Finnish Racing Championship’s fourth and only foreign round, Estonian Grand Prix, was held last weekend. The Porsche Ring circuit, located in Pärnu, Estonia, hosted the event organized by the EAL. The popular and historically significant event gathered over 140 competitors on both two and four wheels. On the FRC categories, five Latvian drivers entered in the Baltic 325 Cup category, but withdrew from the competition in the eve of the event. The event also hosted a round of Formula Historic, Estonian and Latvian Superbikes, as well as the appearance of the Oldbac Kalana, an Estonian-designed supercar aimed at breaking the lap record on the Porsche Ring, in front of a large crowd of Baltic and Finnish spectators present on the 3,2-kilometre circuit.
Ojaranta’s unbelievable fight to podium
The pole sitter for the Legends’ first race of the weekend was the championship leader Arto Ojaranta. However, due to illegal joint in the fan system he was dropped down in order all the way down to P27. This setback was mostly negated by the charging Ojaranta, who climbed into P15 by lap 2. The top three made a gap to the rest of the pack, with Ojaranta, reigning category champion Henri Tuomaala, and Leevi Lintukanto duking it out for the lead. Tuomaala took the win before Lintukanto and Ojaranta, who made a monstrous 24 position climb on to the podium.
In race 2, Ojaranta was again on pole, this time for good. A bad start however dropped him P3 with Tuomaala and Ojaranta’s main title rival Toni Lähteenmäki jumping the Finn. A safety car on lap 2 neutralised the race, and during restart Ojaranta, Lähteenmäki, Tuomaala, and Lintukanto made up the pack fighting for the win. The tight battle continued for the remaining three and half minutes. The positions were resolved only at the finish line, with Ojaranta P1, Lähteenmäki P2, Tuomaala P3 and Lintukanto P4.
Kia’s on a roll in V1600
After Friday’s qualifying, race 1 was led by Miio Nurminen in a Kia Ceed. Nurminen took a fantastic start, who led the pack into turn 1 and did not look back taking his first win of the season. The championship leader Matias Nuoramo finished P2 before the Mini One of Roope Mäkelä.
In race 2, Nurminen’s steering was bent and the Finn was forced to retire. Fellow Kia Ceed driver Niko Kalliokoski took over the representation of Kias in the category, and won the wet race with one of the biggest margins of the season, over 14 seconds. Nuoramo took home a strong tally of championship points, with his main rival, fellow Toyota Auris driver Aapo Skaffari bringing P3 home.
Race 3 belonged to Nuoramo, who strengthened his grip of the title by taking the lead on the first lap from second on the grid and led home a win. Skaffari finished second before Roope Mäkelä in P3.
V1600 Cup was also contested, with Leevi Rajavuori taking home the win with VW Lupo GTI.
Westman dominated V8 Thunder
In V8 Thunder category, the reigning championship leader Emil Westman had a considerable lead in this year’s championship. The Chevrolet Camaro driver did not feel the pressure delivering a confident drive to P1. Behind Westman, a three-way fight for P2 was going on the whole race. On the final lap of the race, Petri Ortju made a daring lunge for P3 but miscalculated his braking causing the Mercedes-Benz driver to go wide and spin on the grass. Miko Kiminki, who survived Ortju’s attack, took on Harri Komu for the second place with a move into the penultimate corner with no success. Mounting another attack for the final turn, the pressure got to Komu who slid wide allowing Kiminki to take home P2 with Komu in P3.
In the second race, the recent rain forced the drivers to guess which tire compound would be dominant on the drying track. Westman was the weather master winning his second race of the weekend. Miko Kiminki took the right compound finishing P2 before Petri Ortju in Mercedes-Benz C63. Ilmari Wallo was another driver who took the right Hoosier tires, finishing his season-best 4th position.
Race 3 was again Westman’s to win with Kiminki in P2. Ford Mustang driver Jarkko Tähtinen, who retired from the first two races due to technical issues, initially finished P3 before the Stewards gave the Finn a 1 place penalty post-race. This allowed the Chevrolet Camaro-driver Vesa Mäkelä, who returned to the series for the first time this year, to take home third place.
