Rally Portugal delivered strong Finnish success as Teemu Suninen and Janni Hussi claimed victory in the WRC2 category. It was the pair’s first victory together in the FIA World Rally Championship and also the first WRC2 win of Hussi’s co-driving career.
Suninen is one of Finland’s experienced names at world championship level. He first rose to wider attention after winning the inaugural AKK Flying Finn Future Star competition, which helped launch his international rally career. He later spent several seasons in the WRC top category as an M-Sport Ford factory driver before also competing with Hyundai Motorsport’s Rally1 programme.
Recent years have included limited programmes and fewer starts at world championship level, but Suninen has continued to show flashes of top-level speed. Many rally drivers reach their peak in their thirties, and the 32-year-old Finn’s strong start to the season suggests there could still be plenty more to come. In the events he has contested this year, Suninen has finished second in WRC2 in Sweden and now claimed victory in Portugal.
On Portugal’s demanding gravel stages, Suninen drove a controlled and mistake-free rally throughout the weekend. The Finnish duo moved into the class lead as the event progressed and managed the situation confidently through the final day.
In the overall classification, Thierry Neuville secured victory and delivered an important return to winning ways for Hyundai Motorsport after a difficult start to the season. On Portugal’s fast and rough gravel roads, Hyundai was able to match Toyota’s pace far more effectively than earlier in the year.
Sami Pajari also impressed with strong pace throughout much of the rally and climbed as high as third overall on Friday. The Finn set two fastest stage times during the event, but a puncture on the penultimate stage of the rally dropped him to seventh overall in the final classification. Despite the setback, Portugal once again showed promising signs of Pajari’s speed at Rally1 level.
