Solberg said: ”The cars in front of me spun in the semi-final. I wasn’t involved in that, but couldn’t avoid the cars ahead. I hit them and damaged the intercooler and lots of parts on the car.

”I don’t believe we were given the correct time to fix the car for the final. My team needed just two more minutes to get the car to the grid. I can’t tell you how frustrating this is. I was standing under the umbrella on the startline waiting for the car to come, but the guys were not allowed to bring it.

”All I will say is that I hope this doesn’t decide the direction of the world championship.

”So, frustration in Finland. Big frustration in Finland, but we are still in the race for the championship and that is what we focus on now. Because of a crash which had nothing to do with me, we have more work to do on the car in the next few days. But the good thing is, we don’t have long to wait to get back on track and put this huge disappointment behind us. I’m looking forward to Sweden already.”

There’s not a lot more to say. Tanner Foust won the final from Andreas Bakkerud with Reinis Nitiss third. Petter drops from second to third in the World RX standings.

Petter’s PSRX team-mate Alexander Hvaal didn’t make it to the final in Finland.

One thing we liked about Kouvola:
The jump – it’s what Finland’s all about.

One thing we didn’t like about Kouvola:
Standing on the grid without a car.

Championship positions:

1 Reinis Nitiss 96pts
2 Andreas Bakkerud 82pts
3 Petter Solberg 80pts
4 Topi Heikkinen 74pts
5 Anton Marklund 61pts
6 Timmy Hansen 48pts

Next time out
Next time out is next week. In just five days the team will be back on at the home track of PSRX, Höljes, Sweden. In the meantime, is your zipper done up? Check… yes? Good – then you can thank a Swede for that invention. And the fridge. And while we’re on the subject of Sweden, we would just like to clear up one myth: the Vikings never had horns on their helmets. See you next week.