Bottas finishes P9 in Arctic Lapland Rally

Jamie Woodhouse
Valtteri Bottas excited to see Mercedes' 2020 "weapon" for the first time.

Valtteri Bottas excited to see Mercedes' 2020 "weapon" for the first time.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas recovered well from a shaky start to finish ninth in his second Arctic Lapland Rally.

Bottas drove the Citroën DS3 WRC in the event which marks the first round of the 2020 Finnish Rally Championship.

He was alongside fellow Finn Timo Rautiainen who co-drove with Marcus Gronholm to two FIA World Rally Championship titles in 2000 and 2002.

It was a difficult opening day as Bottas struggled to get accustomed to the snowy and icy conditions, finishing 22nd overall.

But he would pump in a much stronger display on day 2, ultimately finishing the event in 9th position.

Bottas has now competed in three rally events, the second of which he won at the Rallycircuit Côte d’Azur 2019.

In an Instagram post Bottas wrote: “Another Arctic Lapland Rally finished.

“After a messy day 1 and 22nd overall we managed to get back into the top 10 during the final day with Timo.

“Got to drive in completely new conditions for me yesterday with poor visibility and lots of loose snow on the stages.

“Learned a lot that’s for sure. And had a lot of fun which is the main thing.”

Bottas’ attention will soon return to Formula 1 business as he looks to finally crack the code that is his six-time World Champion Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The first 2020 pre-season test will get underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 19 February.

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