After competing in the CrossCar category of the RallyX championship until last season, Finnish driver Jake Hurskainen decided to completely rethink his approach this winter.
Indeed, at the end of a 2023 campaign that ended in a modest 32nd place overall, the Finn decided to switch from his EDGE chassis to a Toyota MR2, which he was able to use at the end of May during the Kouvola RallyX event.
“In 2022 I won the Finnish CrossCar Championship, but the season I had last year was very different. I really suffered during the events and my season turned out to be very poor in terms of results. It was around this time that I started thinking about a possible change of category. I had always dreamed of driving a real rallycross car and that’s what made me decide to buy this Toyota MR2.
Although some technical problems in Kouvola prevented Jake Hurskainen from showing his speed, the Finn has no regrets about this new adventure.
“What really made me decide to step up to the Open 2WD category was the diversity of cars and technical choices you can make. I find it really interesting. For my part, I only have a 290hp engine, but I can rely on an ultra-light chassis that weighs in at just 900kg”.
While Jake will continue to focus on the Finnish Rallycross Championship this year, with the first round taking place at Kouvola this weekend, he is eager to return to RallyX as soon as possible.
“My dream would be to return to the RallyX championship as soon as possible to take part in a full Open 2WD programme, but for budgetary reasons that wasn’t possible this year. On the other hand, I can’t hide the fact that I would love to take part in the Buxtehude event in August.”
“It’s easy to get to, all I need to do is take the ferry from Helsinki to Hamburg. I don’t know if I can raise the budget, but I will do everything I can to do it, because it’s a track I really like.”
