Kirsti Airikkala

 

Kirsti Airikkala rallied in Finland from 1968 and throughout most of the 1970s. She was twice runner-up in the Finnish ladies’ championship.

One of her first cars was an Isuzu Bellett, which she used in her first attempt at the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1968.  Her navigator for her early rallies was multiple Finnish ladies’ champion Eeva Heinonen. They were 24th in the 1000 Lakes, having already scored a 21st place in the Itaralli that year. Both Kirsti and her more famous husband, Pentti Airikkala, drove Isuzu cars at the time.

Her second 1000 Lakes Rally was in 1969, driving a Renault Gordini with Ulla Mäkelä. She drove in the event four more times, in 1971, 1972, 1975 and 1976. In 1970 she took time out from rallying to have her son, Niko Airikkala.

Her best result was a 24th place in 1972 and she also won her class in 1975, both times driving Opel cars with Tarja Takanen. Her 1972 car was a Kadett, which was updated to an Ascona in 1975.

She also scored a class win in the Arctic Rally in 1972, and was a career-best 18th overall in a European championship event, driving an Opel Kadett. In Finnish rallies, she bettered this, also in 1972, finishing fourteenth overall in the Tott-Porrassalmi Rally.

Her most frequent navigator was Tarja Tarkanen, but she also had Ritva Rossi sitting beside her at different times. For the 1976 Mantta 200-ajo Rally, she was co-driven by Marianne Avomeri, another Finnish woman better known as a driver with a famous partner, like Kirsti herself. She would later marry Markku Alen.

In 1974, she also tried her hand at co-driving, partnering Jill Robinson in the 1000 Lakes Rally, in an Alfa Romeo. 

Kirsti never competed outside Finland, but she did settle in England with Pentti after her retirement. She stayed in the UK after her divorce from Pentti.

From a rallying family, Kirsti’s younger brother is Timo Jouhki.

(Image copyright LAT Images)

Female Flying Finns

Eeva Heinonen

For the latest post of the "female rally drivers around the world" series, where better to look than Finland? Some of Finland's more prominent drivers - Minna Sillankorva, Minna Lindroos, Eija Jurvanen, Marketta Oksala, Kirsti Airikkala - have already been mentioned, but here are some more stars of the stages from after 1950.

Marjatta Aaltonen - rallied in the 1960s, around Europe. Her first big rally was the 1000 Lakes event in 1966. She drove a Saab, but retired after a crash. She also entered the RAC Rally, in a Mini Cooper S, but did not finish. In 1967, she drove a Datsun 1600, and travelled to Greece for the Acropolis Rally, although her brakes failed. Her last major rally seems to have been the 1969 1000 Lakes Rally, in which she drove a Hillman Imp. It is not clear whether or not she finished. She is the sister of multiple rally winner, Rauno Aaltonen.

Marianne Avomeri – rallied a number of cars in Finland in the 1970s. She entered the 1000 Lakes Rally at least four times, between 1974 and 1977. The best of these attempts was her last, in 1977, when she came 31^st and won her class in a Ford Escort RS2000. Among her other cars was a Datsun. As well as driving, she navigated on occasion, for drivers such as Kirsti Airikkala. She later married WRC driver Markku Alén, and is the mother of Anton Alén, another WRC driver.

Tuulikki Bärlund (Sohlberg) – rally driver and co-driver from Finland, active in the 1960s. She drove a Peugeot in the 1961 500 Rally, but did not finish. Later, she co-drove in Finland for drivers including Laila Schou-Nilsen and Seija Keinänen. As a navigator, she took part in the 1000 Lakes Rally twice. At some point, she won an ice rallying championship in Finland, although details of this are not forthcoming.

Carita Ekroos (Toivonen) - Finnish driver from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, who entered six Rally Finlands in Escorts and Opels. Her best result was 29th, in 1982, driving a Ford Escort RS. In 1988, she won her only Finnish Ladies’ Championship, driving another Ford Escort RS.

