World Champion (DD2 Masters)

Foreword
What a year, what a racing season! There are simply no words powerful enough to describe the happiness and
joy of being so privileged to be able to compete in so many series around the world with such amazing group of
friends and people whose heart is beating for a common mission and for a good purpose. Without you, without
every kilometer at the track, this wouldn’t have been possible. Today we are World Champions.
Not many people know how from scratch I began without anything. It all started from a dream, and my whole
life has been devoted to reach the target of becoming a racing driver. The first step from F1 simulators to karting
tracks took almost ten years. First indoor races, then hobby races, national and finally international races. The
racing journey took about 15 years more to reach this point. The road has been indescribable - full of false
hopes, failures, disappointments and losses, but also many successes and enjoyable moments. Nothing has
come for free, but you must believe in your dreams. Never ever give up.
During many nights I cried, made plans and thought about ways how to become better and how to make
everything possible. Today because of that planning I am a software engineer, I run my own company, I have
been successful in many areas and I know my way in the world. I’ve created my destiny with my heart. My mom
taught me that if I want something enough, I can go through solid rock to achieve it. I hope that she’s watching
me proudly today.
I never want to forget the people who helped me during the way. I want you all to share these achievements
with me. Even if I’m alone receiving the trophies, I always think that I stand on shoulders of hundreds of wonderful people, who want to help me to be there. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The road is not finished,
there is much more to come.
2014
Diversity and dedication are the keys to success: 223 karting, 13 football,
11 floorball, 2 running, 2 rowing, 1 ice-hockey, 1 bowling and counting...
CAMPILLOS
Rotax Winter Cup
The season started in chilly and rainy conditions with a rented Tony Kart chassis
from Florent Lambert and Kevin Tatum. Their co-operation was valuable for the
DMRacing drivers Maxim Shaposnikov and Mikko Laine who partnered for the first
time in Campillos. After a long winter, Mikko was quite rustly with DD2 in dry, but
they both had great speed in wet conditions and Mikko started first of the DD2
Masters in the pre-final and 11th overall in DD2 open category with several factory
team drivers. The unlucky race ended in front brake failure in the final and Mikko
finished 19th of 30 drivers.
Chassis: Tony Kart
Engine: Rotax DD2 (Ogden Motorsport)
Mechanic: Nikolay Nazaruk
Results
Qualifying: 20th position, 1:05.032 (+1.05.032) (3rd in DD2 Masters)
Heat 1: 16th position, 1:04.853 (+0.847) (2nd in DD2 Masters)
Heat 2: 13th position, 1:27.573 (+1.504) (2nd in DD2 Masters)
Heat 3: 9th position, 1:23.931 (+0.973) (1st in DD2 Masters)
Pre-final: 21st position, 1:05.103 (+0.872) (5th in DD2 Masters)
Final: 19th position, 1:04.692 (+1.200) (5th in DD2 Masters)
1) Sean Babington, Great Britain
2) Anthony Abbasse, France
3) Andreas Bäckman, Sweden
4) Michael Christiansen, Denmark
5) Alex Beggi, Italy
11) Guillaume Berteaux, France (DD2 Masters)
12) Florent Lambert, France (DD2 Masters)
13) Martin Pierce, Ireland (DD2 Masters)
18) Christophe Adams, Belgium (DD2 Masters)
Thank you Nikolay - a great
mechanic and a dear friend
19) Mikko Laine (DD2 Masters)
Finnish Rotax Max Challenge
Mikko took part in the championship in DD2 class with a Formula K chassis. The season started from
Eastern Finland from Kotka, continued in northern Oulu and southern Vihti before ending in western Pori.
Mikko didn’t participate in the last race in Lappeenranta. By securing the DD2 Masters championship, he
gained a place for Team Finland in 15th Rotax Grand Finals in Valencia, Spain. The season highlights were
the pole position in Oulu and the win of the last race in Pori where the champion Rasmus Markkanen
couldn’t match Mikko’s performance. 17 drivers took part in the Finnish Championship of Rotax DD2.
