The premier Finnish racing series, Finnish Racing Championship, roars into action 24th to 25th of May in Kemora, Central Ostrobothnia. The series, which united with the Rata SM series, will be contested over four Finnish Championship -title categories: V1600, Legends, V8 Thunder, and BMW Xtreme Race. Along with these four categories, the series will host a number of national level categories during its five weekends. Perhaps the most interesting of which is the completely new category FRC GT Open. Jointly developed with the drivers, the category has gathered a lot of interest.
In the number reservation portal on AKK’s website, there have been over 40 number reservations done to date. Whilst reserving a competition number does not automatically mean that the car and/or driver is present at the races, it is indeed a sign of trust towards the new category. The number reservation and competing in the FRC GT Open does not make the competitor ineligible for other classes in the series, but instead provides opportunity for more racing during the same weekend. The number reservations are open, and registration of entries for the 2024 season will be opened in March.
Finnish drivers throughout the Northern Europe
Amongst those who have reserved a number, there are many names familiar within racing scene in Northern Europe. Porsche Sprint Challenge drivers Simo P. Kangas, Jari Ollila, and Daniel Skurnik, have made the reservation, as well as the Kauhajoki-based team Relaa Racing, known for helping young talents towards the racing arenas of Central Europe. Porsche Spring Challenge series is contested with Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars in generations 992 and 991.2.
Finnish drivers present in the Baltic racing series have made reservations as well. Säkylä-based Jyrki Peltola, who made an appearance with FRC last year in the opening race of Alastaro’s new long layout with his thundering Chevrolet Corvette C6, has reserved his number. Another driver to gather fans around Baltics is Jukka Soimetsä and his diesel-powered BMW 335d.
Other FRC categories well represented
FRC GT Open opens the possibility to compete with other categories of the FRC series, and there are many names familiar from other categories. The last year’s TGT bronze medalist, a long time racing driver John K. Westman and the TGT and V8 Thunder reigning champion Emil Westman are represented. Further V8 Thunder drivers are Jarkko Tähtinen with his Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro -drivers Vesa Mäkelä and Lasse Yrjänä, and Mercedes-Benz driver Kaj Erik Kytönen, who made the return to the circuits of Finland and put his C63 AMG to pole in the Copart FRC Ahvenisto last year. Legends cars are represented by the reigning Finnish champion Henri Tuomaala.
Last year’s The Gran Turismo category is well represented too. Alongside last year’s top three, the number reservees include Porsche drivers Anssi Väätäinen, Turo Levänen, and Seppo Kovanen. TCR touring cars are represented by Mika Mäkinen in his VW Golf GTI and Kari Matikainen with his white Honda Civic TCR. John K. and Emil Westman are expected to run TCR-category cars too, as they’ve also entered the TCR Finland category alongside Mäkinen.
Along with the Porsches, BMW is expected to be a popular choice of manufacturer in the GT Open fields. The spectacularly orange and winged BMW 140i of Gepardi Motorsport is present in the number reservations, as well as Julius Salminen, who competed with a red BMW M3 last year. Finnish Championship category BMW Xtreme Race is represented by Juuso Turtiainen and Marko Rantanen. Last year’s BMW drivers also include Olli Komsi and Timo Dahl, who revealed to be competing with a Citroen DS3 Cup car prepared by his team. The French margue is also expected to be represented by Jussi Hyvönen with Xsara VTS. Historic Race Finland has been mentioned in the number reservations, with Juha Rajavuori and Raimo Kesseli reserving their respective number through the club.
What GT Open?
FRC GT Open is a new open-format race category for GT and touring cars. The category has been divided into four distinctive classes that have their own point systems but race in same races. With all four categories on the track at the same time, the racing is set to be spectacular and exciting.
The new FRC GT Open concept also includes GT Open 4H races that are according to the name four hours long making driver swaps possible. The FRC GT Open races will be held with all five rounds of FRC, while GT Open 4H races in selected events of the series. The specifics of the GT Open 4H events will be released at a further date.
If you are interested in competing in FRC GT Open, feel free to contact any of the FRC representatives here.