Riita Grön – rallied in Finland in the 1960s, always driving a Saab. Her first major rallies were in 1962, in a Saab 95. She was 62^nd in that year’s 1000 Lakes Rally. The following year, she improved this finish to 49^th. In 1966, she upgraded the 95 for a 96, and was 44^th in the 1000 Lakes, as well as coming 47^th in the Riihimäki Rally. Her best results were achieved in 1966 and 1967, during her partnership with co-driver Anu Kosonen. She won her class in the 1966 Hankiralli, finishing 25^th overall, and then scored two further class wins in 1967, in the Hankiralli and Riihimäki events. Her last year of competition appears to be 1968. As well as driving, Riita was active as a co-driver, and sat beside some of the other lady drivers in Finland at the time, including Marjatta Aaltonen and Taru Ketonen.

Eine Hukkanen – rallied in Finland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her car was normally a Sunbeam Avenger. In 1980, she was third in the Finnish ladies’ rally championship, following a second in class on the Jyväskylän Talviralli. She was 53^rd overall.  Earlier, in 1977, she had won the Ladies’ class of the Sveitsin Rally. She also co-drove for others occasionally, including Carita Ekroos.

Hannele Linnankoski - rallied a Chrysler Avenger in Finland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her earliest rallies may have been in 1977. She competed in one running of the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1978, finishing 36th overall and second in class. This was one of the best results of her career and came as part of a season in which she was sixth in the Finnish ladies’ championship. Her last major event appears to have been the 1980 Teboil Rally, in which she was 42nd.

Seija Keinänen – rallied a Skoda in national-level events in Finland in the early 1960s. Her co-driver in 1962 was Tuulikki Bärlund. In 1961, she won her class in the 500 Ralli, and was 32^nd overall. Her navigator was Kaija Aronen, and the car was a Skoda TS. There were several other Finnish drivers with the name “Keinänen” at the time, and she may have been part of a rallying family.

Taru Ketonen (Kinnunen) – one of a group of Finnish female drivers who often competed together, in both seats, including Kirsti Airikkala and Riita Grön. Taru Ketonen was active for much of the 1960s, and appears in the 1965 Finnish championship, driving a Volkswagen. She won her class in the Pohjola Rally, finishing 23^rd. In 1966, she and Riita Grön did the Monte Carlo Rally together, in a VW, but did not finish. This was Taru’s only major international rally outside Finland. She did enter that year’s 1000 Lakes Rally, and was 41^st. In 1967, she had a best finish of 22^nd, in the Itäralli. After several seasons of VW power, she switched to a Renault 8 Gordini in 1968, and scored the best 1000 Lakes result of her career, a 19^th place. She also won her class in the Salpausselkä Rally. After that, she competed less often. She was married to Leo Kinnunen, a Formula One driver.

Marja-Liisa Korpi - five times Finnish Ladies' Champion between 1978 and 1982, usually driving a Ford Escort, although she had some drives in a Sunbeam Avenger and Saab V4. She drove in four 1000 Lakes Rallies too, between 1978 and 1981. Her best finish was 28th in 1978. As well as Finnish rallies, she travelled to the UK in 1979 for the RAC Rally and finished 34th.

Liisa Lammin-Koskinen – one of the leading female drivers in Finland in the 1960s. She almost always drove a Saab 96. In 1962, she entered her first 1000 Lakes Rally, and got to the finish in 61^st place. In 1963, she managed a class win in the Riihimäki Rally, and had a best overall finish of 17^th, in the Kuopio Rally. The following year, she achieved two more class wins in Finnish rallies, and her best finish in the 1000 Lakes event, a 22^nd place. She did her last 1000 Lakes Rally in 1965, and was 31^st, third in class. In 1966, she abandoned the Saab for a Mini, which she used for limited rounds of the Finnish championship. Liisa was also a co-driver, including at least one rally alongside Simo Lampinen. Photos exist of her which some claim to have been taken during the Monte Carlo Rally, but this seems unlikely on the balance of evidence; Liisa only rallied in Finland.

