Rally drivers convincingly beat racing drivers at the Arctic Rally, opening round of the Finnish national championship (23-24 January). Juha Salo beat fellow Mitsubishi driver Kosti Katajamaki, while early leader Jari Ketomaa (Subaru) finished third after being delayed by a puncture. Fourth classified was Jussi Valimaki followed by Jukka Ketomaki and Janne Touhino. Top racing driver was JJ Lehto who was ninth in a Mitsubishi, while Kimi Raikkonen (Fiat) was thirteeth and Mika Hakkinen was a disappointing 19th in another Mitsubishi. Mika Salo went off the road and did not finish.

This was Raikkonen's first ever rally and he came with a brand new Abarth Grande Punto S2000, complete with the new Xtrac gearbox and, he boasted, the first time one of these cars was fitted with a heater. The car is prepared by Tommi Makinen Racing. Kimi was shy and gave no comments to journalists anxious to know his impressions. Lehto was the racing driver star, he made only 25km of pre-rally testing and for the last three stages the car had low turbo boost, but Raikkonen impressed with the way he adjusted to a completely new style of motor sport. This traditional event is based at Rovaniemi on the Polar Circle, but this year conditions were relatively mild. It was the first event when Finnish national competitors were required to run on Pirelli control tyres.

The schedule of the 2009 Finish Rally Championship is the following:
Arctic Lapland Rally, 23–24.01
Vaakuna-Ralli, 20–21.02
Abloy Itäralli, 6–7.03
Waltikka-Ralli, 5–6.06
O.K. Auto-Ralli, 10–11.07
Ralli Kerava, 28–29.08
Finnsco-Ralli, 25–27.09

Blizzards Hit Norway's Rally
Heavy snowfalls and high winds swept across the country and caused surprising results in Norway's second championship event, Rally Hadeland, north of Oslo. Eighteen year old Subaru Impreza Cup Car driver Pontus Tidemand, running car forty, headed the rally before being blocked by another competitor. Winner was Eyvind Brynildsen with French codriver Denis Giraudet, running number 12. This was Denis' second rally of the week. He had retired on the Wednesday when his driver Didier Auriol crashed at Monte Carlo, then he flew to Norway to contest this event on the Saturday. In Norway the front runners had a terrible time. Mads Ostberg finished sixth overall with his Subaru Impreza S14 World Rally Car, stating "it was a white-out, you had no idea where the roads went, no lines to follow at all". Anders Grondal and Martin Stenshorne, running second and third cars struggled and finished outside the top twenty. Car four was Mikkelsen's Subaru Cup Car, but his codriver deliberately and successfully incurred a lateness penalty to improve his chances. Subaru Imprezas took 16 of the top 19 places, ten of them entry-level Cup version cars

3mmm
photo: Juha Salo - Mitsubishi Lancer Eco IX