Finnish championship at Joensuu

Määttä and Kokko claimed victories, ex-F1 pilot Mika Salo finished 10th due to gearbox failure.

Round 5 of the Finnish Rallycross Championship was held on Saturday August 6 at the Joensuun Rallicrossrata of Joensuu in North Karelia (Eastern Finland), not far away from the border to Russia. The A final of the Supercar category had four Ford Focus Mk1 drivers claiming the first places, multiple Finnish champion Atro Määttä eventually winning from Jukka Lautamäki and Eemeli Peltokangas. After the so-called ‘star drive’ of WRC ace Miko Hirvonen in the fourth round of the series (Kauhajoki) this time the seat of the ex-Rustam Minnikhanov and ex-Martti Simonen 530+bhp Ford Fiesta Mk6 Supercar was taken by former Formula One driver Mika Salo who also enjoyed his first ever Rallycross a lot. Due to technical problems with the car Salo had to give up, but nevertheless praised his one-off adventure: “This was both, a fun as well as an educational event. These guys here drive really fast. I was able to race with the toughest of them and learned a lot all the time. However, as I did not get enough used to my car during the limited tests prior to the event I lacked experience. And when the third gear called it a day early in the second heat the game was over for me, as the third is the most important gear for this track.”

• Supercar – Final Results:
• 1. Atro Määttä (FIN) Ford Focus I
• 2. Jukka Lautamäki (FIN) Ford Focus I
• 3. Eemeli Peltokangas (FIN) Ford Focus I
• 4. Pekka Keski-Korsu (FIN) Ford Focus I
• 5. Janne Kanerva (FIN) Škoda Fabia I
• 6. Ari Perkiömäki (FIN) Ford Fiesta VI
• 10. Mika Salo (FIN) Ford Fiesta VI
• SRC – Final Results:
• 1. Jari-Pekka Kokko (FIN) Ford Escort VII
• 2. Jukka-Pekka Peltokangas (FIN) Ford Escort VII
• 3. Joni-Pekka Rajala (FIN) Ford Escort VII
• 4. Vesa Hirvonen (FIN) Volvo S40 I
• 5. Niklas Ehrnsten (FIN) Volvo 940
• 6. Tuomas Seppä (FIN) Volvo S40 I

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