Anne-Mari Kovalainen - 2000 and 2001 Finnish ladies’ champion, driving a SEAT Ibiza. In this car, she entered two editions of the Rally of Finland. In 1999, she crashed out, but in 2000, she was 45th. Both years, she also drove in the Arctic Tunturi Rally, and was 39th in 1999. She also finished the Osuuspankki Rally in 2000, in 69th place. In 2001, she drove in the Lahti, Urku and Sparco rallies in Finland, winning the ladies’ award in each. However, her overall results are not forthcoming. 

Tuire Lipasti – rallied in Finland in the 1980s. She drove an Audi Quattro for at least some events in 1987, including the Teboil Rally, in which she won her class and the ladies’ prize. She was 57^th overall. The same year, she also drove a Volvo 240 Turbo. That year’s Talviralli was among the events in which she used it. Earlier in her career, in 1983, she took part in ice racing, driving a VW and finishing second in at least one race.

Marjatta Mäkëla – competed extensively in Finnish rallies in the 1970s. Initially, she and co-driver Maj-Britt Råback favoured Gordini-engined Renaults, using a Renault 8 in 1970, and a 12 in 1973. That year, she was 35^th in the 1000 Lakes Rally and 36^th in the Hankiralli, in which she also won her class. She was third in the Finnish ladies’ championship. In 1974, she was the second-fastest Finnish lady, driving an Opel Ascona. Her last event seems to have been the 1975 Arctic Rally, driving an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV. She was 31^st overall.

Jonna Olkoniemi – one of the younger wave of female Finnish drivers. In 2014 and 2015, she rallied a Volvo 240, mostly in rallysprints. She managed a few class wins. Her first full stage rallies were in 2015, and she was a respectable 35^th out of 53 in the Vuokatti Rally, with a class win. Her best outright result was 28^th, in the Runni Rock Rally. Since the start of 2016, she has been driving a Ford Fiesta, and now concentrates on stage rallying. She has scored one class win, in the Pohjola Rally. Her best overall result was 36th, in the AutoGlym Rally. After a problematic start to 2017 in the Fiesta, she switched to a Citroen DS3, which was more reliable. Her best result was 17th, in the Teijo Talot Rally. Most of 2018 was spent in the DS3 and she was 22nd in her first international event, the Talinn Rally. She also had a one-off drive in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX for the Rakarautaranni rallysprint event, and was eighth.  2019 was a very quiet year, with just one outing in the Loydon-Kartanon rallysprint. She drove a Skoda Fabia and won her class, finishing 23rd out of 129 finishers. In contrast, 2020, was her best year ever, with a third place in the Juuka Rally, driving the Fabia. She was also seventh in the Nivalan Kapilaralli and eighth in the Tornio Rally. All of these rallies had large entries. 

Jaana Pajula-Ihaksi – rallied a Toyota Starlet in Finland in the 1980s. She entered at least two 1000 Lakes Rallies, in 1987 and 1988. She did not finish in 1988, but was 46^th in 1987, seventh in class. The best result of her career seems to have been an eleventh place in the NSM Kaakkoisralli in 1987, where she was seventh in class, and second lady behind Minna Sillankorva in fifth. Her co-driver was Anu Mylläri.  

Sinikka Parkkinen - driver and co-driver active in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1970 and 1971, she won at least two championships for 1300cc cars in Finland. However, she does not seem to have entered Rally Finland until 1986, when she retired her Toyota Starlet late in the rally. She managed to finish in 1987, and was 49th. Her navigator both times was Eeva Koivisto. Later, in 1989, she returned to the 1000 Lakes as navigator to Pasi Hokkanen. They were 61st in a Starlet.

Kirsti Pätiälä – rallied in Finland in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1969, she drove a Ford Escort in the Finnish championship. After that, she mainly rallied a series of Sunbeam/Hillman Imps. In 1970, she had a best finish of 24^th, in the Itäralli. The following year, she was third in the Finnish ladies’ championship, with a best finish of 28^th, in the Kesoil Rally. That year, she rallied a Volwswagen as well as the Imp. In addition to driving, Kirsti also co-drove occasionally, and partnered Jill Robinson on the 1972 Arctic Rally.

