Winter Jumps Series finale – Report

The final round of the Winter Jumps series was held at the Helsinki Child Fair with the host, Fullspeed RC, putting in much effort to offer an impressive racing track, a test track and stand for the exhibition. Thousands of people got to see RC Racing and 500+ kids tried out the test track in what turned out to be a great showcase for RC racing. And once again almost one hundred drivers made their entry for the 2WD and 4WD buggy classes. The 2WD class was held on Saturday and the racing was super tight with Pekko Iivonen and Jamiel Gabrielsson fighting it out for the TQ closely followed by Lauri Ruotsalainen, Tuomo Otsavaara and Arttu Syrjänen. In the end Jamiel managed to take the TQ in front of Pekko, Lauri, Tuomo and Arttu followed by Markku Honkanen, Juho Rajaniemi, Jarno SIltanen, Konsta Saarinen and Topi Salminen all making the A-main.

In the finals Jamiel won the opening leg but with Pekko managing to win the second and third final it was Pekko who took the overall win in front of Jamiel in 2nd, Lauri in 3rd, Tuomo in 4th and Markku in 5th.

2WD final results:
1. Pekko Iivonen – Schumacher
2. Jamiel Gabrielsson – Team Associated
3. Lauri Ruotsalainen – Team Associated
4. Tuomo Otsavaara – Team Associated
5. Markku Honkanen – Team Associated
6. Jarno Siltanen – Schumacher
7. Juho Rajaniemi – Team Associated
8. Konsta Saarinen – Xray
9. Arttu Syrjänen – Team Associated
10.Topi Salminen – Xray

Sunday was 4WD day and the same fast guys were again on top. In the qualifying Jamiel, Konsta and Pekko were the fastest, all taking one TQ round each, but in the end Konsta managed to TQ a second round and secure the overall TQ before Pekko in 2nd and Jamiel in 3rd. Lauri took 4th, Juho 5th, Markku 6th, Tuomo 7th, Jarno 8th, Topi 9th and Arttu 10th.

The finals were super tight with Pekko winning the first and Jamiel the second leg, leaving the third final as the decider. Pekko was leading, but Jamiel managed to cut the lead and challenge for the win. Unfortunately for Jamiel the challenge ended in a small driving error in the closing stages and Pekko could finish the race 1st with Jamiel in 2nd and Konsta in 3rd.

4WD final results:
1. Pekko Iivonen – Schumacher
2. Jamiel Gabrielsson – Team Associated
3. Konsta Saarinen – Xray
4. Lauri Ruotsalainen – Team Associated
5. Markku Honkanen – Team Associated
6. Tuomo Otsavaara – Xray
7. Juho Rajaniemi – Team Associated
8. Jarno Siltanen – Schumacher
9. Topi Salminen – Xray
10.Arttu Syrjänen – Team Associated

When the dust had settle it was time to crown the overall champions with Joona Haatanen secureing the overall victory in both classes. Joona took the clean sweep with four victories in both classes and showed why he is still the fastest 1/10 driver in Finland. In 2WD it was young and super fast driver Jamiel Gabrielsson who took the overall runner-up spot in front of Pekko in 3rd, Lauri in 4th and Arttu in 5th.

2WD overall top 20 results:
1. Haatanen Joona – Team Associated
2. Gabrielsson Jamiel – Team Associated
3. Iivonen Pekko – Schumacher
4. Ruotsalainen Lauri – Team Associated
5. Syrjänen Arttu – Team Associated
6. Otsavaara Tuomo – Xray/Team Associated
7. Siltanen Jarno – Schumacher
8. Saarinen Konsta – Xray
9. Mäki Oskari – Team Associated
10.Honkanen Markku – Team Associated
11.Lempiäinen Joona – Team Associated
12.Ullakko Ilmari – Team Associated
13.Luopajärvi Mikko – Team Associated
14.Salminen-wj Topi – Xray
15.Kuivalainen Eetu – Team Associated
16.Mäkinen Jani – Team Associated
17.Salmela Sami – Team Associated
18.Söderlund Max – Team Associated
19.Salmela Karri – Team Associated
20.Ullakko Kristian – Team Associated

In 4WD it was Pekko who managed to take the 2nd place behind Joona with Jamiel in 3rd, Konsta in 4th and Lauri in 5th.

4WD overall top 20 results:
1. Haatanen Joona – Team Associated
2. Iivonen Pekko – Schumacher
3. Gabrielsson Jamiel – Team Associated
4. Saarinen Konsta – Xray
5. Ruotsalainen Lauri – Team Associated
6. Honkanen Markku – Team Associated
7. Siltanen Jarno – Schumacher
8. Syrjänen Arttu – Team Associated
9. Salminen Topi – Xray
10.Mäki Oskari – Team Associated
11.Ullakko Ilmari – HB Racing
12.Otsavaara Tuomo – Xray
13.Söderlund Max – Team Associated
14.Ullakko Kristian – Team Associated
15.Syrjänen Akseli – Team Associated
16.Mäkinen Jani – Team Associated
17.Luopajärvi Mikko – Team Associated
18.Hovi Jani – Xray
19.Hiltunen Jouni – Carisma
20.Salmela Karri – Team Associated

Overall the Winter Jumps series attracted 109 individual drivers in 2WD and 81 in 4WD, making it a great turnaround for the popular series. The racing is also getting tougher each year with more and more drivers with international success joining. The Winter Jumps series will return next Winter season, feel free to join!

Source: Winter Jumps Series [facebook.com] & Max Max Söderlund