The final round of the V8 Thunder Finnish Championship series was driven at the legendary Ahvenisto Circuit on 17th and 18th September. Milla Mäkelä had confirmed a medal from the series already before the final round, but vice champions title was still theoretically open. Milla had 44 points gap to P3 when there was a maximum of 50 points awarded during the last two races.
“We headed to Ahvenisto quite relaxed considering the series, but of course we wanted to do a good job and take home that race win. At the previous round we showed that we have the speed to take the win, but luck wasn’t on our side.” Milla says.
Milla missed the pole position in qualyfying by 0,070 seconds as the tyre pressure strategy was disturbed when the live timing wasn’t working so the team had no information of how much time was left. Milla did her best lap with over heated rear tyres, but she made her front row start count with a brilliant start from the line.
“I got an amazing start! One of the best I’ve ever had. Thanks to that start I got a nice gap behind me and was able to do my own race from start to finish. It was a great feeling to control the race. I noticed a bit of vibrations from the front at the end of the race so it was good to have a bit of margin to be cautious during the last few laps and bring the car home in P1.” Milla recaps.
Fastest lap in race 1 meant pole position for race 2 start on Sunday. Milla had already sealed the vice champion title with her win from Saturday, but she wanted to have a go for a double win.
“We just fixed up the loose bolt and made a simple strategy to do the exact same thing again. And that’s what she did. Great start, lights to flag win and fastest lap. Even the wandering rain showers didn’t bother. I told Milla that it started raining in the stadium area and she just responded that it’s already slippery at the back of the track.” race engineer brother Miikka Mäkelä says.
“Race 2 was super exciting when the rain hit different parts of the track on different laps. Winning is never easy, but this time it really needed a full focus to stay between the barriers with the slick tyres.” Milla says.
The double win weekend crowned the amazing season for Milla and her team. 9 podiums, 2 wins and 3 fastest lap times from 10 races and not a single DNF. Milla praises her team for a great job with the car ever since the start of their V8 Thunder campaign in 2019.
“We have finished every race since 2019 and over 50% of them are podium finishes. We have a great team, I tell what’s wrong and my dad has an analyse of how to fix it. Miikka fixes everything and I literally mean everything! If there’s a problem that no one can fix he can do it. My boyfriend Ville always has the energy to do the extra work and final checks to make sure everything is ready no matter how hard day it was or how late it is. And our mum makes sure everything runs in schedule and that everyone has eaten and is ready for the though parts of the day.” Milla says.
Mäkelä Racing Team wants to thank all their sponsors and supporters for making the season 2022 possible!
Photo credits: Pertti Kangasniemi