The foundations of Neste Rally Finland were laid in the summer of 1951, after a competition called the Hanko Run in the seaside resort Hanko, southern Finland.

The number of Finnish crews willing to tackle Rallye Monte Carlo in the 50s was greater than the countrys allocation of entries. The Hanko Run used to be viewed as a qualifying event of sorts, with the best finishers getting acceptance for their Monte entry. The regulations of Hanko Run did not always find favour with the competitors. They differed notably from those of Rallye Monte Carlo. The competitors were complaining that the basis for selection of Monte Carlo entries was not valid, as no Monte-type competition existed in the country.

At a dinner after the Hanko Run in 1951 a group of seasoned Monte Carlo competitors sat together discussing about how important it was to have a relevant qualifying system for Finnish entries to Rallye Monte Carlo. They decided at the proposal of Pentti Barck to organise an annual competition in Jyvaskyla, which to quite some extent - including its regulations - would be a copy of Monte. The first rally would be held that same year in September. The decision was made in July.

To canvass a prize fund of 100 000 Finnmarks, it was suggested each participant of the meeting would chip in 10 000. This raised 80 000 and the balance was donated by the first sponsor - Hotel Jyvashovi of Jyvaskyla.

The first organiser was the Central Finland district organisation of Finlands Automobile Club. Rally was named Jyvaskylan Suurajot, in english Jyvaskyla Grand Prix. The regulations were largely based on those of Rallye Monte Carlo. The rally was 1 666 kilometres in length with two special stages. A total of 26 competitors started the rally, 3 of which retired. The route took the participants all the way up to the Arctic Circle and back. The first special stage was a 1400-metre hillclimb in Puijo, Kuopio and the other one was an acceleration and braking test in Harju, Jyvaskyla. The declared winners of the first rally were Arvo Carlsson - Vilho Mattila. The seeds had been sewn for a Finnish legend.

Rally of the Thousand Lakes

The rally has been based in Jyvaskyla ever since. In the year 1954 the international name Rally of the Thousand Lakes appeared in the events logo for the first time. 1959 was the first year for the event to become a qualifying round of the European Championship. Next step for the event was its inclusion in the Championship for Manufacturers in its first year in 1973. The drivers championship started in 1979 and Rally of the Thousand Lakes immediately became a regular qualifying round. Year 1980 was exeptional, as the event was a qualifying round in the drivers series only. During the 80s the rallys international name was gradually shaped in to 1000 Lakes Rally, although the original logo always held the longer version.

The event signed its first title sponsorship deal and became Neste 1000 Lakes Rally in 1994. The alternation system of World Championship rallies in 1995 caused the event to be a qualifying round in the 2-litre championship only.

Towards the New Era

Big change in the organizing of the event occurred in 1997, as Finnish Automobile Sport Federation took over the event. AKK Sports Ltd, the marketing company of the Finnish ASN, took responsibility of organising the event. This entailed the changing of its name into Neste Rally Finland. The company set out to develop Neste Rally Finland into a clearly defined brand. It was essential to make the public understand that a fundamental change had taken place.

The new organisation put effort to the safety and promotional aspects, and raised the standard of the event. This was also noted by the customers. Year 1997 the event won the Award of Excellence: Outstanding Safety Effort, which is an award voted by the FIA registered teams.

Year 1998 Neste Rally Finland was voted as the Rally of the Year again by the teams. Year 1999 the event received acknowledgement for the promotional efforts with the Award of Excellence: Promotion, mainly for the top of the class corporate hospitality VIP Village at Hippos Super Special Stage.

The event was the Rally of the Year again in 2003. The teams opinion was that Neste Rally Finland took the sporting, commercial and organisational aspects of World Championship rallying to a new level. The teams also considered that the Finnish organisers had a thorough and complete understanding of what spectators and competitors wanted in a modern rally.