Teenage talent Turpeinen reflects upon ‘unbelievable’ podium finish

Joni Turpeinen was tipped as a star in the making even before the 2026 FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign got underway. In the curtain-raising contest in Latvia last weekend (9-10 May), he lived up to that billing and then some.

In truth, his form came as little surprise. Turpeinen had vied for victory in torrential conditions on his Euro RX1 debut at Höljes last summer, shining again on home soil at the KymiRing and then coming within a whisker of reaching the rostrum in Istanbul.

Behind the wheel of his M-Sport built, SET Promotion-prepared Ford Fiesta, the Finnish teenager – the youngest driver in the high-calibre, 29-strong field in Rīga – headed to the historic Biķernieku trase with designs on advancing to the final. He did rather better than that...

From the middle of the grid in Q1, Turpeinen nailed the start to immediately snatch the lead, thereafter confidently fending off SET stablemate and countryman Juha Rytkönen en route to the fourth-fastest time of the session. 

He executed a similarly lightning launch in Q2 to seize the initiative once more, going on to defeat rallycross legends Andreas Bakkerud and Johan Kristoffersson in a thrilling photo-finish, as the pace-setting trio flashed past the chequered flag blanketed by less than two tenths-of-a-second, with Turpeinen duly topping the overall order. 

In Q3, he was again embroiled in a battle of the big-hitters, overcoming a slightly sluggish launch to muscle his way into the lead exiting Turn Two, only for a puncture to curtail his charge. Unbowed, the 17-year-old bounced back in Q4 with a rapid run to the second-quickest time – securing him fifth spot in the intermediate classification.

At the quarter-final stage, Turpeinen out-dragged pole-sitter Kristofferson away from the line and staved off the Swede’s every attack until the joker laps, ultimately having to give best by barely a third-of-a-second. He attempted to tough it out around the outside of the eight-time World Champion through the opening exchanges in the semi-final, too, prior to pipping fellow rising star Casper Jansson to a berth in the all-important final.

There, the Kotka native took advantage of contact ahead into the first corner to climb from fifth to third, subsequently engaging in a race-long duel with triple European Champion Bakkerud. Withstanding intense pressure on the last lap, he beat the Norwegian to the bottom step of the rostrum by the margin of a mere three tenths-of-a-second.

“It was a good weekend,” Turpeinen reflected afterwards, with characteristic understatement. “It’s crazy to think those guys (Bakkerud and Kristoffersson) were already winning championships when I was still just a kid, and now, I’m racing against them and leading them! 

“Of course, I was a bit nervous with an eight-time World Champion behind me in Q2, and we were unfortunate to get the puncture in Q3; that meant we ended the first day with slightly mixed feelings, but we knew the pace was there.

“Then in the final, we had some ‘moments’ in Turns One and Two, but I managed to overtake a couple of cars to come out in third and after that, I just focused on driving my own race. Towards the end, I was locking the tyres all the time because they were still very warm from the semi-final, and Andreas was right on my tail and really giving it some – the pressure was high!

“It certainly didn’t come easy, but the speed we had and finishing on the podium was unbelievable! Now, my main target is to continue learning the tracks and reaching the finals, so we can score as many points as possible in the championship fight.”