Tässä tulee raportti tältä vuodelta. Pyydän anteeksi englannin kieltä. Johtuu siitä, että laitan tämän saman myös eräälle ralli foorumille, enkä taatusti jaksa kirjoittaa samaa suomeksi.
First, to establish my credentials, I'm a four-time Neste Oil Rally visitor. The first two times – in 2005 and 2006 - I merely indulged myself in the exciting atmosphere of the town center of the Central Finland town of Jyväskylä and the Service Park nearby. In the the last two times I have went to see some of the actual Stages, most of which sound like jaw-breakers in the way only Central Finland places can.
Now I'm not a rallying expert in the least bit: I'm still startled by the apocalyptic ”BANG”, which I can only assume results from the accelerator pedal being slammed to the floor by the likes of Loeb. The most scientific rally-related terminology I now use quite confidently are ”steering wheel” and ”wheel”. The latter, now that I think of it, is actually just a part of the first. Oh well.
Why is it then that a layman, such as I, can enjoy the event? Now I know what you're thinking: it's those hilarious Norwegians that paint their naked upper bodies with national symbolism. In actual fact, this is a common misconception, but a misconception nevertheless. The truth of the matter is quite simple really: rally cars are quite fast. (below: an illustrative example of a rally car):
...Not to be confused with less speedy means of transport also on display at the local Service Park:
Yet, the high speeds are only a part of the whole picture. The last weekend, I experienced things almost too numerous to mention: the excited atmosphere, the snazzy cars, the masses of smiling people from around the world, the amazing night-life, shooting photographs, the entertainment activities at the pedestrian street, a champagne bottle-shaped hot-air balloon, celebrating drivers – and love.
Let us start with the people. The aforementioned Norwegians, you see, present a larger group which are called ”rally fans” (henceforth ”fans”) by those in the know . Fans come in all sizes and shapes. There are bigger ones, smaller ones, furrier, canine ones and exhausted green one:
And, when it comes to WRC, they are numerous beyond measure:
Everybody, believe it or not, aren't fans, however. A bunch of local hippies decided to block a street between town center and Service Park as demonstration. This is an annual thing. Their slogan, the pun ”More Than Party ” (geddit? GEDDIT??) is as intellectual as ever.
To say something about the snazzy cars, they are not limited to rally cars in Jyväskylä. There is a car expo every year, which includes family sedans, sports cars, cars with less engine and more sound reproduction and, well, tractors:
The rally cars, however, were no lesser in numbers. I personally, with some friends, went to see five Special Stages, including both of the heart-wrenchingly thrilling Killeri Super Special Stages. The other three were of course ones surrounded by leagues of forests. Now forest stages are surreal at their best. You can see only two things: coniferous, more or less untouched trees and thousands of people. In the background there is the ever-present chat of Rally Radio (seemingly every fan possess a radio), with its intermitten changes between Finnish, spoken by most of the broadcasters, and English spoken by Jyväskylä's most famous Briton, the man of many talents, Tony Melville. This guy teaches courses at local university, cooks on TV, works in the municipal board of Jyväskylä and, as mentioned, hosts Rally Radio every summer. Of course he does not really have much to do with this text, but I felt the need to single him out, since his articulate, humorous and clever talk often accounts for about 18% of the overall Neste Oil Rally experience. If you ever visit the rally, don't forget to listen to Rally Radio. But enough of that, I'm sure you want to see some rally cars:
I wasn't the only amateur shutter bug:
The racing of course isn't the only entertainment. Again, I know what you are thinking: there's a lot of booze available at every corner. This would be a half-truth only. In fact, on top of the booze, there are all kinds of stalls selling food, candy, rally merchandise, offering games – and sumo (see below). The town center however also sports no fewer than 4 malls, dozens of restaurants – my personal favourite is the very reasonably priced Great Wall, owned by the nicest, most polite Chinese couple ever – many specialised stores and boutiques to meet your needs. Even after having lived more than four year in these parts, the services of this small town never cease to amaze me. That said, the alcohol-selling enterprises
are innumerable. In fact, anytime after 9 p.m you can count yourself lucky if you find room in any town center venue. In most people will be literally packed like sardines (whether that's a good thing depends), and the queue outside streches forever (forever=30m).
On Friday night we visited Pub Katse, with cheap-ish beer and a live band. This resulted in agonising hangover next morning, and so on Saturday we decided to use the services of a certain Parnell's (a quassi-Irish place) outside the immediate center, with a lesser bustle, and higher quality beer:
The final results of the race were pretty pleasing, too. Loeb winning and Atko finishing third was almost as good as it could get. Chris was my favourite, but if there's someone who has most earned the victory it is the great Sebastien Loeb. Below there are some photos from Sunday's prize giving. (I couldn't get very close to the podium for better ones) But before that, let's hear it for France, the nation that gave humanity the sewing machine:
Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé.
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
During the national anthem, one French fan sang the lyrics with a megaphone, and managed to attract the Finnish media:
But, I also mentioned that one of the things I experienced during the weekend was love. Well, during the Friday night, I, the guy who tought was too old, was approached by a pretty girl, who later revealed having a crush on me. I can only assume, that rooting for Chris Atkinson has finally paid off, because she was accompanied by two Australians, whom I assume were sent by the god of rally. Be that as it may, I did stay perfectly faithful to my girlfriend, hence love. It did however make my day, and the last weekend one to remember.