Kirsti Piironen – rallied in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s. Her first appearance in the 1000 Lakes Rally was in 1967. She drove an Isuzu, and was navigated by her sister, Kaarina. The car she is most associated with is the Gordini R8, which she used between 1967 and 1969. Her best finish was 20^th, in the 1967 Tampere Rally. She entered the 1000 Lakes Rally at least three times, in 1967, 1969 and 1974, but does not appear to have finished any of them. Her car in 1974 was a Datsun 180B. At around the same time, she also navigated for a number of other drivers, mostly Finnish and female.

Marjo Salonen - competed in the 1980s. She entered Rally Finland three times, coming 55th in 1986, driving a Citroen Mille Pistes for the Siemens Lady team. In 1987 and 1988, she drove a Lancia Delta HF and failed to finish. Earlier in her career, in 1984, she drove a Toyota Corolla in the Finnish championship. Her navigator for her WRC outings was Tuula Karkkulainen.

Laura Suvanto - former circuit racer, now involved in rallying. She began rallying a Volkswagen Golf in 2013, in Finnish championship events. Her best result was a class win in the Turku Ralli. She was 44th overall. She was also second in class in the Pohjanmaa Ralli, and 50th overall. In 2014, she tackled the winter rallies in Finland, but did not finish any of her three events. On the circuit side, she did at least one season in the Finrace V1600 Cup touring car series, in 2011, possibly in another Golf. She is a member of a working group promoting women’s motorsport in Finland, and also takes part in road safety campaigns. In 2014, she rallied both the Golf, and a Skoda Fabia R2, in the Finnish championship. Unfortunately, she only finished two of her six rallies. Her best finish was 54th, in the Turku Rally, in the Skoda. In 2015, she moved to Germany, to compete in the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup. Her car was an Opel Adam. Her season seems to have been ended early by an accident early in the Wartburg Rally. She returned to Finland in 2016, and rallied a Skoda Fabia, in which she was 69th in the Tahko SM-Ralli. In 2017, she switched to co-driving, although she did come back to the driving seat for a couple of rallysprints in 2018, driving an R2-spec Fabia. 

Sanna-Kaisa Tiilikka – mainly competes in rallysprints in Finland, driving a Toyota Starlet. She began as a junior in 2010, aged sixteen. She is one of the leading female drivers in the Finnish Rallysprint championship, and has also secured several class wins in 2014 and 2015. She also drives the same car in Finnish stage rallies, co-driven by her brother, Jussi-Pekka. In 2015, her best result was 31^st overall, in the Vuokatti Rally. She was seventh in class. In 2017, she scored class wins in the Pohjanmaa and 4-Revontull Rallies. She was fourteenth in the 2018 Velkon Kone Rallysprint, driving a Honda Civic, and won her class. Driving the same car, she picked up three class wins in 2019, including a 24th place out of 160 in the Keuruu Rally. She continued to compete in rallysprints from 2020, although she struggled with reliability. In 2025, she was still comepting in the Civic.

Seija Tyni – rallied in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s, often in a Datsun. She was probably most successful in a Datsun Sunny, which she drove in 1968. Her best finish in this car was a seventeenth place in the Pohjola Rally, with a class win. The Renault 8 Gordini she drove in 1969 and 1970 also suited her driving style. She won her class three times in 1969, the best of these being a 22^nd place in the Tunturi Rally. She entered the 1000 Lakes Rally twice, in 1969 and 1970, finishing the second time. She was 39^th, in a Datsun 1600.

Meiju Viitanen - rallies both modern and classic cars in Finland, mostly in sprint events. She began in 2015 with a Ford Escort RS2000, which she changed for an XR3i in 2016, as well as using an unusual Toyota MR2. In 2018, she used both the XR3i and a Citroen C4, with her best result coming from the C4: ninth in the Graceville Sprint. She scored class wins in both cars. In 2019, she added a Toyota MR2 to her list of cars and won her class in the Raahen rallysprint in it. She competed in rallysprints in 2021 and 2022, driving the Citroen and a Ford Escort. In 2023, she was second in the Finnish women's rallysprint championship. This was upgraded to a ladies' championship in 2024, driving the Citroen and Escort. She concentrated on rallying the Escort in 2025.