Chassis: Formula K
Engine: Rotax DD2 (Ogden Motorsport)
Mechanics: Tony Lindholm and Nikolay Nazaruk
FINLAND
1
Finnish Champion (DD2 Masters)
3
Finnish Championship (DD2)
Results
Race 1) Kotka - 8th in pre-final, 7th in final (3rd in DD2 Masters)
Race 2) Kotka - 5th in pre-final, 4th in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 3) Oulu - 3rd in pre-final, 3rd in final, pole position (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 4) Oulu - 3rd in pre-final, 3rd in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 5) Vihti - 3rd in pre-final, 3rd in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 6) Vihti - 3rd in pre-final, 3rd in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Thanks Tony, together we made
it an unforgettable year
Race 7) Pori - 2nd in pre-final, 2nd in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 8) Pori - 2nd in pre-final, 1st in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
1) Rasmus Markkanen
2) Samu Kylmälä
3) Mikko Laine (DD2 Masters)
4) Joona Reittu
5) Jouni Järvi
6) Topi Kankainen
12) Mika Salo (DD2 Masters)
13) Tero Nurkkala (DD2 Masters)
16) Jyri Kärki (DD2 Masters)
Russian Rotax Max Challenge
Together with DMRacing and Maxim Shaposnikov, Mikko drove almost all Rotax races in Russia
this season. Probably as the first ever foreigner in the series his doings got much publicity and
interest. As an example he got pole position and won the first open DD2 category race to give a good
demonstration of Finnish driving skills. Without a Russian license he didn’t get championship points
but unofficially he was first in DD2 Masters and always on top also in open DD2 of 31 drivers who
participated in the championship.
Chassis: Kosmic / Formula Gilles
Engine: Rotax DD2 (Ogden Motorsport)
Mechanics: Roman Lebedev, Nikolay Nazaruk and Mark Delman
1
unofficially Russian Champion (DD2 Masters)
Results
Race 1) Ust-Labinsk - 1st (1st and 1st in finals), pole position (Only DD2)
Race 2) Ust-Labisnk - 1st in pre-final, 3rd in final (Only DD2)
Race 3) Iksha - 7th in pre-final, 6th in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
RUSSIA
DMRacing happy after winning the
first ever race with Formula Gilles
Race 4) Belgorod - 4th (2nd and 7th in finals), pole position (Only DD2)
Race 5) Belgorod - 5th in pre-final, 4th in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 6) Rostov - 2nd (3rd and 2nd in finals) (Only DD2)
Race 7) Rostov - DNF in pre-final, 5th in final (3rd in DD2 Masters)
Race 8) Rostov - 6th (10th and 5th in finals) (Only DD2)
Race 9) Rostov - 9th in pre-final, 5th in final (1st in DD2 Masters)
Race 10) Ust-Labinsk - 3rd in pre-final, 3rd in final (Only DD2)
1) Vitaly Potapov
2) Ivan Ekelchik
3) Evgeny Ermilov
4) Semen Rjasnov
5) Vladislav Allakhverdov (DD2 Masters)
6) Evgeny Klimov
7) Dimitry Kulakov
8) Ivan Kozlochkov
9) Vasily Rozhkov
10) Maxim Shaposhnikov (DD2 Masters)
Team mates at Ust-Labinsk
DMRacing - a great team and
even better friends
Pole position in DD2 at Belgorod
The last race of the Russian
season at Ust-Labinsk was held in
freezing conditions
Mark and Mikko celebrating at sunny
karting track of Rostov-on-Don
Number 466 will be remembered forever the number of World Champion of DD2 Masters 2014
Rotax Grand Final
The week together with Lewis Hamilton’s mechanic from karting, Lorenzo, was a simply a dream
come true against 72 national and international champions from all over the world. After setting P1 in
their qualifying group and P3 overall, the mechanic used all his bad words in Finnish! Even if Mikko
was in terrible flu and had fever for four days in the competition, his performance was solid in both
dry and wet conditions. When pre-finals were cancelled, the duo took a big risk for the final with the
setup, but it was definitely worth it as they can be called today as World Champions.
Chassis: Praga
Engine: Rotax DD2
Mechanic: Lorenzo Balzan
1
World Champion
Results
Qualifying: 3rd position, 56.187 (+0.240)
Qualifying heat C-D: 1st position, 56.789 (+0.212)
Qualifying heat A-C: 3rd position, 56.602 (+0.259)
Qualifying heat B-C: 2nd position, 56.541 (+0.159)
Final: 1st position, 1:08.446 (-0.282)
(DD2 Masters)
1) Mikko Laine, Finland
2) Cristiano Morgado, South Africa
3) Antti Ollikainen, Finland
4) Jeremie Charon, France
5) Alan Rudolph, USA
6) Tiffany Chittenden, New Zealand
7) Steven Ellery, Australia
8) Dennis Kroes, Netherlands
9) Maximiliano Oruesta Cuesta, Chile
10) Tommy Hilfinger, Germany
The happy champions - big
thanks to all including the one
behind the camera
Grande Lorenzo and his driver
Mikko Laine, Cristiano Morgado
and Antti Ollikainen - the best
of 72 champions in 2014
IAME International Final
Mikko drove for the first time with IAME X30 engine at legendary location of Le Mans with 55
highly competitive international drivers. Qualifying on pole position and winning a heat and
the pre-final continued with a podium in the final, just 0.4 seconds behind the first ever shared
World Championship between two drivers. Franky Saeys and SFP Racing had produced magnificent Formula Gilles chassis for the race and also junior driver Gilles Magnus became World
Vice Champion in Junior category. Franky’s son Gilles was a perfect mechanic for the whole
week and made the success possible together with well-tuned engines from Thierry Lepinne.
