windy Hassi stage, a 20-year-old spectator did not hear the zero car driven by Bruno Thiry coming. Although Thiry was able to dodge into a ditch, his car bounced back on the road and hit the woman at . She flew down the road and succumbed to her injuries within minutes. Next year in Harju, Danish driver Karsten Richardt carried far too much speed into a right-hander. After hitting a bump and getting airborne, he missed the curve and went straight, hitting a road sign and a concrete barrier. Uncontrollably airborne, his car eventually plunged into the crowd off the course. 29 spectators were brought to the hospital. 45-year-old Belgian tourist Ludo Briers was operated on within 38 minutes, but his injuries soon proved fatal. Before being hit, Briers had pushed one spectator to safety and protected another with his body. In a subdued celebration, drivers from Central Finland manned the podium; Tommi Mäkinen took his third win in a row, ahead of Kankkunen and Jarmo Kytölehto. In 1997, AKK Sports, the marketing company of AKK-Motorsport, took over as the organiser and the WRC teams awarded the event for its safety efforts. A new super special stage was built at Hippos, along with a VIP village for 1,600 people. In the following year, teams voted the event as the Rally of the Year. On his way to a record third consecutive title, Mäkinen set a record with his fifth Rally Finland win in a row. Entry lists included ice hockey star and auto racing enthusiast Teemu Selänne, who finished 33rd in 1997 and 24th in 1998. The event also attracted environmental criticism throughout the decade; protests gathered about a hundred participants in 1997 and two hundred in 1998. In a 1997 study by the University of Jyväskylä, partly funded by AKK, Jyväskylä and Rally Finland, the environmental impact was estimated to be small; the noise from the rally cars, helicopters and speakers was considered the biggest harm. In 1999, Harju was dropped from the route and extra points were awarded to the three fastest drivers of the Ruuhimäki stage, which was televised live by Yle to millions around the world. 2000s After years of rumours of the rally moving from Jyväskylä to Southern Finland for better accommodations, Tampere announced its intention to host the event after 1999. Jyväskylä retained the event but the headquarters were relocated to the large newly