Ouninpohja, Finland, - this WRC special section is so impressing that the Scotland rally racer Colin McRae named his horse after it. But recently on that section there was a competition between other horse powers.
On the one hand - three-time winner of WRC Rally Finland Volkswagen Polo R with capacity of 318 h.p., on the other hand – an unusual guest of the route – the legendary KAMAZ-4326 with capacity of almost 1000 h.p., the leader of Dakar. Looking forward to a lot of jumps, as well as springboard jumps, they met on a narrow road, off the beaten track.
Flying Finn Jari-Matti Latvala is at the wheel of his Polo. The same as his car, he won Rally Finland three times. Airat Mardeev, a pilot of KAMAZ-master team, follows him. He won Dakar-2015, two more times went up the race podium, and a couple of weeks ago returned from Beijing with the second victory in the Silk Way Rally. So, a 10-tonnage truck against a 1-tonnage car, 16,2-liter diesel engine against 1,6-liter gasoline engine.
Ouninpohja citizens are already used to high-powered cars flying in front of their windows. Especially it concerns famous “Yellow House”, located not far from one of the biggest springboards of the championship. But this time Red Bull athletes could surprise them.
Do you remember “Duel” movie (1971) by Stieven Spielberg, where a car of desperate Dennis Weaver chased a vengeful truck? So you will see a similar scenario with Jari-Matti and Airat: how KAMAZ chasedVolkswagen Polo.
“When you gas, the engine reaches maximum speed so fast, that a truck needs time to catch up, - says Jari-Matti. – But the most funny is that when you slow down and the truck comes closer to you, you want to drive as fast as possible but not to let it catch up with you.”
“Duel” continues. It is not surprising that being chased by such a ‘monster’, you feel uneasy.
“It’s a huge truck, - says Airat Mardeev. When you are at the wheel of such a high-powered truck, you feel vibration with all your body.”
Silence of Finland’s countryside is destroyed by heavy motors determined to win the race. Then the sound dies away and the two vehicles rocket up above the legendary Ouninpohja hill, as if performing a ballet pa.
“I was shocked seeing the truck flying in the air, - says Jari-Matti. – It makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck!”
Of course, springboards for KAMAZ are not so unusual, because during cross country rallies they spend a lot of time in the air. Airat stays calm, but not people living in “the Yellow House”…
“It is a usual thing in rally-raids: we even don’t count our jumps per day,-added Airat. – But this springboard is situated in a stamping ground for rally-raiders. Ouninpohja is like the Holy Grail for any racer.”
«This is a legendary place in the WRC championship, - explains Airat Mardeev. – The springboard itself is not so important as its location and importance for the championship. I follow rally races from being child, and Finland has always attracted attention, therefore I am very happy to be here, to be able to drive along these tracks and ‘get high’ from that legendary jump.”
When Jari-Matti saw the fantastic springboard fly, the idea to take part in cross country rallies seemed very attractive. Several WRC stars have already decided to continue their career in Dakar – from Ari Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen to such big stars like Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen.
“I am impressed. Perhaps after finishing a career of a rally driver, I’ll sit at the wheel of a truck and go to Dakar, - says Jari-Matti. – It will be a wonderful experience; I will have something to tell my children. I know that Loeb and others take part in Dakar in a car category, but to tell you the truth, now I am more interested in trucks…”
www.redbull.com/ru/ru/motorsports/offroad/stories/1331812275928/ouninpohja-kamaz-vw
