Kirsi Kainulainen (born 23 November 1985 in
Iisalmi
Iisalmi (; sv, Idensalmi) is a town and municipality in the region of Northern Savonia in Finland. It is located north of Kuopio and south of Kajaani. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second largest of the five towns ...
) is a Finnish motorcycle racer.
Sidecar class
In 2015, Kainulainen made history by winning the
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
bronze as the first woman in track motorcycling in the
sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''.
...
class with
Pekka Päivärinta
Pekka Johannes Päivärinta (born 4 May 1949 in Aura) is a Finnish former long-distance runner. He won men's senior race in the first World Championships of cross-country running in 1973. He competed in 1972 Olympics at 3000-meter steeplechas ...
.
In the 2016 season, she also made history by being the first woman to win a
FIM
FIM may refer to:
Organizations and companies
* Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation
* Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States
* Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media
* ...
World Championship in motorcycling with men in the same series, winning the 2016 FIM Sidecar World Championship with Pekka Päivärinna on a
LCR BMW
Solo classes
In the solo classes Kainulainen has ridden on the track at the Finnish Championship, PM and European Championships in classes 125cc and 600cc. She has also been successful on the ice racing at the national level both in solo in different classes and in the sidecar class with Päivärinta.
In 2018, Kainulainen signed a contract with the Dutch racing team and drove the Ow-cup series in Europe.
In the 2019 season, she returned to the colours of her own Motorsline Kainulainen team and drove the international Alpe Adrian series in Europe.
Competitive success
* 2006: SM Bronze Roadracing 125cc
* 2007: PM Bronze Roadracing 125cc
* 2014: Ice rink sidecar SM championship silver.
* 2015: Third place in the FIM Sidecar World Championship
* 2016: Ice track sidecar class SM-silver.
* 2016: First place in the FIM Sidecar World Championship
* 2018: Return to the track motorcycle solo career (OW-cup)
* 2019: International Alpe Adriatic Series for Track Motorcycling. 600cc STK class 7th place in the end points.
* 2020: The first woman on the ice track to have been on the podium (3rd place) in the B 450cc class.
References
External links
Päivärinta Racing: Team FIM Sidecar World Championship
Living people
1985 births
Finnish motorcycle racers
Sidecar racers
People from Iisalmi
Sportspeople from North Savo
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