Rally Finland

The rally began as a hastily organised qualifier for the Monte Carlo Rally in 1951. Thirty Finnish drivers wished to enter Monte Carlo but only fourteen could be accommodated within the entry quotas for Finns and Swedes; dissatisfaction with the regulations at the Hanko Run, the previous qualifier, created demand for a Monte Carlo-format event in Finland. In July 1951, Pentti Barck's proposal for an annual competition in Jyväskylä was accepted.

The first event, Jyväskylän Suurajot (Jyväskylä Grand Prix), began on 1 September 1951. Twenty-six entrants tackled a 1,700-kilometre route stretching to Rovaniemi in Lapland, through Kokkola and Oulu, and back to Jyväskylä. Arvo Karlsson, driving an Austin Atlantic, accumulated the fewest penalty points to win.

The 1952 event expanded to 48 entries and added Helsinki as an alternative start. Eino Elo won after finishing the route and all tests without penalty points. In 1953, Oulu joined as a third starting point for a 2,200-kilometre course. The 1954 running introduced the international name "The Rally of the Thousand Lakes", with eleven starting cities including one in Sundsvall, Sweden.

In 1955, the number of special stages was increased to eleven — the highest of any European rally at the time — bringing the event closer to the modern rally format. Elo and Peugeot became the first two-time winners. The 1956 rally featured nineteen stages totalling 1,800 kilometres. In 1957, Sweden's Erik Carlsson drove his Saab 93 to victory as the first non-Finn. Brothers Osmo and Eino Kalpala won in 1958 in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta TI, the first victory for an Italian car. In 1959, the 1000 Lakes Rally entered the European Rally Championship calendar and also counted towards the inaugural Finnish Rally Championship.

By the 1960s the event was regarded as Finland's biggest sporting event and the best-organised rally after Monte Carlo. Rauno Aaltonen beat Pauli Toivonen to the win in 1961; Toivonen took the honours in 1962. A record 104 drivers started the 1962 event. Simo Lampinen became the first driver to take consecutive wins, in 1963 and 1964.

Practice was permitted for 1965, driving speeds higher than ever. Spectator management became a major challenge: one spectator was killed in 1965 and crowd control required 1,200 officials that year, rising to 2,000 in 1967 and 3,000 in 1968. Timo Mäkinen won in 1965 and 1966 in a Mini Cooper S, and in 1967 beat Lampinen by eight seconds despite driving the high-speed Ouninpohja stage with his bonnet open. His hat-trick was followed by Hannu Mikkola's victories in a Ford Escort TC. In 1968, Castrol produced a film titled Flying Finns documenting the duel between Mäkinen and Mikkola. The 1969 rally dropped circuit and street stages that had favoured factory team drivers.

The 1970 event featured a record 52 stages totalling 460 competitive kilometres and an estimated audience of 350,000–500,000; Mikkola matched Mäkinen's three consecutive wins. The 1972 event lengthened special stages to almost 700 km.

The 1000 Lakes was not among the five European rallies guaranteed a place on the inaugural World Rally Championship calendar in 1973, but the WRC was expanded to thirteen rounds and the event was included. In 1973, Timo Mäkinen became the first driver to win the event four times and the first Finn to win a WRC round. The 1974 rally was marred by the first fatal accident for a competitor in the WRC when co-driver Seppo Jämsä died from injuries sustained in a crash at Ouninpohja.

In 1975, the route became secret again and pre-event practice was heavily restricted. Mikkola drove to a record fifth victory, and Toyota became the first Japanese manufacturer to win. Fiat's Markku Alén collected most points in 1979, taking his third win in the event ahead of Ari Vatanen and eventual champion Björn Waldegård.

In 1982, dominant Audi took a one-two with factory drivers Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist, with team orders holding their positions for the final half. A record 450 reporters were present and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden attended. In 1983, Mikkola edged out Blomqvist to extend his record to seven wins — still standing. His time on the 24.5-kilometre Ouninpohja stage was 11:56, 52 seconds faster than four years earlier.