Anne Vuorio - twice Finnish Ladies' Champion, in 1990 and 1992, driving Toyota Celica GT4s. She participated in her home WRC round twice, in 1989 and 1990. the first time, she drove a Mazda 323, but retired mid-way through. The second time, she was 39th in the Toyota.

(Image from www.suomenmuseotonline.fi)

Pernilla Walfridsson

Pernilla (right) and Ulrika

Sweden's Pernilla Walfridsson was born, like many drivers, into a rallying family. Her uncle is the well-known driver and team manager Stig-Olov, and other Walfridssons are involved in the sport in various capacities. Her father, Per-Inge, is a multiple rallycross champion, and it was through him that Pernilla got her first experiences in a rally car. He competed in classic events, and she acted as his navigator.

For most of her teenage years, Pernilla was more interested in horses, although she did enjoy rallying. She rode competitively, in show-jumping, spending time in the UK as well as Sweden.

Navigating for her father brought out her interest in motorsport, and she started driving at the age of eighteen, in 1991. Like so many Scandinavian drivers, she competed in the Volvo Original Cup in her formative years, and then spent a while in her national championships. Her car seems to have been a Volvo 240. Results from this period have, so far, largely not been forthcoming. She is recorded as a starter in the 1996 Berslgsrallyt, a club event, in a Volvo 242. Her navigator was Ann Greth Eriksson.

In 1997 she started taking part in bigger rallies, using a Mitsubishi Lancer provided by her uncle’s team.  Her first major result was twelfth in the Rally Finnskog Norway. She was also 21st in the South Swedish Rally, and 50th in the Ypres-Westhoek rally in Belgium. She and her sister Linda Walfridsson were tenth in class N4 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3.

In the same car, Pernilla and Linda also tackled their first World Rallies. The snow-bound Swedish Rally resulted in retirement, but the season-ending Network Q RAC Rally in the UK gave them a 21st place overall, sixth in Group N. Pernilla scored her first FIA points in the Production Cup, and was listed as 52nd in the standings that year.

1998 saw a few changes. The ageing Evo 3 was replaced by the newer Evo 4, and Pernilla found a new navigator, Ulrika Mattson. Their international calendar contained visits to Finland and the UK, as well as their home WRC event, and the positions were good. They were 28th in Sweden and 21st again in Finland and the RAC Rally. Even better, they were eighth, third and fourth in Group N respectively. Their only real disappointment was a non-finish on the German AVD/STH Hunsrück-Rallye, but eleventh in the FIA Production Cup, amongst drivers who had entered more events than them, was a good consolation.

In European events, their season was mixed. Pernilla was eighth in the Rally Finnskog and second in Group N, but retired from the South Swedish Rally. Later in the season, she was 21st in the Golden Tulip event, in the Netherlands.

Pernilla was now a popular figure in world rallying, in Scandinavia and the UK especially, after she had also driven in some British rallies. These included the Manx Trophy Rally, in which she was second. She was tipped as a possible future star and had a growing number of fans. With support from her family team behind her, she embarked on her most ambitious rally programme yet in 1999. Sadly, it was not a success. She failed to finish in any of her WRC rounds: Sweden, Portugal, Catalunya, Finland and Britain. Even a switch to a more powerful Lancer Evo 5 after Sweden could not help her.

Her only consolation was a string of excellent performances in the Norwegian championship. She did not finish the Rally Finnskog, but was seventh in the Solor Rally, ninth at Numedals and sixth at Trondelag. With Ulrika, she was third in Group N in the Norwegian championship. Away from Norway, a switch to an Evo 5 brought her better fortunes: she was fourth in the South Swedish Rally, and won Group N.

