Vaher and Jansen win Jyväskylä rally by just 1.6 seconds

19-year-old Jaspar Vaher and co-driver Rait Jansen won the Jyväskylä rally held in Finland over the weekend, narrowly defeating experienced Finns Esapekka Lappi and Enni Mälkönen by just 1.6 seconds. The Estonian crew held the lead in the second half of the rally, though a four-second time penalty was added to the final result. The next round of the Estonian championship takes place on 3-4 July in Võrumaa.

Estonian rally driver Jaspar Vaher and co-driver Rait Jansen crowned the weekend with a triumph in central Finland, winning the Jyväskylä rally with margins measured in hundredths of a second, with the final gap to Lappi and Mälkönen standing at just 1.6 seconds. In a competition with 141 crews that counted towards both the Terminal Rally Estonian Championship and the Finnish Championship series, the 19-year-old Vaher demonstrated he can compete with world-class drivers.

Rally progression and turning point

After the opening test, the Finns Mikko Heikkilä and Kristian Temonen took the lead, but Vaher and Jansen remained in the top three from the start. Saturday morning saw Lappi and Mälkönen move ahead, with an advantage of 2.8 seconds over the Estonians after three speed tests.

The breakthrough came on the fourth speed test, where Vaher and Jansen recorded the day's first stage win and left Lappi and Mälkönen trailing by 7.8 seconds. This moved the Estonians to the top of the rally. They managed to maintain their advantage on subsequent stages, and although the Finns were faster on the final test, Vaher and Jansen crossed the finish line in first place.

Time penalty cuts winning margin

However, the officials imposed a four-second time penalty on the Estonians after the finish, as they exceeded the speed limit in a virtual chicane by two kilometres per hour on one stage. The penalty reduced the initial 5.6-second winning margin to 1.6 seconds, but first place remained theirs.

"It's naturally a joyful feeling, as we wouldn't have dared to expect a win. We managed to drive better in the second half of the rally. The fourth stage was certainly a turning point, because we were losing before that, but there we managed to open up a huge gap. From there we got an idea that we could also drive for victory," Vaher said after the finish.

Lappi praises young Estonian

Former WRC rally stage winner Esapekka Lappi also offered praise for Vaher. "Hats off to Jaspar, he drove very well. He's becoming a tough driver and if he can continue to develop his pace, then in a couple of years he'll be on the WRC stages," the Finn said.

Three more Estonian crews in top ten

Four Estonian teams finished in the top ten at the Jyväskylä rally. Patrick Enok and Silver Simm came fifth, Karl Martin Volver and Annika Sõna eighth, and Joosep Ralf Nõgene and Martin Leotoots ninth. Volver and Sõna also secured an EMV2 class stage win in the Estonian Championship.

The next round of the Estonian Championship takes place on 3-4 July on the roads of Võrumaa, hosting the 24th South Estonia Rally.