Ari Vatanen won in 1984; Peugeot continued their success with Timo Salonen winning in 1985 and 1986. The 1985 event was the first time the drivers' world championship was decided in Finland; Salonen captured the title with three rallies to go. In one of the tightest duels in the event's history, Juha Kankkunen led Markku Alén by just two seconds after 33 of 39 stages in 1988, but Kankkunen's engine failed; Alén became the first driver to win the same WRC round six times. In 1989, Mikael Ericsson of Sweden won as the first non-Finn in eighteen years.

At the 40th anniversary event in 1990, an audience estimated at 450,000–500,000 watched Toyota's Carlos Sainz become the first competitor from outside Finland and Sweden to win. Sainz had been slightly injured earlier in the week in a night-time practice crash at the Vesala stage. Didier Auriol became the second non-Nordic winner in 1992, beating Lancia teammate Kankkunen. Kankkunen took his second win in three years in 1993.

In 1994, the rally was renamed the Neste 1000 Lakes Rally and a new super special stage was built at the Himos ski centre in Jämsä. Due to WRC round rotation, the 1995 rally counted only toward the 2-litre World Cup; a spectator fatality occurred when a car left the road during the rainy Hassi stage and struck a woman at 100–120 km/h. In 1996, Danish driver Karsten Richardt lost control in the Harju stage; his car became airborne and plunged into the crowd 70 metres off the course, killing 45-year-old Belgian tourist Ludo Briers, who before being hit had pushed one spectator to safety. Tommi Mäkinen took his third win in a row that year, ahead of Kankkunen and Jarmo Kytölehto.

In 1997, AKK Sports took over as organiser and the WRC teams awarded the event for its safety efforts. Ice hockey star Teemu Selänne competed, finishing 33rd in 1997 and 24th in 1998. Mäkinen set a record with his fifth Rally Finland win in a row in 1998, on his way to a record third consecutive title. The WRC teams voted Rally Finland "Rally of the Year" in 1998.

Laajavuori had served as the competition centre for 30 years; for 2000 the headquarters moved to the newly built Paviljonki congress and trade fair centre. Marcus Grönholm won the 50th running of the rally in 2000 for Peugeot and went on to dominate the event. In 2003, Markko Märtin became the first Estonian to win, and for the first time in the event's history no Finnish driver made the podium.

Rally Finland was voted "Rally of the Year" for the third consecutive year in 2004. In 2005, Grönholm set the still-standing record for the highest average speed at a world rally: 122.86 km/h. In 2007, Grönholm equalled Mikkola's win record, becoming the first driver to win the same WRC event seven times. At the 2008 rally, Sébastien Loeb added his name to the list of non-Nordic winners — Citroën's first win at the event since 1962.

Ford Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala took debut home wins in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2011, Loeb became the first non-Finn to win the event twice. In 2009, Rally Finland signed a five-year contract with WRC promoter ISC.

Rally Finland is known for smooth, wide gravel roads, numerous large jumps (locally called yumps), and blind crests. It is the highest-speed rally in the WRC, having averaged 125.4 km/h in 2015; eight of the nine fastest-ever WRC rallies by average speed are editions of Rally Finland. Kimi Räikkönen described the event as "probably the closest to asphalt driving as you can get on gravel."

The most famous competitive section is Ouninpohja, ranked among the most prestigious special stages in the world. At a jump 6 kilometres from the start, near a landmark yellow house, spectators measure jump distances and mark them by the roadside. In 2003, Markko Märtin set the record for the longest jump: 57 metres in the air at 171 km/h. The stage was split into two parts in 2005 and 2006 after Petter Solberg had exceeded the FIA's maximum average speed of 130 km/h in 2004. It returned as a 33 km version in 2007 with three chicanes added, but was omitted in 2008 for safety reasons before returning in 2012 as the power stage.

Only the Monte Carlo Rally and Wales Rally GB have ever attracted more starters than Rally Finland. Along with the Wales Rally GB, it is the only event to have featured in all but one WRC season. The WRC teams voted it "Rally of the Year" in 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2004.

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