KMS Racing tackles Arctic Lapland Rally with a solid driver line-up
KMS Racing begins the 2023 season with the traditional Arctic Lapland Rally. KMS brings three cars to the Arctic adventure, two of which to the FRC3 category and a single entry in FRC2.
KMS Racing, the official M-Sport partner in Finland, opens the 2023 rally season with traditional Arctic Lapland Rally. KMS Racing has three cars on the starting line; two in FRC3 and one in FRC2.
In FRC2, KMS Racing is represented by Jani Luhtaniemi – Juha-Pekka Jauhiainen. The pair will be competing with four-wheel drive Ford Fiesta Rally3. Making his four-wheel-drive debut in Rovaniemi, Luhtaniemi is a long-time KMS Racing customer with an active role in team’s daily operations as a mechanic. Last time 26-year-old Luhtaniemi competed during the 2020 season with KMS Racing’s machinery, that time with Ford Fiesta R2T19.
-I believe I’ve learned a lot after my last racing season and improved a lot. Of course everything is new with the Rally3, mostly due to four-wheel-drive. We’re aiming for a solid results here. The feeling’s good, Luhtaniemi comments before the rally which is due to begin on Friday.
In FRC3 category competing for Team’s championship points for KMS Racing is Joonas Ojala, co-driven by Patric Öhman. 16-year-old Ojala won two Finnish Under 18 Rally Champioship rounds, and moves up to FRC3 with the front-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta Rally4.
-We drove Arctic Lapland Rally last year, which was not part of our championship, and I believe it benefits us here this year. Arctic Rally is longer and overall quite different comparing to other rounds of the Finnish championship. Learning the new car takes its time, but we’ll do our best and see where it gets us at the finish. I have a good feeling after testing and I’m looking forward to the start on Friday, Ojala says.
International colours for KMS Racing is brought by Czech youngster Daniel Polášek and his co-driver Kateřina Janovská. An experienced driver for his age, from both local Czech events as well as his total of nine ERC starts, which means that long events are nothing new to the 23-year-old driver. This weekend’s event will be his debut on snow with Ford Fiesta Rally4.
-We are happy to be here in Rovaniemi near Arctic Circle. The stages are really beautiful here. We don’t have any expectations for the rally, and our goal is to finish, Polášek smiles.
KMS Racing’s team principal Jussi Kumpumäki is satisfied with his team´s line-up and is looking forward to the weekend’s event.
-Jani showed his speed two years ago, and with proper preparations and good amount of testing I’m interested to see how fast he’ll be. Joonas and Daniel are in a way on the same line, apart from the identical cars of course. Joonas showed us last year that he can keep the throttle pinned to the floor with V1600 cars and it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up in the new category. Daniel on the other hand has a lot of experience and speed in Rally4 category, but it’s his first time on snow. The length of the event suit Daniel well, as the ERC events are of similar length, Kumpumäki sums.
KMS Racing cars depart for the total of 245,60 kilometre route on Friday morning. Luhtaniemi will be driving with number 16, Ojala with 42 and Polášek with 52. The rally is streamed live to YouTube on Moottoriurheilu.tv’s channel, and live results can be found via rallism.fi.
Arctic Lapland Rally Schedule:
In FRC2, KMS Racing is represented by Jani Luhtaniemi – Juha-Pekka Jauhiainen. The pair will be competing with four-wheel drive Ford Fiesta Rally3. Making his four-wheel-drive debut in Rovaniemi, Luhtaniemi is a long-time KMS Racing customer with an active role in team’s daily operations as a mechanic. Last time 26-year-old Luhtaniemi competed during the 2020 season with KMS Racing’s machinery, that time with Ford Fiesta R2T19.
-I believe I’ve learned a lot after my last racing season and improved a lot. Of course everything is new with the Rally3, mostly due to four-wheel-drive. We’re aiming for a solid results here. The feeling’s good, Luhtaniemi comments before the rally which is due to begin on Friday.
In FRC3 category competing for Team’s championship points for KMS Racing is Joonas Ojala, co-driven by Patric Öhman. 16-year-old Ojala won two Finnish Under 18 Rally Champioship rounds, and moves up to FRC3 with the front-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta Rally4.
-We drove Arctic Lapland Rally last year, which was not part of our championship, and I believe it benefits us here this year. Arctic Rally is longer and overall quite different comparing to other rounds of the Finnish championship. Learning the new car takes its time, but we’ll do our best and see where it gets us at the finish. I have a good feeling after testing and I’m looking forward to the start on Friday, Ojala says.
International colours for KMS Racing is brought by Czech youngster Daniel Polášek and his co-driver Kateřina Janovská. An experienced driver for his age, from both local Czech events as well as his total of nine ERC starts, which means that long events are nothing new to the 23-year-old driver. This weekend’s event will be his debut on snow with Ford Fiesta Rally4.
-We are happy to be here in Rovaniemi near Arctic Circle. The stages are really beautiful here. We don’t have any expectations for the rally, and our goal is to finish, Polášek smiles.
KMS Racing’s team principal Jussi Kumpumäki is satisfied with his team´s line-up and is looking forward to the weekend’s event.
-Jani showed his speed two years ago, and with proper preparations and good amount of testing I’m interested to see how fast he’ll be. Joonas and Daniel are in a way on the same line, apart from the identical cars of course. Joonas showed us last year that he can keep the throttle pinned to the floor with V1600 cars and it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up in the new category. Daniel on the other hand has a lot of experience and speed in Rally4 category, but it’s his first time on snow. The length of the event suit Daniel well, as the ERC events are of similar length, Kumpumäki sums.
KMS Racing cars depart for the total of 245,60 kilometre route on Friday morning. Luhtaniemi will be driving with number 16, Ojala with 42 and Polášek with 52. The rally is streamed live to YouTube on Moottoriurheilu.tv’s channel, and live results can be found via rallism.fi.
Arctic Lapland Rally Schedule:
Friday 13.1. - 105,71 km:
11:00 - Start - Lordin Aukio, Rovaniemi
12:03 - SS1 Jyrhämäjärvi - 33,38 km
13:26 - SS2 Mäntyvaara 1 - 3,50 km
15:59 - SS3 Kaihuavaara - 27,93 km
17:02 - SS4 Kivalo Siikakämä - 37,40 km
18:45 - SS5 Mäntyvaara 2 - 3,50 km
Saturday 14.1. - 139,89 km
08:53 - SS6 Siikakämä - 26,60 km
09:56 - SS7 Aittajärvi - 22,69 km
10:59 - SS8 Ounasvaara - 1,65 km
13:42 - SS9 Heinunkierto - 24,96 km
15:05 - SS10 Sarriojärvi - 32,48 km
16:38 - SS11 Ristilampi - 31,51 km
Photo: KMS Racing
