F1 race winner Kovalainen to make European rally switch for 2023
Formula 1 race winner Heikki Kovalainen will contest the Finnish Rally Championship next year after agreeing a deal to drive for a new team alongside Kimi Raikkonen’s nephew.
The former McLaren, Renault, Caterham and Lotus F1 driver switched to rallying full-time for 2022 following his retirement from SUPER GT, conquering the Japanese Rally Championship this season driving a Skoda Fabia Rally2 alongside long-time co-driver Sae Kitagawa.
Following his success in Japan’s national series, the Finn made his World Rally Championship debut at the season-ending Rally Japan in November, which resulted in the 41-year-old scoring a point on debut after finishing 10th overall and fourth in the WRC2 class.
Speaking to Motorsport.com after the event, Kovalainen expressed his desire to compete in a rally in Europe in the future.
Since then a deal has been put together and today it was announced that he will expand his rallying career by taking on the Finnish national championship, driving for the all-new Secto Labs team.
Kovalainen will once again pilot a Skoda Fabia Rally2, but will be joined by Finnish radio host and media personality Janni Hussi in the co-driver seat. Hussi made her co-driving debut last year competing in two national level events alongside 2021 Junior WRC champion Sami Pajari.
Due to a busy schedule, Hussi will sit out the Arctic Lapland Rally on 12-14 January, with Miikka Anttila, who called pacenotes for 18-time WRC rally winner and now Toyota WRC boss Jari-Matti Latvala, set to deputise.
Heikki Kovalainen has his sights set on Finland
Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images
"After the World Rally Championship in Japan [in mid-November], things moved forward quickly. We sat down with the team and quickly came to an agreement,” Kovalainen said when speaking about the three-year deal to Finnish media outlet Iltalehti.
"Participating in the Rally Championship series has been a big dream of mine for a long time. It's great that the dream is finally coming true."
Kovalainen will be joined at the Secto Labs team by Justus Raikkonen, the 17-year-old nephew of 2007 F1 champion Kimi. Raikkonen is set to pilot a Rally4 specification Peugeot 208 in the championship.
The teenager impressed on his WRC debut at Rally Finland this year, winning the Rally4 category by 24 minutes.
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