Matias Köykkä (born November 23, 1994) is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 2012

F1600 Championship Series The F1600 Championship Series was created by the SCCA in 2011. The series is organized by Formula Race Promotions, the same organization which organizes the F2000 Championship Series, and sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing. It is a series whose champio ...

Karting career

Matias started karting when he was 8 years old in the Finnish 'Raket' class. His father entered him in races until 2009. For 2009 Matias signed with the CRG factory team. He won the Finnish championship in the KF3 class. For 2010 he stepped up to the KF2 class and also competed in the CIK-FIA Under 18 World Championship. In the CIK-FIA Under 18 World Championship he finished second behind

Jake Dennis Jake Dennis (born 16 June 1995) is a British racing driver who lives in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He currently competes in the Formula E World Championship with Avalanche Andretti Formula E. Early career Karting Dennis began his racing career i ...

. In 2011 he was placed 15th in the Finnish KF2 championship. He also raced in the

KF1 KF1 is the top level of karting. It is open to drivers aged 15 and up. This class used to be called Formula A and has changed since January 2007 when CIK- FIA decided to replace the 100 cc water-cooled two-stroke engines with 125 cc Touch-a ...

class.

Formula racing

Matias Köykkä made his first appearance in a racing car in 2011. He raced in the Finnish Formula Ford Junior championship in a Duratec powered Mygale SJ08 prepared by LMS Racing. In the three races he competed in he had one win, 2 podium finishes and 1 fastest lap. He was eventually placed 10th in the championship. Teammate

Antti Buri Antti Buri (born 2 December 1988) is a Finnish racing driver currently TCR Italian Series champion. Having previously competed in the ADAC TCR Germany Blancpain Endurance Series, Porsche Carrera Cup Germany & International GTSprint Series am ...

took the championship. In 2011 Matias moved to

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

where he continued to go to high school at

Western Reserve Academy , motto_translation = Light and Truth , address = 115 College Street , city = Hudson , state = Ohio , zipcode = 44236-2999 , country = Unite ...

. For 2012 he signed with Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing. During the first practice of the season, at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, he was the fastest of 20 drivers. The season started smoothly for Köykkä with wins at Virginia and Lime Rock. Race 5 at

New Jersey Motorsports Park New Jersey Motorsports Park is a road course "Motorsports Entertainment Complex" located in Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It has hosted races since opening in 2008 and currently hosts a schedule including MotoAmeric ...

was a low point. Matias shut off the engine while leading the race, but managed to recover to sixth position. Due to this mistake his nearest competitor Bryan Herta Autosport driver Brandon Newey was hot on his tail. After this Matias scored 6 podium finishes, including 2 wins, in the 7 remaining races. This secured Matias Köykkä of the championship placing Brandon Newey second place and Jeremy Grenier in third.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koykka, Matias Finnish racing drivers Living people 1994 births Karting World Championship drivers Wayne Taylor Racing drivers