After Oliver Solberg in 2018, who was able to impose his class and style at the age of 16 to become the youngest driver in history to win a major Supercar title, Joni Turpeinen has managed to eclipse the man who now reigns supreme in WRC2.
Even in the craziest of scenarios, nobody could have anticipated or written in advance the way Joni Turpeinen would manage this 2024 campaign. At just 15 years of age and barely out of the Junior CrossCar category, the Finn has established himself as a model of consistency, with nine qualifications for a final in 10 races contested, to which must be added two victories for a total of four podium finishes.
The result is all the more astonishing given that Joni Turpeinen hadn’t planned to go beyond the Tierp and Kouvola events at the wheel of the ex-M-Sport Ford Fiesta.
‘To be honest, I don’t really know what to say about this title. I’m still in shock. Originally, we had just planned to take part in the first two rounds of the championship at Tierp and Kouvola, but things went so well that we ended up doing the whole championship.’
Even though the young Turpeinen was kept under pressure by his direct rivals Martin Enlund, Maiko Tamm and Filip Martinsson, he lived up to the expectations placed in him last weekend on the Buxtehude circuit.
‘It was obviously an exciting weekend, because we had quite a few new drivers in the class like Peter Hedström, Robin Larsson and Ulrik Linnemann, who knew this circuit like the back of their hand, while others, like me, had everything to discover.’
Calm and determined, Joni Turpeinen has never felt the weight of his position as leader in the Pro and Pro Am championships.
‘No, I don’t feel any stress’, Joni assured us before the start of the German event.
‘My objective remains the same as it has been for the last few races. I just want to score as many points as possible. That’s all I’m interested in. In my mind, there’s no choice to be made between the Pro championship and the Pro Am championship, because both competitions allow me to gain experience and that’s why I’m here.’
‘’Being up against experienced drivers at this level of competition isn’t a problem. For me, it’s just a bonus to be up against them and I’m looking forward to some good battles on the track. This Buxtehude circuit doesn’t allow for the slightest mistake, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy myself here.’
Sixth in the intermediate classification at the end of race 1 before claiming the ‘Top Qualifier’ award the following day thanks to two second best times in Q1 and Q2, the Finn failed to make it onto the podium in the final, but the main thing was definitely elsewhere for the new gem of world Rallycross.
‘We struggled a lot at the start of the weekend at Estering, but we were able to adapt our set-up, starting with a lot of work on the differentials, which enabled us to produce a completely different level of performance in Race 2. But as always, we stayed true to our philosophy. We wanted to score big points and that’s what we managed to do. Even though I wasn’t able to confirm our win from qualifications due to some contact at the start of the final, I think we can be proud of what we achieved.”
