AKK Sports takes Finnish RX event

The Finnish ASN, through its marketing company, AKK Sports has taken over the organisation of the Finnish round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship and has concluded a five-year deal to host the event with championship promoter IMG. The AKK is the only ASN to take direct control of a European Rallycross Championship event and the move can be seen as a clear indication of the increasing stature of the championship.

AKK Sports has a strong reputation and is organiser of the Neste Oil Rally Finland, regularly voted as the best event in the FIA World Rally Championship. The organiser will now bring its know-how to rallycross with the goal of making Finland’s event a trend setter for the revamped European championship.

The event will be run on the Tykkimäki track at Kouvola. “I am proud we can be involved in the establishment of a prestigious new FIA series with a company such as IMG, which is famous for its expertise in dealing with the some of the world’s best known sporting brands. The new event will nicely complement the portfolio of our business, offering another opportunity to exploit our own know-how,” said AKK Sports CEO Tiina Lehmonen.

For many years a leading player in rallycross, Finland was missing from the FIA European Rallycross Championship between 1999 and 2010 when the event was run at Kouvola for the first time, returning again in 2012. AKK Sports sees the promotion of a successful international event as having a beneficial knock-on effect for national rallycross in Finland.

“Finnish rallycross has been in the ascendancy for the past few years, its appeal proved by the number of competitors as well as spectators. I believe the involvement of IMG Motorsports as promoter of the international series, together with the new competition format, will boost interest towards rallycross not only internationally, but nationally too,” said Mika Heinonen, who will be the promoter of the Finnish round of the Championship.

“Finland has a strong heritage in the European Rallycross Championship and we believe that with a good date and the opportunity to promote the event regularly, Finland can again become one of the best rallycross events in the world,” said  Martin Anayi, MD of RallycrossRX for IMG.

The Finnish round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship will take place on June 8-9 at Kouvola.

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