Rautio Motorsport, which represents Kauppinen, confirmed on Thursday that the 18-year-old driver will move to the SM1 class of the Finnish Rally Championship. The Finnish prospect will drive a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car.
Kauppinen has long been regarded as a promising Finnish rally talent. Last season, he clinched the SM3 class championship in the Finnish Rally Championship with a Ford Fiesta Rally4 car.
Now, Kauppinen is aiming for success in the top class of the SM series with a four-wheel-drive rally car. His co-driver will be Sebastian Virtanen, who last season read pace notes for Benjamin Korhola in the series’ top class.
Kauppinen plans to carry out comprehensive testing with his new car before the season begins.
“This is a great opportunity, and I feel very excited,” Kauppinen enthuses.
“I’ve had the chance to test the Toyota once, and I quickly got to grips with the car. The test left a good impression, but I’ll need more mileage to fully utilise the car’s potential. Driving for Rautio’s team, our goal is naturally to succeed,” he continues.
Despite his young age, Kauppinen already has a significant number of competition starts under his belt, though most of these have been with front-wheel-drive cars. Last season, Kauppinen made his debut in the WRC2 class at Rally Finland, gaining valuable experience for the future.
An international competition programme is currently being developed for Kauppinen, aiming to provide him with as much rally experience as possible in a variety of conditions.
Rautio Motorsport’s other driver, Roope Korhonen, won the SM1 class championship last year with a Toyota. Korhonen will begin his season at the second round of the SM series, the Arctic Lapland Rally in Rovaniemi.
Korhonen will not be targeting the Finnish Championship this year, as his focus will be on the international stage. He will start his WRC season in February at Rally Sweden, using the Arctic Rally as preparation.
“In Rovaniemi, the goal is to win, even though we’ll also treat it partly as a test and focus on Rally Sweden,” Korhonen says.
Last season, Korhonen’s results in the WRC2 class of the World Rally Championship fell short of expectations. He showcased his pace but failed to secure a single podium finish, with his best result being fourth place in WRC2 at Rally Sweden.
This year, the 26-year-old Korhonen is aiming higher.
“This is an important season for the future, and we need to perform better. Last year, we had three rallies where a podium was within reach, but it remained a dream.
“We need to find consistency to deliver results. It’s not enough to perform well on one stage; we need to post competitive times consistently throughout the rally,” Korhonen outlines.
