The FIA European Historic Rally Championship checked into Finland this weekend for its first gravel event of the 2025 campaign. With fast, sweeping gravel roads, high crests and tight turns, Lahti Historic Rally promised to be one of the standout events of the historic calendar-and delivered a thrilling showcase for the passionate Finnish fans. Across a two-day campaign the event provided changing conditions, quickly shifting from dry to wet, producing a rally that was as demanding for competitors as it was entertaining for spectators.

It proved another difficult outing for local favourite Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Janni Hussi. The pair made an explosive start to the weekend, Latvala using all of his experience to exploit the performance of his brand-new Toyota Celica. The Finn was untouchable on Friday’s opening loop, winning stages one through six to build a commanding lead. However, his charge came to a dramatic end on SS6, when a catastrophic engine failure forced an immediate retirement.

Latvala’s exit opened the door to a number of potential challengers, and it was Britain’s Seb Perez who capitalised to take a well-earned overall victory. Usually seen behind the wheel of a Lancia Stratos, Perez elected to switch to a Porsche Carrera RS for the Finnish gravel, and the strategy paid off handsomely. The British Historic Rally Champion produced a measured and intelligent drive across the two days, coming into his own when the rain arrived on Saturday. Fastest on SS8 and consistently within the top three for the remainder of the rally, Perez went on to secure overall honours and also claimed victory in Category 2.

He was pushed throughout by Poland’s Maciej Lubiak, who delivered another strong and composed performance. The former tennis pro remained within striking distance of Perez all weekend, applying pressure in the slippery conditions of SS9 but ultimately missed out on the win by a narrow margin. While forced to settle for second at Lahti, the Pole extends his advantage at the top of the standings with another high-scoring finish.

The final place on the podium went to Will Graham of the Flexi Fly Rally Team. Alongside co-driver Matt Edwards, the young Englishman produced a consistent and composed performance. Graham maintained a solid rhythm during Friday’s dry stages and excelled once the rain arrived, extracting maximum performance from his BMW E30 to post a string of competitive times through SS8, SS9, SS11 and SS12 to secure third overall.

In Category 2, Seb Perez delivered another commanding performance to take class victory in his Porsche 911 Carrera RS. Poland’s Maciej Lubiak followed closely to secure second place, while Britain’s Ernie Graham rounded out the podium with a strong drive in his Ford Escort 1600.

In Category 3, honours went to the British pairing of Adrian Hetherington and Dave Price, who produced a controlled and confident run in their Fiat 131 Abarth on Saturday's stages. Bruno Pelliccioni brought his Ford Escort RS home in second, with Italy’s Paolo Dianna completing the podium in another Fiat.

In Category 4, Britain’s Will Graham claimed top honours with a composed performance in his BMW M3 E30, ahead of Italian drivers Luise Matteo and Viola Filippo, who secured second and third respectively.

In the fiercely contested 2B Class, Flexi Fly Team Boss Ernie Graham secured a superb victory in his Ford Escort 1600. Graham and fellow Escort driver Bertrand Métivier spent much of the weekend trading tenths of a second in what became one of the event’s standout battles. However, a late off for Métivier added ten minutes to his time, clearing the way for Graham to secure a well-deserved win.

The FIA European Historic Rally Championship resumes next month with Historic Rally Acropolis in Greece (5–7 September), the second gravel event of the season and another classic challenge on one of the sport’s most famous stages.