Timo and Markus Grönthal took home first wins of the season
BMW Xtreme Races of the weekend consisted also of additional 9X and Baltic 325 Cup categories, the latter of which initially had five entrants but ultimately only one car started the race. In the opening round the championship leader Petri Haavisto won before Joakim Valli and Markus Grönthal.
In race 2, Haavisto’s luck ran out with the Finn’s BMW diving into the pits three laps before finish due to technical issues. This gave way to the tight battle for the win between Markus Grönthal and Marko Rantanen. After swapping positions a few times, Grönthal took the honours with Rantanen in second and Martin Makkonen third.
In the third, 40-minute race with a mandatory pit stop, first drivers Markus Grönthal and Joakim Valli had a scrap for the lead for the first 20 minutes. Grönthal undercutted Valli, with Timo Grönthal taking the wheel of the #96 BMW. A lap later, Valli gave the car to Jake Welin, who emerged two seconds behind Grönthal fröm the pits. From there Grönthal & Grönthal cruised to victory before pair Valli / Welin. Martin Makkonen rounded up the top 3.
The Baltic 325 Cup honours belonged to the Estonian Romet Reisin, who shined on his home event finishing P5 overall in race 2. BMW 9X categories saw a clean sweep from Jukka Soimetsä – Janne Järvelä in their E90-generation 325s.
FRC GT Open’s class 1 belonged to Tuomaala with tight battle in class 2
FRC GT Open weekend was started with Henri Tuomaala taking the pole position in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992 before the ADAC GT4 Germany driver Matias Salonen in an identical car. Second row consisted of the Class 1 championship leader Tommi Haru in yet another 992-gen Porscheand Class 2 pole sitter Mattias Wrede in a Porsche 911 GT3 Gen. 991.2, with Class 3 pole honours going to Mika Mäkinen and his rapid VW Golf GTI TCR. Tuomaala led the field to green and jumped Salonen, taking an early lead that lasted until the chequered flag, followed by Salonen and Haru. Class 2’s fastest driver was Mattias Wrede, who had been on a roll the whole weekend before Turo Levänen in his 997-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Mika Mäkinen finished sixth, winning Class 3.
In the second race, the grid was identical in top 4. This time, both Salonen and Haru mounted a challenge to Tuomaala, who despite momentarily dropping behind Salonen retook the lead and cruised to victory. Salonen faced immense pressure from Haru, but took the flag with .5 seconds before Haru. In Class 2, Jarkko Tähtinen’s Ford Mustang was now in its paces, and the V8 Thunder driver first passed Levänen and then Wrede to take Class 2 honours. Class 3 was again Mäkinen’s, with newcomers Kai Selkämaa with a turbocharged E36 BMW taking P2 on his debut race, and Endurance-competitor Joonas Olin finishing third in his series’ debut in a E46 M3.
A new lap record and world-class talent in Estonian Grand Prix
Besides the FRC categories, a round of Estonian and Latvian Superbikes and Formula Historic was held. In Superbikes, the BMW factory rider in the FIM World Endurance Championship, Hannes Soomer, took his winged S1000RR to a commanding win in both of the weekend’s races, exciting his numerous fans along the way. Superstock 600 was dominated by Estonian Yamaha driver Hugo-Brent Freimann, and C600/C1200 category wins belonged to Maksim Dzivak riding a BMW. In Formula Historic, the Estonia 21 of Andris Grikis proved unbeatable.
The weekend also hosted the exciting, locally-build engineering marvel Oldbac Kalana. Driven by its lead designer Tonis Vanaselja, the Judd V8-powered supercar lapped the Porsche Ring in 1:08,438, beating the lap record held by the same car a year ago.
Finnish Racing Championships extends its gratitude for the EAL, the organiser, personnel on sight, and everyone who worked as well as all the competitors hard to make Estonian Grand Prix the fantastic event it was. Estonian Grand Prix’ position on the 2025 calendar has already been confirmed. Finnish Racing Championship’s grand finale will be held at Alastaro in 14th to 15th of September.
