At just 13 years old, Finnish rising star Peetu Matalamäki has seamlessly transitioned from karting to rallycross and is preparing to take his skills to the next level in the 2025 RallyX North Championship.
After competing in six RallyX races in 2024 and finishing 14th overall, Matalamäki shone on his home turf, claiming fourth place in the junior category of his national championship. He outpaced several notable RallyX competitors, including Alex Anttila, Niko Kinnunen and Jere Huuhka, and placed just behind Peetu Piira, Pauli Turpeinen and Jesper Rantanen.
“Coming from karting, we never expected our first rallycross season to go so well. This year has exceeded all our expectations,” says Peetu.
“We didn’t have any specific goals for our rallycross debut. The main focus was to gain experience – both driving and understanding the nuances of the sport. But we were pleasantly surprised to win our first rallycross race in just the second round of the Finnish championship at Kouvola”
“This victory boosted our confidence and pushed us to aim higher, towards a top 3 finish in the Finnish Championship. We were even in contention for a podium finish in the last race of the season, but unfortunately a jump start cost us the result we were hoping for.”
In 2025, Peetu Matalamäki will join the ranks of promising young talents competing full-time in the Junior category of the RallyX North Championship. The season will start in May on the demanding Riga circuit in Latvia.
“We were very impressed with the RallyX championship last year. We particularly appreciated the quality of the organisation and the races themselves. In addition, the high number of competitors makes for very competitive events with extremely tight margins. That’s why we decided that RallyX is the best way to develop as a driver.”
Still in the learning phase of his rallycross career, the young Finn has identified the critical areas he needs to master to become a title contender in 2025.
“Obviously, the transition from karting has meant adapting to a completely different environment. The cars, the driving style, the tracks and the race format are all worlds apart from what we were used to. But the biggest difference is the limited track time before the races. In karting we had several practice sessions, whereas in rallycross we’re only allowed a few laps, which requires a quick adaptation”.
As the new season approaches, Matalamäki and his team are hard at work fine-tuning their Speedcar Wonder chassis and have set clear goals for the coming months.
“We’ve made some changes and improvements to the car during the off-season and we’ll continue fine-tuning throughout 2025. At the same time, I’ve spent a lot of time behind the wheel to better understand the chassis and build my confidence. Our goal for 2025 is clear: to finish in the top 3 in the junior category. I’m fully aware that it won’t be easy to achieve, but we’re ready to put in the hard work to make it happen”
