After spending years in the World Rally Championship, Ferm retired from his professional career as Esapekka Lappi’s co-driver last autumn. However, he hasn’t completely stepped away from rallying.
This year, Ferm is navigating at least the opening rounds of the Finnish Rally Championship for Teemu Asunmaa.
Their first rally together turned out to be a perfect start, as Asunmaa and Ferm took victory in the opening round of the Finnish Rally Championship in Kuopio on Saturday. The win came with a margin of 6.8 seconds over Tuukka Kauppinen.
Ferm secured the Finnish Rally Championship title in 2012 with Lappi, dominating the season. Since then, his appearances in the Finnish Championship have been few and far between.
On Saturday, Ferm couldn’t hide his wide grin as he held a sparkling wine bottle and trophy in hand at Kuopio’s market square.
“Thanks to Teemu, this was a fantastic day. It’s great to be back in the Finnish Rally Championship,” Ferm said during the victory celebrations.
Asunmaa, in turn, had nothing but praise for his new co-driver. The pair managed to build a decisive lead early in the rally and maintained their position all the way to the finish.
“This was a great test for us ahead of the Arctic Lapland Rally. We kicked off our collaboration with Janne, and it went exceptionally well,” Asunmaa said.
“Janne won every Finnish Rally Championship event in 2012 with Esapekka, so it’s a good thing we won because Janne isn’t used to losing at this level,” Asunmaa joked.
Next, Asunmaa and Ferm will head to Rovaniemi to chase victory in the traditional Arctic Lapland Rally.
“The atmosphere in the car is great, and after a brief break, we’ll be ready to tackle the Arctic,” Asunmaa said.
The Arctic Lapland Rally will take place in less than two weeks, at the turn of January and February.
