As part of the alliance, ŠKODA becomes the Official Vehicle Partner of Secto Rally Finland, supplying a wide range of vehicles for the rally organiser AKK Sports Ltd for use by event officials.
The over 100-year-old ŠKODA brand is known for both their innovative passenger cars and the successful motorsport heritage. Year after year, ŠKODA has been one of the most popular passenger car brands in Finland and at the same time gone from strength to strength also in the field of motorsport.
This year, the rally folk will be especially interested in the Finnish ŠKODA pair Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hämäläinen who compete with their FABIA R5 in both the Finnish Rally Championship and the FIA World Rally Championship. Last season, Lindholm and Hämäläinen won the Finnish title with their ŠKODA Fabia R5 as well as taking the win in WRC3 in e.g. Rally Spain.
The new cooperation agreement further strengthens the alliance between AKK Sports Ltd and Helkama-Auto. The two companies initially joined forces last year for the all-new Finnish WRC event, the Rovaniemi-based Arctic Rally Finland. Expanding their partnership to Secto Rally Finland was a logical next step.
ŠKODA will supply the rally organisation with electric cars, such as the ENYAQ iV models (named Car of the Year in Finland 2022). This is the first time in the history of Rally Finland that the rally organisation will be using fully electric vehicles. ŠKODA branding will also be visible around the Rally Finland host city Jyväskylä throughout the “Grand Prix on Gravel” driven 4 – 7 August.
– Secto Rally Finland and ŠKODA are a perfect match. Both are world-famous motorsport brands, in addition to which, ŠKODA is also a popular car brand in the day-to-day lives of many Finns. Thanks to this partnership, we can together with Helkama-Auto make sure that we will be able to once again provide some amazing WRC experiences. ŠKODA’s wide and high-quality model range is going to have an integral part to play, when we are organising the top international motorsport event in Jyväskylä. As a responsible car operator, ŠKODA is also the best suited partner for us whilst the FIA World Rally Championship will be undergoing significant changes in the upcoming season, with the start of the new hybrid era in the series’ top Rally1 class, says the CEO of AKK Sports Ltd, Riku Bitter.
– As a result of their over 120-year-long joint history, ŠKODA and motorsport really belong together. And as motorsport is a part of the Škoda DNA, the cooperation with Secto Rally Finland organised by AKK Sports is a very natural partnership for us. We are proud to be associated with the legendary Rally Finland special stages that are famous all over the world, and there will most certainly be dozens of FABIA R5 rally cars on those stages too. In honour of this partnership that is very significant to us, and also in celebration of the ENYAQ iV being named Car of the Year in Finland 2022, ŠKODA will be very much visible also in and around the rally city of Jyväskylä, says the Communications Manager of Helkama-Auto, Kari Aalo.
Through Helkama-Auto, ŠKODA is the third best-selling car brand in Finland via a network of over 30 dealers. The range available in Finland includes the ŠKODA models ENYAQ iV, SUPERB, OCTAVIA, KODIAQ, KAROQ, KAMIQ, SCALA and FABIA.
Further information:
Riku Bitter, CEO, AKK Sports Ltd, +358 045 329 9696, riku.bitter@autourheilu.fi
Kari Aalo, Communications Manager, ŠKODA, +358 41 546 6006, kari.aalo@skoda.fi, www.skoda.fi
