Herranen is currently fourth in the Junior ERC standings with two rounds to go and claimed back-to-back podiums in Poland and Latvia earlier this year.
However, the Finnish youngster is swapping his front-wheel driven Ford Fiesta Rally4 for its four-wheel powered Rally3 counterpart to contest his home event in addition to his ERC programme.
“I’m really excited,” beamed the 18-year-old. “I drove a small rally in the winter with a four-wheel drive car - an N5 car - but this will be the first proper rally for me and my first time in a Rally3 car anyway.
“I think I will adapt very well, but of course it’s a bit different when you go in a four-wheel drive car. You need to change the driving style a lot and things like that, but we will see.
“It will be fun for sure, but it’s not going to be easy because there are some really fast guys ahead. We need to get the kilometres and the experience, and of course build the speed during the rally,” he added.
It’s been a busy season so far for Herranen. The 18-year-old has been alternating drives in local rallies with his ERC commitments and only returned from Rally di Roma Capitale last week.
Rome didn’t go to plan, with a crash on the opening day ruling Herranen and co-driver Mikko Lukka out of contention for a result.
“I only got my first Tarmac kilometres on the Wednesday of the rally week,” he explained. “I didn’t have a lot of experience and it was not such an easy rally. It was so hot and the stages were really long - I definitely prefer the gravel!
“Finland will be more like a one-off outing with the Rally3 car. We might do some more local rallies and of course other things with the Rally4, but next year I will move properly into the Rally3 class.”
Finland
Italy
Hungary