Mika Mäki (born February 27, 1988) is a Finnish former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

Career

Mika started in

kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance ...

ing, and competed for five years before heading to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and its Formula BMW ADAC series in 2005, finishing fourth in the Rookie Cup, and took his first victory at the

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 19 ...

. He moved to the Eifelland Racing Team for the 2006 season, finishing as runner-up with nine podiums. In 2007 Mäki got a seat in the

Red Bull Junior Team The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development programme operated by Austrian conglomerate company Red Bull GmbH to identify and develop talent in open-wheel racing. Members of the Junior Team are financed and sponsored by Red Bull in kart ...

. He was one of eighteen drivers selected for the programme of developing young talented drivers towards

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

. During the season he won five rounds and gained the title of Italian Formula Renault Champion. For the 2008 season Mika signed with

Mücke Motorsport Mücke Motorsport (also known as ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) is an auto racing team based in Germany. History Single-seaters Mücke Motorsport was formed by Peter Mücke in 1998 to run his son Stefan Mücke in the German Formula BMW ADAC series, ...

to compete in the F3 Euroseries. He opened the season with a victory in

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

. He finished the season 5th in the results with two wins and 5 podiums. On June 15, Mika had a serious accident at the city of

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

, driving a

Nissan 350Z : The Nissan 350Z (known as Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) in Japan) is a two-door, two-seater sports car that was manufactured by Nissan, Nissan Motor Corporation from 2002 until 2009 and marks the fifth generation of Nissan's Nissan Z-car, Z-car line. ...

. He lost control of the car at the entrance of a tunnel, where the

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

is , according to local press a number of pedestrians were also thought to have been caught up in the incident and suffered bruising due to flying debris. Reports quoted local police as suggesting that Mäki may have been involved in a street race. Mäki also made his

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

début in 2008 by competing in the first round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season for the Arden team. However, he was then replaced by Renger van der Zande. Mäki returned to the F3 Euroseries for the 2009 season, having signed a deal with the Signature-Plus team. Mäki finished on the podium four times, including a win at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

, and finished sixth in the championship.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

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

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

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

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maki, Mika Finnish racing drivers 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Pirkkala Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers GP2 Asia Series drivers Arden International drivers Eifelland Racing drivers Epsilon Euskadi drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers Signature Team drivers Hitech Grand Prix drivers Motopark Academy drivers Karting World Championship drivers Koiranen GP drivers