After a tough start to the RallyX championship, Joonatan Ylilammi appears to have made the right call by abandoning his Casmat chassis in favor of a Speedcar Wonder—an upgrade that has propelled him back to the top of the CrossCar category.
With 92 points to his name and just 11 points behind CrossCar RallyX North leader Martin Juga, Ylilammi has clearly made the most of recent rounds at KymiRing and Alvsbyn, turning around a season that looked to be slipping away.
Case in point: beyond his back-to-back victories in Alvsbyn, the Finnish driver—who averaged just 12.1 points per event between Montalegre and Riga in the Casmat—has since posted an impressive 25.3-point average out of a possible 30 with the Wonder.
“I can’t really explain it, but this Speedcar Wonder feels like it was built just for me. I trust this car, it feels right, and that’s probably why I’ve found my speed again. With the Casmat, I could never quite figure out where the limit was,” Joonatan explains.
Having won the last two races, the young Finnish talent is now eyeing the final stretch of the 2025 RallyX season with fierce determination to keep up the momentum.
“That Alvsbyn weekend was just incredible—two wins in two days. I never imagined I’d pull that off with a car I barely know, especially since I’d only raced it once before at KymiRing. But everything just clicked. I had a few suspension issues early in the weekend, but once we sorted those out, I could focus entirely on driving—pushing harder and stretching the limits. Honestly, it helped me realize how much faster I could actually go.”
Even a thunderstorm that disrupted the second day of racing wasn’t enough to throw Ylilammi off his game.
“I had absolutely no frame of reference with the Wonder in wet conditions—I’d never tested it in the rain. But I’ve always been strong when it gets slippery, and I proved that again in Race 2. Honestly, my performances in Sweden were exactly what I needed to approach the final part of the championship with confidence.”
Clearly, the rising Finnish star has no intention of slowing down.
“I think there’s still room to improve the car before the end of the season—especially the engine, where we’ve got some solid margin for progress. But we’ll need to put in the testing time if we want to do this right. Maybe I can still grab a few strong finishes in the overall standings, but to do that, I need to be fast at every race and score big points. I’ll give it everything I’ve got and see where it takes me.”
One thing’s certain: Joonatan is already fired up for the next stop in Nysum, scheduled for August 2–3.
“I can’t wait to be back in Nysum. That track suits me perfectly. It’s got elevation, speed, tight corners—it’s a complete circuit, and I love it.”
“Last year, I won the Sunday race in a downpour, which really helped. Saturday was tougher—I had car issues that held me back. But this year, I’m heading into those final four events with confidence.”