Versatile Summer Season Awaits
- Apr 29
- 2 min read
Two-time rally champion Jarno Pentinpuro heads into the summer season with
his sights set on the Finnish Rallysprint Championship. In rallying, his focus is
on the future and competing abroad.
The 2025 season was Jarno Pentinpuro’s first both in the Finnish Rally
Championship series and behind the wheel of a four-wheel-drive car. He competed
in both the SM5 class of the Finnish Rally Championship and the Finnish Junior
Rally Championship, winning the title in both categories.
- Last season was very educational. I learned a lot about driving a four-wheel-drive
car and gained experience from the Finnish Championship events. I encountered
many different situations that helped me grow significantly as a driver, Pentinpuro
reflects on his successful debut season.
This year, Pentinpuro’s winter season included three Rallysprint Championship
events with one win and two second-place finishes. The Rallysprint Championship
continues in August, and Pentinpuro heads into the title chase from second place in
the standings. He did not defend his rally titles during the winter, and Finnish
Championship rallies are also not a part of his summer plans. Instead, together with
his team, Pentinpuro has built a rally calendar with the future in mind.
- The summer schedule has already changed several times, and a lot has happened
even before the season has started. The rallies currently in the calendar have been
chosen specifically with the future in mind, to gain experience and speed in new
types of rallies, Pentinpuro explains.
Competing in JP Motorsport Team in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, Jarno Pentinpuro
will kick off his summer season this coming weekend. On Saturday, he will compete
in a rallysprint at Ahvenisto and on Sunday in Xmeal Asfalttiralli in Suomusjärvi.
Teemu Neuvonen will sit in the co-driver’s seat.
- This year, I’ll have a different co-driver in almost every rally, but at the moment the
only completely new co-driver will be Juho-Ville Koskela, who will join me for the rally
in Denmark. On the first race weekend, Teemu Neuvonen, who is familiar from a
couple of years ago when I drove Citroën, will be alongside me. For Vetomies,
Matias Toppinen will join the team again, having substituted before with good results,
Pentinpuro says.
- We’re heading into the summer season with an open mind and aiming to show our
pace and learn as much as possible. The goal is to win the Finnish Rallysprint
Championship and to gather valuable experience for the future, both on tarmac and
internationally, Pentinpuro outlines.
Race calendar
Rally
3 May – Xmeal Asfalttiralli, Suomusjärvi
30 May – NRC Rally Kjellerup (DEN)
30 July – 1 August – Vetomies, Jyväskylä
5 September – NRC Rally Larvik (NOR)
Rallysprint
2 May – Ahvenisto Rallysprint
29 August – Leppävirta SM Sprint
19 September – MRF Tyres SM Sprint
10 October – SM Oili Jalonen Sprint
