Dahlqvist showed his teeth in Tuuri – Charpentier’s debut podium dried out on the last stage

09.03.2024 / KMS Racing Press

KMS Racing competed two Ford Fiestas in the third round of the Finnish Racing Championship this weekend. French racing driver Tristan Charpentier made his debut on snow, whilst 18-year-old Raoul Dahlqvist showed his pace in Tuuri.

The official M-Sport partner in Finland, KMS Racing, competed in the third round of the Finnish Rally Championship, SM Tuuri Ralli. With a two car effort, one in FRC2 and one in FRC3, the rally was full of positives for the team’s drivers.

In FRC2, the French formula driver turned rally star Tristan Charpentier and his co-driver Pierre Delorme took home almost all of the nearly 95 competitive kilometres. The Frenchman was running third in class before his rally ended in the unforgiving snowbanks of Finnish winter.

-We got a lot of good experience from Tuuri. We also improved throughout the rally, and the week as a whole, so I’m relatively happy for our debut here, Charpentier stated.

In FRC3, Raoul Dahlqvist’s rally started with an unfortunate trip to snowbanks that cost the Pohjankuru-native driver around 30 seconds. Charging into Saturday, the 18-year-old posted top-4 stage times throughout the day and elevated himself from 8^th in class after Friday all the way up to fourth.

-I’m happy with our rally overall. We showed our pace today and it has improved throughout the winter season, especially where we’ve identified it to be needed the most. Friday's mistake took its toll on the overall result, but other than that it’s all good. I’m eagerly waiting for the summer season opener. We now know that we have the pace, and aim to develop further, Dahlqvist said.

Finnish Rally Championship continues 24^th to 25^th of May with SM Mad-Croc Länsirannikon Ralli.

Overall results of SM Tuuri Ralli

FRC3:

1. Leevi Lassila                  54:57,0                 Ford Fiesta Rally4             FIN

2. Joni Korhonen               +50,1                    Peugeot 208 Rally4          FIN

3. Niko Kalmi                     +1:05,9                 Peugeot 208 Rally4          FIN

4. Raoul Dahlqvist           +1:29,1                Ford Fiesta Rally4            FIN

5. Giovanni Trentin          +1:35,7                 Ford Fiesta Rally4             ITA

Photo: Merita Mäkinen