Kari-Pekka Laaksonen (born 23 April 1967) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in the

TCR International Series The TCR International Series was an international touring car championship. The championship was promoted by World Sporting Consulting (WSC), founded by former World Touring Car Championship manager Marcello Lotti. It was marketed as a cost-eff ...

. Having previously competed in Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, Porsche GT3 Cup Finland and

ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship The ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series based in Germany. History On 16 September 2015, the German Series was launched by ADAC and Engstler Motorsport, who already run in the International Series. The new categ ...

amongst others.

Business career

Laaksonen has been active in the transport sector throughout his professional career. After graduating

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT LUT University ('' English:'' Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT) (''Finnish'': Lappeenrannan-Lahden Teknillinen Yliopisto LUT) is a Finnish public research university which was established in 1969. The university's Lappeenranta campu ...

and a number of management positions, Laaksonen became CEO of Containerships Plc in 2011 and remained at the company when it was integrated into the

CMA CGM CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...

group. The Fin left the company in June 2019 to join Samskip. The move required Laaksonen to move to Rotterdam where the Samskip headquarters are located.

Racing career

Laaksonen began his career in 2010 in the Finnish V1600 Cup, he finished eighth in the championship standings that year. He switched to the Finnish Xtreme Race Cup in 2011 and finished fourteenth in the championship standings in both 2011 and 2012. In 2013 he switched to the Porsche GT3 Cup Finland series, taking three podiums in his first season in the championship. Continuing in the series in 2014, he took two wins and five podiums, finishing seventh in the championship standings that year. He only entered four races in the series in 2015, but still took one victory and two podiums. He also raced in the 2015

24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, finishing twelfth in the SP7 class. In 2016 he switched to the all new 2016 ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship In August 2016 it was announced that he would race in the

, driving a SEAT León Cup Racer for LMS Racing.

Racing record

Complete TCR International Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

TCR Spa 500 results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laaksonen, Kari-Pekka 1967 births Living people TCR International Series drivers Finnish racing drivers 24H Series drivers Finnish chief executives Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia drivers People from Valkeakoski ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship drivers