Janni Hussi was startled by the message of his smart ring during his World Cup debut – a snappy answer from Lauri Joona to the doubters of his karttur | Sport

The Finnish duo competing at the second level of the World Rally Championship, i.e. in the WRC2 class, has received exceptional attention.

Winner of the WRC3 class championship in 2022 Lauri Joona27, wants to raise and establish his level at the top of the WRC2 class.

At the same time, the reason for the extraordinary media interest lies especially in Joona’s map reader.

Previously Janni Hussi, 32, has managed to be known in public as a fitness athlete, TV and radio host, media and wellness entrepreneur, but the last 1.5 years have been a skyrocketing rise for him in motor sports. The map reader’s work has already become Huss’s main job.

Hussi laughs that the story of the start of his new career has already been told “a thousand times” in public.

Hussi hosted Radio Suomipop’s popular program Aamulypsy. In the spring of 2022, Hussi “stunned” the other presenters Jaajo Linnonmaa and Tuukka Ritokoski with that driving a rally can’t be that difficult. Sami Pajari called the broadcast and challenged Huss to be his map reader.

Hussi completed the required licenses and debuted as Pajar’s karter at the Historic rally in Lahti in August 2022. Things “started to escalate”.

– It was already clear then that I wanted to continue the sport. I didn’t think this would happen, and I’m sure neither did many others, but I noticed that there is something here. It was very exciting.

A lot happened during the 2023 season. Hussi was in the SM series Heikki Kovalainen karter. In a couple of races, he read sheet music To Matias Henkola. Cooperation with Lauri Joona also started last year.

Joona and Huss were supposed to race together as early as 2022, but the plan fell through due to technical problems. Finally, the cooperation started for real in April 2023 at the World Rally Championship in Croatia.

Joona was contacted by an experienced map reader From Marko Salmi. Salminen suggested Joona to cooperate with Huss and told that Huss has a strong desire to learn and develop more.

So Hussi and Joona made notes in the Croatian rally, even though they didn’t race there yet.

– We said that we agree to be fine in the car, there will be no arguments. An understanding was found, everything was handled in a professional manner. It was easy to continue, Joona sums up.

Joona and Hussi agreed that they will drive in the Italian EC Rally in July 2023. When Joona’s previous kart Tuukka on Shemeika was busy with other work, Hussi jumped in as Joona’s karter for the Swedish EC rally as well.

“Very exciting”

The cooperation between Joona and Huss went so smoothly that in October 2023, a news bomb of some sort was released. They announced that in the 2024 season, Hussi will already be reading notes in the World Rally Championship.

– We are both very excited about the future and ready to roll up our sleeves. When mr. Sastamala and mrs. In Kouvola, the wise(hko)s butt their heads together, you get what you get, the two carved.

Read more: Media personality Janni Huss’s brave defection: Next season as a map reader in World Cup rallies

Huss’ World Cup debut will be seen this week at the Swedish Rally.

– It’s very exciting. I bought myself an Oura ring for Christmas, and let’s just say that there have been no such stress readings even during rallies. All the time the ring beeps that “try to calm down now woman”, Hussi revealed last week before leaving for Sweden.

Accurate preparation is the most important thing even for more experienced kart drivers. Last week, Hussi was entrenched in his home 24/7.

– Just before you called I looked Esapekka Lapin clips from last year’s rally in Sweden and I read the sheet music to myself. I’ll try my best!

The fact that Joona drove in the Swedish rally last year also made the long preparation days before the World Cup debut a little easier. Hussi was able to transfer the materials of Joona’s previous karttur to his notebook, because some of the special tests are the same.

Reading sheet music is outwardly the most visible part of a karttur’s job. However, all other planning takes a lot of time.

Hussi drew map templates for transitions in the map application. He thought about the overall schedule, starting with when the two traveled to Sweden on Sunday. He made sheet music plans, calculated gasoline amounts, made check lists and studied road books.

– Reading a sheet of music in snippets is only a fraction of what a kartturist does.

The debutant admits that it is very nice when the World Cup starts in Sweden, so the road and road markings are similar to Finland.

– It’s not like Croatia, where 15 million small streets with minimal markings start from the center, Hussi grumbles.

