Heikkilä fourth after issues with high beams in the dark Arctic Rally stages

Mikko Heikkilä is fourth after the opening day of Arctic Lapland Rally. Whilst the flickering extra high beams dropped Heikkilä to fourth, the Finn is only 20 seconds behind the leader.

WRC2-driver Mikko Heikkilä opened his competitive season of 2026 today as the traditional Arctic Rally Finland begun with almost 100 special stage kilometres. Heikkilä and co-driver Kristian Temonen are fourth in the FRC1 category after the opening day.

Heikkilä began the rally with strong pace. The Skoda driver, who’s preparing for the upcoming WRC Rally Sweden, arrived third to the evening service after the morning loop. After the service, Heikkilä headed out to the stages in the dawn, but an issue with the high beams made them flicker, costing Heikkilä some time. By the time of the overnight service, Heikkilä is fourth in the FRC1 standings.

- We had some issues with our extra high beams. They were flickering more or less on the last three stages of the day. We had some issues with the grip too, even though the drive itself was okay. I think we left the grip to the service, but I believe we will find it in the overnight service, Heikkilä said.

Heikkilä heads to Saturday with determination. The almost 100 special stage kilometres have proven useful according to Heikkilä.

- This has been great practice. Okay, it’s not ideal to be 20 seconds behind in this group, but here we will find out what works with the car and what doesn’t. The conditions have been great and the road surface is nicely frozen, it’s just been a bit too cold to my taste. Sure, if we find the missing grip, we will increase our pace. All of tomorrow’s stages are amazing, so we are happy to go flat out then, Heikkilä summed up.

The final day of Arctic Lapland Rally consists of six special stages and 121,75 special stage kilometres. The day begins with SS7 – Veittivaara at 9:13, and ends at the Lordi Square in Rovaniemi at 18:13. Live stream of the rally can be found at Flyingfinn.tv streaming service.

FRC1 standings after SS6/12:

1. Esapekka Lappi 49:56,0   Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

2. Lauri Joona +10,7  Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

3. Tuukka Kauppinen +17,1 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

4. Mikko Heikkilä +19,2 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

5. Roope Korhonen +43,9 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

Saturday 31.1.2026

09:13 SS7 Veittivaara (27,94 km) 10:46 SS8 Jyrhämäjärvi (22,34 km) 12:49 SS9 MurtotunturI (24,01 km) 14:07 SS10 Hanhikoski (14,87 km) 15:30 SS11 Kemijärvi (2,27 km) 15:58 SS12 Sarriojärvi (31,67 km) 17:48 FINISH Koskikatu 18:18 PODIUM Lordi Square