Jari Ketomaa believes Rally Sweden will be the perfect event to launch his five-round programme in the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.
The 32-year-old from Finland will drive a Ford Fiesta RS WRC run by Autotek Motorsport starting on this week’s snow spectacular. He will also do battle on the rounds in Portugal, Greece, Finland and Great Britain. Mika Stenberg will be his co-driver.
“It’s great to be back competing at the top level,” said Ketomaa. “Sweden is a good place to start as it’s an enjoyable rally and similar to some of my home rallies in Finland. I have complete trust in the Autotek team, the tyres and the car, and we will try to make everything work perfectly together. We need to see where our pace is and then plan how to make the best possible results.”
Ketomaa sensationally led Rally Finland on his first competitive outing in a Fiesta World Rally Car after winning the event’s opening stage last July. Anglo-Chinese tyre firm Dmack will support Ketomaa’s bid and his Fiesta will feature substantial Dmack branding.
“After proving the performance of our tyres at Rally GB [last season], we wanted to continue to compete at a top level,” said Dmack’s Dick Cormack. “Supporting Jari will help us develop our products even further and we are confident he has the speed and talent to compete at a high level. Sweden is a good opener as we know the ice tyre works well and we’ve improved it even more for this year.”
Ketomaa’s association with Autotek stretches back to the inaugural Super 2000 World Rally Championship in 2010 when he drove a Fiesta for the British firm under the Shanghai FCACA Rally Team banner winning on three occasions. Autotek has never run a new-generation World Rally Car in competition before but is highly regarded.
- wrc.com -
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