Not to be deterred, Pernilla returned the following year, with a mixed programme on WRC, Swedish and Norwegian events. She had upgraded the car to the all-conquering Evo 6. with which Tommi Makinen had dominated the WRC. (Throughout her career, she was very loyal to Mitsubishi.)

During that year's snow season, Pernilla and Ulrika were 24th in Sweden, seventh in Group N, and retired from the Rally Finnskog. A move to sunnier climes in Catalunya resulted in another retirement, but things picked up after that. Twenty-one seemed to be Pernilla's lucky number as she was 21st again in Finland and sixth in Group N. Slightly closer to home, they were a strong eighth in the Renault South Swedish Rally, fourth in class.

The Norwegian championship was where she really shone again, this year. Apart from retirements in the Rally Finnskog and the Solor Rally, she was never out of the top ten. Her best finish was third, achieved at Larvik and Trondelag. She was also fourth at Flesberg, and fifth at Hedemarken. This was enough to win her the Group N title.  

Near the end of the season, Ulrika and Pernilla parted company after facing two years of ups, downs, offs and modest successes together. For the RAC Rally, Charlotta Thorszelius-Babbington was drafted in to read the notes. The pair did quite well on their first big event together, coming 35th and ninth in Group N. Pernilla’s final position in the Production (Group N) WRC was 37th.

It turned out that 2000 was Pernilla's last year of active competition. She had struck up a relationship with works Subaru ace Petter Solberg and gave birth to their son Oliver in 2001. The couple married after Petter became World Rally champion in 2003. Pernilla was still a face on the WRC scene, but in a supporting role. More recently, she and Petter have begun competing in historic rallies together, with Pernilla as co-driver, in a Ford Escort MkII.

Pernilla is now the team manager for the Solberg World Rallycross team.

Image from http://www.motorsportivarmland.nu/pernilla.html, copyright Anders Ekstrom)

Minna Sillankorva

Following a career that stretched from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, Minna Sillankorva has earned the reputation as one of Finland's finest women rally drivers. Finland is famous for its rallying, and there have been a few notable female contenders since the 1970s, so the accolade is well-earned.

Minna was born in August, 1961. In common with many of her countrymen, she started her rally career young and took part in her first 1000 Lakes Rally at 21, in 1982. Co-driven by Johanna Nieminen, she was 28th in her Ford Escort RS.

She won her first major award in 1983; the Ladies' Cup of the Finnish national rally championship. For national events, she had been using an Escort RS2000, but for the 1000 Lakes she drove a Mazda RX7. She and Johanna were 36th overall but won their class for the first time.

The connection with Mazda continued the following season. Switching between the RX7 and a smaller 323, Minna won her second Ladies' Cup. She chose the 323 Turbo model for her first Monte Carlo Rally and was supported by the Japanese marque's European works team. She and Johanna were 22nd, eighth Group A car, and third in class A8. Later in the year they were 42nd in the 1000 Lakes event, with the same class position.

Minna's third Finnish Ladies' Cup was won in 1985, using the RX7 and the old familiar Escort RS. She drove an RX7 prepared by Haka-Auto for the 1000 Lakes Rally, but did not make the finish. In the same, or a similar, car, she was 26th and third in class in the South Swedish Rally. It was sometime during this season that she played a small part in rally history, by selling the future four-times world champion Tommi Makinen his first rally car.

1986 went very similarly to its predecessor, with Minna winning the newly-retitled Finnish Ladies' Championship in her RX7. Again, she did not finish the 1000 Lakes Rally. She also made the first of a series of outings to the UK, and was 43rd in the Scottish Rally. Her co-driver was Arja Haimikainen. Her programme of events is hard to follow here, but it included the 24 Hours of Ypres.

Minna stayed loyal to Mazda for the 1987 season, but changed her RX7 for a newer 323 4WD. She also changed co-driver, working with Timo Hantunen for the 1000 Lakes Rally. The new pairing did not finish, but Minna won her second Ladies' Championship, and helped Mazda to the Finnish Championship for Makes.

At some point during 1987, she made a trip across to the UK, to drive in the Scottish and Welsh rallies there. Her co-driver was the Englishwoman Mary Fullerton. I have been unable to track down the results.

