The fast Finn was competing in the first round of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy as one of a handful of WRC events he’s contesting this year alongside his programme in the British Rally Championship.

Back behind the wheel of the two-wheel drive Ford Fiesta R2, Vatanen was hampered throughout the gravel-based event by a misfire, caused by a fuel pressure problem.

Although this prevented him from repeating his 2015 Trophy win in Portugal, he still set a quick enough pace to claim second when experienced local favourite Bernado Sousa crashed out of the class lead on the final stage.

“It was quite a challenging event,” says Vatanen. “You could say it was a character-building weekend, but in the end we still managed to be second. OK, the gaps were quite big in front of us and it’s a pity for Sousa that he went off, but it meant we got second which was not a bad result considering the issues we had during the weekend.”

Vatanen worked alongside a different co-driver, Thierry Salva, in Portugal because his regular navigator Jacques-Julien Renucci had an existing commitment on another rally. “It went quite well considering the lack of experience we had together,” says Vatanen of their partnership. “Thierry did a good job, because it’s not so easy to make such a change at the last minute.”

As well as a new voice delivering his pace-notes, Vatanen had to re-adapt to two-wheel drive machinery. He’s spent the past few months getting to grips with a four-wheel drive car for the first time, showing good pace in the R5-specification Fiesta that he’s using in the BRC.

“In a two-wheel drive car you have to concentrate on trying to be smooth and not getting sideways too much because that’s where you lose time,” he says. “So it took a while to find a good driving style again in that car.”
Vatanen next takes on a busy period of three rallies in the space of three weeks, with BRC outings on the Scottish Rally (June 24-26) and the Nicky Grist Stages in Wales separated by a trip to Rally Poland.