Finland has a lengthy rally heritage – in the 1980s and '90s international sports commentators had to do battle with pronouncing a variety of now-legendary names such as Kankkunen, Mäkinen, Vatanen, Airikkala, Toivonen, Mikkola and Grönholm – but from early on this millennium, the drivers' title was dominated by the two Sebastiens, Loeb and Ogier, both from France.

Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) has restored Finnish pride since then as the reigning and two-time drivers' champion, and while he is taking a break from some races this season, that does not extend to the home rally – he and co-driver Jonne Halttunen are taking part.

Finns Esapekka Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm are also racing, for Hyundai.

Rally Finland's proximity to Estonia made it the "home" WRC event for Estonian drivers such as Markko Märtin, who won the race back in 2003, and for spectators too, long before Rally Estonia and, now, Rally Latvia, became WRC events.

This year, in addition to 2019 world champion and current second-placed driver Ott Tänak (Hyundai), Estonians racing are Georg Linnamäe (Toyota) and his British co-driver James Morgan, in the WRC2 category, plus Robert Virves and co-driver Aleks Lesk (Škoda) and Gregor Jeets and his co-driver Timo Taniel (Toyota), all also in the second-tier category.

Add to that Romet Jürgenson and his co-driver Siim Oja (Ford) in the Rally3 category, and there are almost 10 Estonians racing this weekend.

The race, held near Jyväskylä in the center of the country, is noted for its fast gravel tracks.

One change since last season, for all races, is that an overall race win does not carry quite the same weight it previously did - points will be awarded on Saturday, culminating in the legendary Ouninpohja stage, then separately on Sunday, including points for the power stage run last.

At last year's race, Welshman Elfyn Evans won for Toyota, and will be hungry to repeat that triumph and to bag his first win of the season so far.

Tänak's teammate Thierry Neuville (Belgium) leads the table and will also be looking for his maiden win, not only in Finland, but in the drivers' championship overall.

Tänak himself has won there three times, in 2018, 2019 and 2022.

the situation with constructors is almost even-stevens in the top two places, with Hyundai Shell Mobis WRC on 351 points and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC on 350. M-Sport Ford, Tänak's team last year, is in third place on 177 points. There are no other manufacturers competing in the top tier category, after Citroen pulled out several years ago.

The race weekend is already underway, as the Ruuhimäki shakedown stage started just after 10 a.m.

It continues with one stage this evening, followed by nine on Friday, six on Saturday and the last five on the Sunday, finishing up mid-afternoon as per WRC tradition.

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