1988 was not a good year for Minna, now 27. She and Timo Hantunen failed to finish the 1000 Lakes yet again and she lost her Finnish Ladies' crown to Carita Toivonen. She regained the Ladies' title the following year but was unable to recapture her early form on the 1000 Lakes.

In 1990 she struck up a partnership with the Italian co-driver Michela Marangoni. They began with an unsatisfactory year in the Mazda 323, but then raised their sights dramatically for 1991. The 323 was abandoned in favour of a Lancia Delta Integrale 16v, prepared by the Astra team. The pair embarked on an ambitious programme of selected World Rally Championship rounds, beginning in Monte Carlo. At this point, they still had the 323, but it was out to good use for a career-best 18th position. The Lancia was ready in time for the Acropolis Rally in the summer, but they were less lucky this time, going out with a turbo problem on Stage 42.

In July, they travelled across the Atlantic for the Rally of Argentina. It proved to be a trip well worth making; Minna finished in a strong tenth position, an all-time career-best result for her and her first WRC Drivers' point. That year's rally was a tough event with a high rate of attrition, but the Finn kept going and was close to the time of Gregoire de Mevius, in ninth.

It was back to Finland in August, for Minna's tenth attempt at the 1000 Lakes event. This time she was 22nd, her best finish on her home rally and the best of her career. Her WRC programme continued with the Catalunya Rally in Spain, but she withdrew from the competition after the first stage. Her reasons are unknown at the time of writing. She and Michela were scheduled to enter the RAC Rally at the end of the season but also withdrew for reasons unspecified. Despite these two late setbacks, Minna was rewarded with the title of FIA Ladies' World Rally Champion, successor to Louise Aitken-Walker. She was 62nd in the drivers' standings.

After her adventures in 1991, Minna's career went very quiet. Her compatriot Eija Jurvanen won the FIA Ladies' crown in 1992 and a succession of other Finnish female talents took her place in the national ladies' championship. Her only notable rally activities were entries into the Arctic Rally in 1993 and 1994, in the 323 4WD. She was eleventh in 1993, but did not finish in 1994. On this occasion, the drag racer Anita Mäkelä served as her navigator. During this time, she took up rallycross, and competed in the European Championship in 1994. She drove a modified 323 in Division Two.

She did not return until 1996, when she reclaimed her title of fastest female Finn in an Escort RS2000. For the 1000 Lakes, her last WRC rally, she drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3, supported by the Finnish arm of the Mitsubishi Ralliart works squad. She and Michela Marangoni were 26th, tenth in Group N.

Although she did not compete in any more 1000 Lakes Rallies, it was business as usual in 1997, with another Finnish Ladies' title sewn up in the RS2000. She had another quiet year in 1998, losing out to her much younger namesake, Minna Lindroos, but recaptured her crown in 1999. This time she was driving a Honda Integra, which gave her two top woman driver awards at the Asikkalan OP-Ralli and the Fenno-Ralli. She was second lady at the Tommi Makisen Talviralli.

After another career lull, Minna reappeared in 2003, driving more for fun than for gain now. She had acquired a BMW M3 prepared to Group F regulations. Group F is unique to Scandinavia and is a high-speed, highly-modified class which runs at the back of the field. Minna and her co-driver Jari Jyrkiainen finished the rallies of Tampere and Osuuspankki comfortably.

The following year, she was reunited with an old friend: the Escort RS2000. Showing she had lost none of her touch, she was tenth in the Vanajanlinni Rally, co-driven by Sirpa Salmikuukka.

Since then, Minna does not appear to have competed seriously. She now works as an ice-driving instructor in Finland.

(Picture from TuttoRally magazine, April 1994. Thanks to Jorge Taborda.)

Minna Lindroos

Finland is famous for its rally drivers, and has even produced some female stars over the years, like Minna Sillankorva and Eija Jurvanen. During the 1990s and 2000s, the Finnish rally scene's leading lady was Minna Lindroos.

