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Finland '03: The comeback

WRC fans who missed Markko Märtin's emotional victory at Neste Rally Finland in 2003 are in for a treat next week, when the whole event will be replayed live on twitter.

Fifteen years after the Ford Focus RS driver celebrated his win, a group of dedicated Finnish enthusiasts from Rallirinki blog will publish the story of Finland '03 in real time from 16-22 July, via a live tweet commentary at the group's Twitter account @HartusvuoriWRC.

To accompany the tweets, the rallirinki.net website will post blog articles and interviews about the event and its drivers, including contributions from Märtin and seven time Finland winner Marcus Grönholm.

The Tweet commentary (hashtagged #ReliveRallyFinland2003) will start on Monday, to cover the period from pre-event recce all the way to the final result on Sunday. Posts will be written from the perspective of a spectator who is experiencing the action from beginning to end.

Teemu Lampinen, the man responsible for writing and publishing the updates, said hundreds of tweets were primed and ready to go out next week, along with more than a hundred new photos.

"The background work took place earlier this year over four months and approximately 140 hours," he explained. "Old magazines and newspapers were sought out, including visiting archives and placing bids on eBay. At times it felt like hunting to get those photos that we thought no one would have.

"A great help came from [Finnish broadcaster] YLE and its Ralliradio team. Getting access to the recordings of 2003 Ralliradio broadcasts brought great depth to this project. Also, Rally Finland organisers and the FIA helped a lot with collecting all the official documents of the event."

Lampinen hopes people following the replayed event will share their own memories posting comments and photos of their own.

"We hope people enjoy this project," he added. "The time machine is set now. Rally Finland 2003 is about to begin."

Returning to the present, the 2018 edition of Neste Rally Finland gets underway in two weeks' time, from 26-29 July.

Zdroj: wrc.com