How to watch WRC's Rally Finland: schedule, line-up and more

Rally Finland’s gravel stages hosts round nine of the 2024 World Rally Championship season, so here is how and when you can watch this weekend’s action.

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Fiesta Rally2

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

The WRC title battle is incredibly tight as a disappointing Rally Latvia for championship leader Thierry Neuville has left him just eight points ahead of Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak.

Neuville finishing eighth means he is now without a podium in three, scoring just 35 points during that run, compared to 58 for Tanak after a win in Sardinia and third last time out.

The 2019 world champion is the man on form and may take the championship lead this weekend in Finland, but Elfyn Evans is also in the title fight as the Toyota driver trails Tanak by just five points with five rounds remaining.

But Evans only finished fifth in Latvia meaning he is still yet to score a victory this season, though Neuville and Tanak only have one each due to the form of Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera.

The two Toyota drivers have won five of the last six rallies, but neither are in the championship fight because the world champions are contesting the 2024 season part-time.

Both will be present this weekend though, with the two-time reigning world champion Rovanpera competing in his home event which he is yet to win. They will be joined by WRC2 title contender Sami Pajari, who will make his top-flight WRC debut driving a fifth GR Yaris.

For Rovanpera to finally achieve a home win in 2024, he must overcome virtual chicanes which are set to make their competitive debut in the WRC this weekend after being used for the European Rally Championship in Rome.

A virtual chicane acts instead of a physical obstacle to slow cars down ahead of a challenging section, where organisers can designate predetermined areas for drivers to slow to 37mph (60kph).

They will feature in the Ouninpohja stage, which will be run twice as stage 13 and stage 16 on Saturday.

So that presents another challenge for drivers at the historic Rally Finland, which is the fastest event in the WRC and dates back to 1951.

Elsewhere, the battle for the manufacturers’ crown is also close as Hyundai is ahead of Toyota by only one point, despite the leaders scoring just three wins this season to the Japanese squad’s five.

M-Sport, meanwhile, is 173 points behind Toyota with only two points scoring cars this year compared to its rivals three. The British squad has claimed three podiums this season, all of which belong to Adrien Fourmaux.

Fourmaux also has an outside shot of the drivers’ title, as he is currently fifth and 44 points behind Neuville with eight-time world champion Ogier 16 points ahead of him in fourth.

So, with the season approaching its closing rounds there is still much to play for - here is how to watch this weekend’s Rally Finland.

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Tomasz Kaliński

When is Rally Finland?

Date: 31 July - 4 August
Start time: 5pm BST/7pm local time on Wednesday 31 July

The 2024 Rally Finland commences on Wednesday 31 July at 5pm in the United Kingdom and 7pm local time in Jyvaskyla, which is the capital city of the Central Finland region. But that is only for the ceremonial start, as the opening stage of the rally does not begin until the following day at 5:05pm BST and 7:05pm local.

Thursday also features shakedown at 8am BST and 10am local, where drivers are given the opportunity to test various car set-ups ahead of the weekend.

How can I watch the WRC?

TNT Sports has held the WRC broadcast rights in the UK since 2014, then known as BT Sport. This means, the subscription-based network is live televising every round of the championship this year.

It is available from £20 per month, as part of a deal which includes all four sport channels, Eurosport 1 and 2, as well as live streaming platform Discovery+.

Rally.tv is another place to watch the WRC, with the streaming service also broadcasting the ERC and World Rallycross Championship. Rally.tv is available via two deals: an annual subscription for £119.99 or a monthly pass for £12.99.

How can I watch Rally Finland?

TNT Sports will start its Rally Finland coverage on Wednesday 31 July at 5pm for the event’s opening ceremony. It will return for shakedown the following morning at 8am before the opening stage later that day at 5:15pm - all on TNT Sports Extra 1.

TNT Sports 3 will take over the coverage at 6am on Friday for stages two to five, before it switches over to TNT Sports 4 for stages six to 10 in the afternoon.

That means TNT will be on and off with its coverage depending on the start time for each stage, with Saturday following a similar format where TNT Sports 3 will broadcast the morning stages, while TNT Sports 1 or TNT Sports Extra 1 will cover the post-lunch action.

A similar format will be followed by Rally.tv, who will also broadcast every stage starting with Wednesday’s opening ceremony at 5pm.

5pm BST

How can I watch the Rally Finland highlights?

TNT Sports will broadcast several 30-minute highlight programmes of the Rally Finland weekend starting at 9:45pm and then 11:15pm on Friday night.

Red Bull TV is another place to watch Rally Finland highlights, as it will broadcast an hour-long programme at 8pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. ITV4 will also run a highlights programme for one hour, which starts at 9pm on Tuesday 23 July.

Elsewhere, Autosport will offer daily highlights of the action from Finland, as will the official WRC YouTube channel which uploads clips throughout a rally weekend.

TNT Sports 3

What is the route for Rally Finland?

Rally Finland will have 20 special stages covering a total competitive distance of 189.95 miles. It will commence on Thursday evening, with drivers tackling the first of two 2.16-mile runs of Harju before an early start on Friday for stages two to five, which is a 35.52-mile loop covering Laukaa (11.16 miles), Saarikas (9.9 miles), Myhinpaa (9.64 miles) and Ruuhimaki (4.82 miles).

An identical loop will be completed on Friday afternoon before the second run of Harju finishes the day. Saturday will feature another two loops of identical stages beginning with 11.77 miles of Vastila, before the rally heads south to Paijala (12.55 miles), while Ouninpohja (20.49 miles) will complete both runs.

Ouninpohja is one of the most famous stages in WRC history, known for its high-speed jumps and tricky sweeping corners and it will return to the rally for the first time since 2016. It is the weekend’s biggest stage and can be credited for the introduction of virtual chicanes.

Rally Finland’s final day will feature four stages of two very similar runs. For stages 17 and 19, drivers will tackle 8.87 miles of Sahloinen-Moksi, while Laajavuori will host stages 18 and 20, which offers bonus points on a sliding scale of 5-4-3-2-1 to the top five finishes for that session. However, while stage 18 is only 2.7 miles, drivers will do 5.45 miles on the second run of Laajavuori to close off the weekend.