Juha Rytkönen will compete in the final round of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Germany. The Finn was set to appear at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain last time out but engine issues for the Ferratum Team kept meant he was out of action.
Jani Paasonen has been the regular driver for the Ferratum squad this year but Rytkönen will take over his duties for the World RX of Germany at the Nurburgring and had been set to take part at Spa before the event was cancelled due the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My expectations for the Kouvola race were to gain experience and have a clean race. One of the targets was to gain experience in working with a professional team, but reaching a spot on the podium exceeded all of our expectations,” said Rytkonen.
“I got a phone call after the Sunday race in Kouvola and Ferratum Team asked my plans for the future and possibilities of working together. That’s were it started and since then we have been working together. I joined the team in Riga, which was great to see how the team really works. It was valuable experience for us all.”
The Finn added: “We have already done few days of testing. Before the race in Germany we’ll have some testing as well. I have a great feeling to drive with the Fiesta. Even though we have experienced some new tracks, the car has given me a lot of confidence.
“Of course there are some differences between the Hyundai [i20, that he drove in Kouvola] and Fiesta but you have get used to all of these things. I hope we can have a clean race and at least reach the semi-final places.”
On his World RX debut, Rytkönen scored a podium at home in Kouvola. Since then he has tested the Ferratum Team’s newly acquired all-electric Projekt E Ford Fiesta ERX that was raced at Riga by Janis Baumanis. He said: “It was very powerful and exciting to drive. It has been great to be able to have the possibility to test the electric car. For sure this will be the future of motorsports.
“Generally, the driving experience is at the same level compared to World RX Supercars. At the moment the Projekt E car is heavier compared to the World RX Supercar and it makes the driving a bit different, but on the other hand you have a great amount of power and torque in the Projekt E car.”