“He has been exceptionally good”

Hussi’s rapid rise to the World Championship has aroused admiration in rally circles. At the same time, it is clear that there are plenty of doubters due to inexperience.

Especially when Lauri Joona starts the most important season of his career. Joona debuted in the WRC2 class last year. He drove five races, finishing seventh in his class.

Joona emphasizes that last season was still about getting a feel and learning that it’s not just about speed, but it’s also essential to create the right kind of tactics for a long race.

– This year, the goal is more on the success side, so that we can be competitive and in the top three at the games. Of course, winning is always in mind, but you also have to be realistic, because there are a lot of tough drivers, Joona reflects.

– I believe in Lauri 100 percent. He has all the prerequisites to reach no matter how far in his career. Of course I try to be worth it next to me, Hussi starts when asked about his prerequisites for the World Cup.

Hussi says that he regularly reminds himself that he definitely knows all the basic things, and that there is no problem with reading music or taking care of transitions.

Afterwards, he reminds us that he is not really the most experienced in the mechanical side, for example, although changing tires or adjusting shock absorbers is successful.

– I know that I will put my finger in my mouth if I have to do something bigger in the middle of the clip.

– And then, if something surprising happens… Of course I’ve made up the rules and stuff, but they’re pretty multi-paged too.

Joona doesn’t believe for a second that his success could be caught up in Huss’s inexperience. One reason is Huss’ meticulous preparation for the Games. In addition, Joonakin highlights Marko Salminen, who has supported and instructed Huss closely.

– As an example, I can say last year’s European Championship rally in Italy. When pulling 32 kilometers of mountain road, you turn all the time and the note comes out well. It created such a feeling that there is potential here, Joona enthuses Huss.

– At no point do I get the feeling that I start to hesitate, whether that note will come from there or not. He has been exceptionally good for the number of kilometers he has sat in the car.

Lauri Joona and Janni Hussi are among the six podium finishers in the World Championship Toni Gardemeister to the TGS Worldwide stable. The car is a Skoda Fabia RS.

With Huss, a new kind of visibility has come, both from the direction of the media and the viewers. That’s the biggest difference when Joona is asked about the comparison with his previous map readers.

– Of course, all that media visibility has an effect. I’m not used to it like that before.

Otherwise, Joona feels that there has been no significant change from before. He says he’s always had good luck with his map readers.

– You always have to get along well in the car for a good week, that’s the main thing in the races.

– At this point in my career, I can’t take anyone to study for it. Janni had done really good groundwork and received a good education. It immediately seemed that there was no need to start giving advice here.

Now the studies have been studied

Joona and Hussi applied for a feel of the Hilltop Rally for the Swedish World Rally Championship. The race started brilliantly, but the final result was 23rd place in the overall competition. In the SM1 class, the duo was 14th.

The reason for the placement was the benching of the third special test. They had to stop to clear the engine bay air cleaner of snow, which dropped them 12 minutes off the lead.

– Yes, the Tunturiralli gave a good experience, even if there was a little bench press. It also gave me a lot of experience for a similar situation, so that I don’t lose so much time. All around left a good feeling and the car felt better, it’s always towards home.

At the Arctic Circle, Joona tested 7 mm studs and ice bike pattern tires for Sweden. In Finland, you can use 9 mm studs, so the times were not comparable to others because of that.

There are seven races in the WRC2 class, of which the best six are counted towards World Championship points. The goal of Joona and Huss is to make the budget such that they could drive more World Cup rallies, although you cannot aim for World Cup points in “extra” races.

– I am at the point in my career where I should make a certain kind of breakthrough, Joona knows.

– It’s a bit like studying, now we have to show our skills so that it is possible to continue and get to the first league. For that, all advance work, competition performances and post-work are done to the fullest.

As is to be expected from a Finn, Joona enjoys fast gravel rallies and looks forward to the Jyväskylä competition with special enthusiasm. In addition, he mentions the “coolest” gravel races, such as Sardinia and Portugal, where you can drive properly, but there is always tactics involved with tire durability.

– Of course, some asphalt race can fit into the season. They are also expected in a certain way. They are not my strong point, but you have to know how to drive on every surface if you want to one day be the top class world champion.

The World Rally Championship in Sweden will be held from 15 to 18 February. Urheilu follows the events moment by moment on its website.