Chassis: Formula Gilles
Engine: IAME X30 (Thierry Lepinne)
Mechanic: Gilles Saeys
3
World Championship
Results
Qualifying: Pole position, 1:06.341 (-0.215)
Graham Hill and Kip Foster shared the
win of X30 Masters and Mikko was third
Qualifying heat A-B: 1st position, 56.686 (+0.067)
Qualifying heat A-C: 2nd position, 56.434 (+0.110)
Qualifying heat A-D: 5th position, 56.324 (-0.059)
Pre-final: 1st position, 55.820 (+0.037)
Final: 3rd position, 56.035 (+0.210)
(X30 Masters)
1) Graham Hill, Great Britain
1) Kip Foster, Australia
3) Mikko Laine, Finland
4) Sébastien Bielande, France
5) Chris Trott, Great Britain
6) Grégory Jolinet, France
7) Thierry Raccamier, France
8) Tommy Nordvang, Norway
9) Pierre-Yves Corthals, Belgium
10) Wilfrid Lecarpentier, France
Mikko started from pole to all
qualifying heats and to the final
after winning the pre-final
SFP Racing and Formula Gilles has a great week
at Le Mans. From the left: Gilles Magnus, Melvin
Benders, Franky Saeys, Gilles Saeys, Olivier
Cebe, Mikko Laine and Joey van Splunteren.
Mark Rose had unfortunately left already.
BNL Karting Series
DMRacing decided to take part in the best championship of Rotax in Europe after Euro Challenge to
see the current performance level before Rotax Grand Finals. There were all top DD2 drivers present.
Mikko suffered a bit from engine problems but he was nevertheless going to win the DD2 Masters
before the Germain, Adams and Billings. Clutch problems made it impossible to start for the last
final, but Mikko was still on podium before Adams who won the BNL Championship in DD2 Masters.
Chassis: Kosmic
Engine: Rotax DD2 (Ogden Motorsport)
Mechanic: Mark Delman
After technical problems still
on podium at the last race of
BNL Karting Series
3
BNL Karting Series race
Results
Qualifying: 10th position, 54.407 (+0.746) (2nd in DD2 Masters)
Final 1: 9th position, 54.451 (+0.446) (2nd in DD2 Masters)
Final 2: 8th position, 54.612 (+0.523) (1st in DD2 Masters)
Qualifying: 8th position, 53.940 (+0.491) (1st in DD2 Masters)
Final 1: 9th position, 1:01.351 (+2.798) (2nd in DD2 Masters)
Final 2: DNF
(DD2 Masters)
1) Sean Babington, Great Britain
2) Andreas Bäckman, Sweden
3) Xen de Ruwe, Belgium
4) Mathias Detige, Belgium
5) Lorenzo van Riet, Netherlands
8) Ronald Billings, Great Britain (DD2 Masters)
9) Tamsin Germain, Great Britain (DD2 Masters)
10) Mikko Laine, Finland (DD2 Masters)
13) Christophe Adams, Belgium (DD2 Masters)
Losing drivers from slipstream
was practically impossible
MSC Season Finals VII
The venue of Mika Salo Circuit in Alahärmä, Finland is definitely one of the best racing locations in
the world. With Raket 120cc engines the most competitive hobby level event is held there in the end
of every season. This year Mikko took part in two teams as rules allowed it and probably for the last
time ever he finished first and second with superb team mates. In total there were 42 teams who
gathered there from all over Finland to have a memorable race, which indeed it was.
Chassis: CRG (JiiWee), Tony Kart (Speed Garage)
Engine: Raket 120
Team mate: Johan Vilo, Jere Welin (JiiWee)
Team mate: Markus Kujala (Speed Garage)
1
MSC Season Finals VII
(JiiWee)
2
MSC Season Finals VII
(Speed Garage)
Results
Qualifying: 2nd position, 52.971 (+0.264) (Speed Garage)
Heat 3: 2nd position, 52.512 (+0.147) (Speed Garage)
Heat 4: 1st position, 52.975 (+0.194) (JiiWee)
Heat 6: 2nd position, 52.486 (-0.085) (Speed Garage)
Heat 7: 1st position, 52.766 (+0.191) (JiiWee)
How often do you finish
1st and 2nd?
Heat 8: 3rd position, 53.040 (+0.164) (JiiWee)
JiiWee - the winners of MSC Season
Finals! From the left: Jake Welin, Jere
Welin, Mikko Laine and Johan Vilo.
