Urheilu follows the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship moment by moment in this article. You can also hear the twists and turns of the World Cup rally on the rally radio.
Enni Mälkönen reads notes for a debutant with a rally1 car on the gravel of central Finland For Sami Pajar. Two years ago, Mälkönen won the world map readers’ championship in the WRC3 class, as the first woman in history.
Lauri Joonaa karting Janni Hussi will only get to experience the Finnish World Rally Championship in a racing car for the first time, but immediately at the WRC2 level. Reeta Hämäläinen on the other hand, celebrated the WRC2 class world championship two years ago by Emil Lindholm as a map reader.
This season, no less than three Finnish drivers building their careers in the WRC2 class have a woman as their map reader. It is something of an exception in the male-dominated world of rallying.
Among them, Mälkönen and Hämäläinen have progressed to the current point by accumulating their experience in the sport for more than twenty years. Horsepower is also familiar to both of them through their horse riding hobby.
Instead, Hussi says with a twinkle in his eye that he prefers to accept barkers because there are more dog people. His karting career has been almost rocket-like, as he only started the sport two years ago without any previous experience.
Both Mälkönen and Hussi hope their example will bring more female enthusiasts to the sport.
– I hope that this would inspire others to dream and start. When I started, there were also female carters, but they weren’t featured as much. It was hard to dream because there were no role models to show that a woman could also be at the top. After all, there are many female carters in Europe, says Enni Mälkönen.
The prototypes were missing
– When I was young, I had role models at the very top of the world specifically in terms of riding, and that’s probably why I ended up in that sport in the first place. It was easier to identify with them.
According to Mälkönen, there are certain similarities between instructing a horse while riding and reading rally sheet music.
– When working with horses, you need a certain determination and determination, because they are big and powerful animals. Taking responsibility is really important both with them and in a rally car. In both, the wrong instruction or note can lead to bad consequences. There is no room for interpretation.
Now the horsepower offered by the rally cars is also on tap, when Mälkönen gets to be the first Finnish woman to debut as a karter of a rally1 car. The first test day was an unforgettable experience.
– You can’t help but smile here. A great car and a great test day is behind us, Mälkönen sighed.
– Getting to the WRC level has been my big dream since 12 years ago when I raced my first kart rally.
Janni Hussi was immediately hooked
Mälkönen’s number one director Sami Pajari, on the other hand, is “mainly to blame” for the fact that media personality Janni Hussi cheered for the rally. Two years ago, Pajari offered Hussi a karting seat in the Lahti historic rally during a live radio broadcast, and Hussi accepted the challenge.
– Maybe you could already sense it right after our first test, that it might not be just one experiment for him. I didn’t know how to expect such a thing in advance, but it quickly became clear that he took the job seriously. He did it to the fullest and wanted to learn, Pajari recalls.
Hussi confirms that the sport took off right away.
– The very first test with Sam gave me chills. I just had to get more of this.
And the enthusiasm did not remain at the level of daydreaming. Last season, Hussi read sheet music in the SM series as an ex-formula driver Heikki Kovalainen and for this season he moved to the WRC2 class as Lauri Joona’s karter at the World Championship level.
– I have spent a lot of hours learning and practicing independently. I work quite regularly and maybe I like to do quite a lot extra. I try to make up for the lack of experience with additional work.
– I used to have the impression that rallying would be a sport that would be difficult to get into. However, I have received help from many parties and I encourage everyone to experiment without prejudice. However, this is a great sport that has room for everyone, regardless of age and gender. I was already in my early 30s when I jumped into these bars.
There has been negative feedback
Hussi admits that his exceptionally fast rise to the top level of the sport has not pleased everyone.
– Yes, there is always a negative comment sometimes. When the face is perhaps familiar to some from other circles, that may also play a role. To me it’s just fuel to the flames.
However, the first World Rally Championship of his career last February was a competition where he felt the pressure of performance and external expectations.
– In Sweden, I had quite a monkey on my shoulders. However, the first World Cup competition is a tough one. Luckily for me, media work has given me the ability to withstand pressure. We have survived radio broadcasts that crash, and we have not been bothered if the prompter has broken during a live TV broadcast. I might even get an extra boost from the pressure.
According to Sami Pajar and Lauri Joona, there is no particular reason why they work with female carters. The most important thing is that the chemistry of the team works and the notes come out accurately and correctly. However, after a little reflection, the drivers will find one difference compared to the male kart drivers.
– Maybe women can be a little more precise and systematic than men in some matters, Pajari and Joona state in their own words as if from one mouth.