For a nation synonymous with motorsport that has over the years demonstrating a startlingly high percentage of talented racers emerging from a fairly meagre population pool, it is surprising Finland isn’t endowed with an illustrious history of hosting events.
Indeed, save for the WRC Rally Finland, there has never been a Finnish Grand Prix F1 event – despite the nation producing three World Champions and six different race winners accumulating 52 victories – and you need to go right back to 1982 when the semi-street circuit at Imatra was last used in a GP world championship capacity.
However, this could all be about to change in 2020 with the – provisional – inclusion of the brand-new KymiRing, which is set to herald the first MotoGP event in the Nordic nation for almost 30 years.
A lap of the KymiRing ahead of the Finnish MotoGP
It’s taken a long time to get to this point with the KymiRing slowly forming after first being mooted several years ago but it currently holds an as-yet-undated spot on the 2020 MotoGP calendar and today a selection of riders were given the chance to turn its first laps.
Helpfully, a camera-equipped KTM ridden by Finland’s own Mike Kallio gives us a nice look of what to expect if and when the series visits.
You can watch it here either as an on-board…
…or from a high rear mounted camera at this link.
Though the depth perception from the high-set gyro flattens and widens the layout quite a lot like some odd stop-motion animation – not least because the track is supposed to retained elevation changes – you get a sense it is a flowing, fast circuit in the Mugello-vein.
What about that straight though… we counted between 15 and 20secs it takes to cover the entire stretch, which would make it as long as the Losail slipstream city straight.
Where is the KymiRing?
Approximately 136km north of Helsinki, not too far from the border with Russia.
No date has been set for this race, though we’re hoping a mid-summer date would mean a possible perpetual daylight event – who wouldn’t want to go party around motorsport under a sun that doesn’t set?