Heat 9: 1st position, 52.637 (+0.002) (Speed Garage)
1. JiiWee (Johan Vilo, Jere Welin, Mikko Laine)
2. Speed Garage (Markus Kujala, Mikko Laine)
3. Vauhti-Ässät (Pasi Matintupa)
4. JVVT Racing (Juuso Turtiainen, Jaska Turtiainen, Jere Welin)
5. Salotec Racing (Antti Ollikainen, Henri Salo, Tommi Suutari)
X-ON Cup
Mikko drove one race of the X-ON Cup in Lahti with his Rotax mechanic Tony Lindholm in partly
extreme wet conditions with slicks as rain tyres are not allowed in the regulations. Another race at
Hyvinkää he drove with Jere Welin and they were fourth in the last race of the championship, which
was also their final position in the standings. X-ON Cup has been organized since 2005 and it’s the
top championship with Raket 120cc engines. In 2014 total of 37 teams took part in the series.
Chassis: CRG (JiiWee), Zanardi (Speed Garage)
Engine: Raket 120
Team mates: Jere Welin (JiiWee)
Team mate: Tony Lindholm (Speed Garage)
Tony Lindholm and Mikko Laine
together in interesting weather at
Lahti. Where’s the top speed?
4
X-ON Cup 2014 (JiiWee)
Results
1) JVVT Racing (Juuso Turtiainen)
2) Suerte Racing (Johan Vilo, Santtu Juntunen)
3) JMR SuperSport Ltd (Jani Malin)
4) JiiWee (Jere Welin, Mikko Laine)
5) Speed Garage (Mika Kaapu, Esa Rajala)
Fossiilisarja
As in X-ON Cup, Mikko didn’t have a permanent team and he was used as a reserve driver wherever
needed. However he was lucky to be picked by the good teams, so he ended up on nice positions
in the standings. Even if his performance is always on top, he had only little to do with the total
championship results. The last race of the season was a 3-hour endurance race which he won with
Johan Vilo and Teppo Marttila. With Tony Lindholm he also took part in Pirkanmaan Fossiilisarja near
Tampere region and they finished together first and second in the races but they missed on race of
the championship and still finished fifth.
Podium selfie at Toijala
JiiWee team
Chassis: CRG (JiiWee, X-Files), Zanardi (Turhapuro), Birel
Engine: Raket 120
Team mates: Jere Welin, Mikko Myllymäki, Juuso Turtiainen (JiiWee)
Team mates: Tony Lindholm ja Daniel Lindholm (Turhapuro Racing)
The only contact of the year
Turhapuro Racing and Lindholms
1
Keimola FK:n fossiilisarja
5
Pirkanmaan fossiilisarja
Results
Keimola-FK:n Fossiilisarja (39 teams)
Pirkanmaan Fossiilisarja (50 teams)
1) JiiWee (Jere Welin, Juuso Turtiainen, Mikko Myllymäki, Mikko Laine)
1) Speed Garage (Markus Kujala)
2) X-Files (Johan Vilo, Teppo Marttila, Jani Malin, Mikko Laine)
2) Niko Loivari
3) Kartelli (Markus Kujala, Kalle Iloranta, Rami Räikkönen)
3) JO3
4) Suerte Racing
4) Verde (Mika Kaapu)
5) Team RE
5) Letku (Tony Lindholm, Mikko Laine)
Floorball
Mikko started from ice-hockey at the age of seven but had to soon quit it because of increasing expenses. At the age of 14 he started to play floorball and he has played in second
division in Finland. For the 2013-2014 season he went play to Estonia to get new challenges
and won the Estonian Championship with Jõgeva SK Tähe and he scored a goal in the third final to end the season. The highlight was to play in Euro Floorball Cup in Fredrikstad, Norway
with the best European club teams from countries excluding top 4 in world ranking. He was
also the captain of Russian team Pietarin Tikat when they reached the final in HFC - one of
the biggest floorball tournaments in the world. Pietarin Tikat played also in Latvian Open
against top Latvian floorball teams and they made it to the playoffs.
Estonian Champion
Euro Floorball Cup - Fredrikstad, Norway
Results
1 – Estonian Champion 2014 (Jõgeva SK Tähe)
1 – Winner of Jogeva Karikas / Cup (Jõgeva SK Tähe)
3 – Euro Floorball Cup 2014 (Jõgeva SK Tähe)
2 – Helsinki Floorball Cup 2014 (Pietarin Tikat)
Jõgeva Karikas winner
Latvian Open 2014 with Pietarin Tikat
Partners:
www.formulak.fi
www.formulagilles.com
www.enable.fi
www.mach.fi
DMRacing
www.foodgroup.fi
www.antdesign.fi
Photographers:
Mihail Gusteshov, Bas Kaligis, Rotax, IAME,
Tomi Talja, Tony Lindholm, Mikko Laine,
Pauliina Niinistö, Timo Tuunainen, IFF,
Aki Rask, FotoJorma, Marika Niininen...
Sorry if I forgot someone!