She was born into a rallying family in 1977. Her brother Joonas also drives in the Finnish championship. Her motorised activities began in 1996. She was sixth in class in her first rally, in a 1200cc Lada given to her by her father.

In 1997, Minna jumped right in at the deep end, in the Junior class of Group F, a high-speed, highly-modified rally championship very popular in Finland. She was the first female driver to attempt Group F events against men, and was fourth in Class Two at the end of the season. After a year of that, she settled for a Vauxhall Astra and entered the main championship, with Aki Hietala as her navigator. She also earned an entry in Rally Finland, but retired. One consolation was that she won her first Finnish Ladies' Championship.

She improved on her results in 1999, when she guided the Astra to fourth in the national Group N standings for under-two-litre cars. It was also one of her busiest years for international rallies. During the snow rally season, she tackled the Arctic and Swedish rallies. She retired from the Rovaniemi event but was 39th in Sweden, alongside Jani Laaksonen. For the Finland rally later in the year, she teamed up with Sari Kontro-Silvennoinen, but the pair retired.

Minna and Sari drove together for the 2000 season, after Minna switched to a more powerful Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, as driven with such devastating effect by her countryman Tommi Makinen. Straight away, she was 27th on the Arctic Rally. At Rally Finland, she also impressed, coming 26th overall and fifth in Group N.

Sticking with the Lancer for 2001, the pair were a career-best fifteenth in the Arctic Rally. They were 21st in the Pohjarmaa event and third in Group N on the prestigious Mantta Rally. This event is the traditional warm-up for Rally Finland, and many international drivers take part. Sadly, Rally Finland itself brought another retirement for Minna. She was still thirteenth in the Finnish championship, however.

2002 was a quieter year. Minna was working with new co-driver Sirkka Rautiainen for the first time. They tackled the Finnish championship and entered the Arctic Rally again, but retired. The Lancer was getting a little long in the tooth and reliability was a problem, so it was time for a change, although that particular car had given Minna some of her best results, and her best championship finish - ninth.

Her car of choice for 2003 was a Honda Civic Type R. She and Sirkka were 31st in the Arctic Rally, on Minna's favoured snow surface, at the start of the season, and managed to pick up some other creditable finishes in the Finnish series. They were 38th at Osuuspankki and 43rd at Vaakuna, against very large fields including World Championship drivers like Jani Paasonen and Sebastian Lindholm. It was a shortened season for her, as she was sharing the car with Joonas.

Having learnt a lot about how the Civic worked and forged a good relationship with Sirkka, Minna attacked her national championship again with renewed vigour. She was an unassuming 61st in the Arctic rally on her sixth attempt and 55th on the Exide Rally, but at Mantsala she was an excellent thirteenth. On the summer Syrus Rally she was 31st.

A year off followed in 2005. Minna concentrating on finishing her driving instructor training and did not compete in any rallies.

In 2006, Minna tackled six Finnish National championship rallies, in a bid to win the Ladies' Trophy yet again. She succeeded, after finishing as the first female in all but one rally. Her co-driver was Sirkka Rautiainen once more. She also made a move into historic competition, taking up the co-driver's notes for Timo Koskisen in his Ford Cortina GT, after co-driving for her brother in three events late in the season.

Minna had a long break from competition between 2006 and 2016, and presumably settled down to life as a performance driving instructor and TV producer in Finland. Her website was taken down and her page on the family site was no longer updated. However, she made a comeback in 2016, driving a BMW 325i in two Finnish rallies. She was seventeenth in a snow rally at Keurusselka, from 79 finishers, and fifteenth in the historic Mantta rally.

Since then, she has co-driven occasionally for Ville Lehtonen in a BMW. In 2020, she entered the Kuhmoisten Sora-Ralli in the BMW, but it was cancelled after two stages. 

Co-driven by her niece Evellina Lindroos, she made a comeback in 2023. She started with the Jyvaskylan Talviralli in a Citroen C2, finishing 24th, then did three more events in the BMW. She won her class in the Itaralli and the Orimattlila Ralli. 

(Image from http://www.autourheilu.fi/)