Tuukka Taponen

Tuukka Taponen (born 26 October 2006) is a Finnish racing driver who is currently competing in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship with R-ace GP. He finished runner up in the 2023 F4 UAE Championship, and is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Career

Karting

Taponen started karting at the age of two, when his father Marko was a racer of jokkis or folkrace, a Finnish form of low-cost rallycross. As a boy, he watched videos of his father racing jokkis, and other motorsport.

In 2017, he made his competitive karting debut in the native Finland, in the Finnish Junior Championship, in the Raket Class, which he won. He came third in the Finnish Championship OK Junior class the following year, and won the championship in 2019.

Taponen made his CIK debut in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and came thirteenth in his class. He also joined Kohtala Sports for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the Junior class, and came seventeenth.

He joined Kohtala Sports for the 2019 CIK-FIA European Championship and the 2019 CIK-FIA World Championship in the OKJ classes, and finished fourth and thirty-third in them.

In 2020, Tuukka joined the Tony Kart team in the OK Junior category, and finished third in the CIK-FIA European Championship and runner-up in the CIK-FIA World Championship. He made his OK debut in 2021, and in his first weekend in the class, he won the 2021 CIK-FIA World Championship at Campillos. Taponen also won the WSK Open Cup in the same year as well, and at the end of the year he took part in the FDA Scouting World Finals but didn't win, and was instead put under special observation by Ferrari.

Taponen had a second appearance in the FDA Scouting World Finals in 2022, which secured his place at the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Formula 4

Formula Academy Finland

Taponen made his Single-seater debut in the 2021 Formula Academy Finland for Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, in a part time campaign, he took a double win at the debut in the Kymi Ring, and in 2022 he did another part time campaign and came sixth in the championship, remaining unbeaten in all the races he competed in.

Formula 4 UAE Championship

He made his first full time Single-seater debut in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship for Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited. At his first race weekend in the Dubai Autodrome, Taponen got his first podium in the series in his second race, he also achieved another podium in the following race.

The second round in the Kuwait Motor Town only resulted in one third place which came in the second race, as he retired from the third race, but the next round in Kuwait Motor Town, was where he get his first win of the season in the second race. Taponen collected his two maiden poles in the fourth round in Dubai Autodrome, and also got a clean sweep of wins in all three races.

In the final round of the championship in the Yas Marina Circuit, he collected two final second-place finishes, but retired from the final race, as he finished second in the championship with 212 points, 4 wins and 2 pole positions. Although he didn't win the championship title, he won the rookie title instead.

Italian F4 Championship

For his full time Formula 4 campaign, he competed in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing.

His debut round in the Italian F4 Championship proved to be underwhelming compared to his peers, he struggled to find his footing and ended the first round at Imola with only four points, two ninth-place finishes in the first two races, at the last race he was running in twelfth, but was hit behind the safety car and retired from the damage.

Misano was a much better improvement for the Finn, as he took his maiden pole position and was untouchable in the first race as he took his maiden win, and took and fourth and fifth-place finish in the next two races, bagging 47 points and propelling him to 5th place in the drivers' standings. The third race is Spa-Francorchamps was a decrease in form, as Taponen only managed two seventh-place finishes in the first and third race. Monza was highlighted by a lone podium in the first race, as he retired from the second race after a tangle with Alfio Spina.

At Paul Ricard he finished fifth in the first race, and climbed his way up to second place in the next race, he rounded off the final race with a third place.

At Mugello, Taponen and fellow Prema Racing drivers struggled with pace, as in the first race Taponen was thought to have jumped the start, but had actually stalled on the grid and dropped to thirteenth. He recovered to ninth but after receiving a 10-second penalty, he dropped out of the points and into fifteenth place. The next two races was were he scored consistent top-five finishes, but didn't finish on the podium. The final round at Vallelunga was highlighted by a string of podiums, as he finished the season in 5th position with 196 points.

Taponen also contested the inaugural season of the Euro 4 Championship for Prema Racing. He was consistent with points, and got his maiden podiums at the final round in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, he finished the championship in 5th with 102 points.

Formula Regional

Formula Regional Middle East Championship

Taponen would make his racing debut in Formula Regional machinery in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship for R-ace GP, partnering Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. and Zachary David, in which he would earn 255 points in a title battle with FIA Formula 2 driver Taylor Barnard, and fellow Ferrari Driver Academy junior and Formula Regional European Championship driver Rafael Câmara. He would win the championship in race 1 of the fourth and final round, after winning. His teammates Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. and Zachary David would earn 0 and 112 points respectively, finishing 24th and 4th, with the latter being 143 points behind Taponen. He would win the rookie cup earning 315 points, 137 more than Formula Regional European Championship driver Ugo Ugochukwu and 143 more than Formula Regional European Championship driver James Wharton. He would also help his team R-ace GP to the team's championship trophy, the team collecting 312 points with the help of his teammates.

Formula Regional European Championship

Alongside his 2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship campaign, Taponen will tackle the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship for his full-time campaign driving for R-ace GP.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 UAE Championship results

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

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

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

Complete Euro 4 Championship results

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

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results

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

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taponen, Tuukka
2006 births
Living people
Finnish racing drivers
People from Lohja
UAE F4 Championship drivers
Italian F4 Championship drivers
Koiranen GP drivers
Prema Powerteam drivers
Mumbai Falcons drivers
Karting World Championship drivers
R-ace GP drivers
Formula Regional European Championship drivers
Formula Regional Middle East Championship drivers