Heikkilä fourth in the Arctic Lapland Rally despite flashing lights

Mikko Heikkilä finished fourth in the Arctic Lapland Rally. Heikkilä’s Saturday consisted of reoccurring issues with extra high beams, a stalled engine, as well as two fastest stage times. Despite the troubles, the Skoda driver is happy with his pace as the Finn focuses towards WRC Rally Sweden in two weeks’ time.

Mikko Heikkilä and co-driver Kristian Temonen have finished the Arctic Lapland Rally in fourth position. Despite a good pace throughout the event, issues with the extra high beams and a false start kept the Skoda driver outside the podium. After Friday, Heikkilä was fourth, but only 20 seconds behind the lead.

-I think we left the grip to the service, but I believe we will find it in the overnight service, Heikkilä said after Friday.

Heikkilä started the day valiantly. The Finn was fastest on the opening day by 3,2 seconds, but a false start netted a 10 second time penalty. Heikkilä stayed in fourth position, but second fastest times on SS8 and 10 and a stage win on SS9 elevated the Finn to second overall.

On the short super special stage Kemijärvi, Heikkilä’s car stopped at the start line. The issues with extra high beams also returned from Friday. Heikkilä lost a few seconds at the start and dropped back down to fourth before the rally-ending Sarriojärvi stage. The lights did not show any signs of light, and Heikkilä ended the rally in fourth position.

-We set out to win the event and based on our pace here it was a realistic goal. Again, we had a lot of things happen to us during the weekend, and the win eluded us. The car moved a few centimeters as I tried to find the touch point in the clutch pedal at the start, so there’s no denying it. On top of that, the stall at the beginning of Kemijärvi and the issues with extra high beams on both days. We didn’t see much at Sarriojärvi, but we still gave our best.

-Besides the before mentioned issues I think we showed our pace, and it is a good sign. The pace is good, but a successful performance eluded us today, Heikkilä sighed.

Heikkilä aimed to gain good practice from the Arctic rally in preparation to WRC Rally Sweden in two weeks’ time. The Skoda driver is happy with the pace, and sets his sights towards Umeå.

-This definitely wasn’t a wasted rally. There were a lot of positive things to take in, and the pace is right there with the leaders. We came here to practice for Sweden and to see how well the car performs and perform it did. Still, every time the stopwatch starts, we aim to win, and within a high-level company such as this, I’d really like to win, so it’s a shame that we didn’t manage to do so today. I hope everything works in Sweden, because in this sport it’s not just about the pace but the overall package. A big thank you to our supporters and to the TGS Team for being here, I hope we have had enough of the troubles for now, Heikkilä stated.

Mikko Heikkilä’s competitive season with the TGS Motorsport team continues with the WRC Rally Sweden on the 12th to 16th of February, as the Skoda driver embarks on his 2026 WRC2 campaign.

Arctic Lapland Rally Results

1. Esapekka Lappi 1:49:27,3 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

2. Tuukka Kauppinen +25,2 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

3. Lauri Joona +32,5 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

4. Mikko Heikkilä +36,4 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

5. Roope Korhonen +1:02,7 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2