Tuukka Taponen
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| Tuukka Taponen | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Born | 26 October 2006 Lohja, Finland |
| Italian F4 Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2023 |
| Current team | Prema Racing |
| Car number | 19 |
| Starts | 15 (15 entries) |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
Tuukka Taponen (Born 26 October 2006) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship. He finished runner up in the 2023 F4 UAE Championship, and is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.[1]
Career
Karting
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.[2][3]
Taponen made his CIK debute in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and came thirteeth 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 33rd 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.[2][4] 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.[2] 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.[4][5][6]
Taponen had a second appearance in the FDA Scouting World Finals in 2022, which secured his place at the Ferrari Driver Academy.[7][8]
Formula 4
Taponen made his Single-seater debut in the 2021 Formula Academy Finland for Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, in a part time campaign, he won the two races that he entered, he 2022 he did another part time campaign and came sixth in the championship.[9][10][11]
He made his first full time Single-seater debut in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship for Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited.[12]
In 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 race after that.
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.[13]
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.[14]
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.
For his full time Formula 4 campaign, he is competing in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing.[15]
Karting record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Finnish Junior Championship — Raket | 1st | |
| 2018 | Finnish Championship — OK Junior | 3rd | |
| CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy | 13th | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Junior | Kohtala Sports | 17th | |
| 2019 | WSK Final Cup — OKJ | Kohtala Sports | 18th |
| Estonian championship — OK Junior | Hemet Racing | 8th | |
| Finnish Championship — OK Junior | 1st | ||
| CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ | Kohtala Sports | 4th | |
| CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ | Kohtala Sports | 33rd | |
| WSK Super Master Series — OKJ | 23rd | ||
| 2020 | WSK Open Cup — OK | Tony Kart Racing Team | 4th |
| WSK Euro Series — OKJ | Tony Kart Racing Team | 5th | |
| WSK Champions Cup — OK Junior | |||
| WSK Super Master Series — OK Junior | Kohtala Sports | 13th | |
| 2021 | CIK-FIA European Championship — OK | Tony Kart Racing Team | 9th |
| Champions of the Future — OK | 4th | ||
| CIK-FIA World Championship — OK | Tony Kart Racing Team | 1st | |
| WSK Open Cup — OK | 1st | ||
| WSK Euro Series — OK | 6th | ||
| WSK Super Master Series — OK | 4th | ||
| WSK Champions Cup — OK | Tony Kart Racing Team | 4th | |
| 2022 | CIK-FIA European Championship — OK | Tony Kart Racing Team | 11th |
Racing record
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Formula Academy Finland | 2 | 2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| 2022 | Formula Academy Finland | Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 125 | 6th |
| 2023 | Formula 4 UAE Championship | Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited | 15 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 212 | 2nd |
| Italian F4 Championship | Prema Racing |
* Season still in progress.
Complete F4 UAE Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited | DUB1 1 9 |
DUB1 2 2 |
DUB1 3 2 |
KMT1 1 6 |
KMT1 2 3 |
KMT1 3 Ret |
KMT2 1 3 |
KMT2 2 1 |
KMT2 3 34 |
DUB2 1 1 |
DUB2 2 1 |
DUB2 3 1 |
YMC 1 2 |
YMC 2 2 |
YMC 3 Ret |
2nd | 212 |
* Season still in progress.
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Prema Racing | IMO 1 9 |
IMO 2 9 |
IMO 3 |
IMO 4 28† |
MIS 1 1 |
MIS 2 4 |
MIS 3 5 |
SPA 1 7 |
SPA 2 18 |
SPA 3 7 |
MNZ 1 3 |
MNZ 2 27† |
MNZ 3 17 |
LEC 1 4 |
LEC 2 2 |
LEC 3 3 |
MUG 1 |
MUG 2 |
MUG 3 |
VLL 1 |
VLL 2 |
VLL 3 |
5th* | 123* |
*Season still in progress.
References
- ↑ "HOME". Tuukkataponen. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Ferrari Driver Academy Driver - Tuukka Taponen".
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2020-12-26). "The top karting stars of 2020". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wood, Ida (2021-06-28). "Mercedes junior Antonelli part of Ferrari Driver Academy scouting camp". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Gascoigne, Roger (2021-11-08). "Bearman and Camara signed by Ferrari Driver Academy for 2022". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2021-12-26). "The top karting stars of 2021". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2022-10-18). "Four F4 racers and two karters selected for Ferrari's World Scouting Final". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2022-11-15). "Finnish F4 star Tuukka Taponen joins the Ferrari Driver Academy". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2022-06-12). "World Karting champion Tuukka Taponen takes triple win on F4 return". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-01-01). "The Formula 4 title battles you might have missed in 2022". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2023-04-17). "Who to look out for in Italian Formula 4's 10th season". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ↑ "Red Bull's Lindblad leads cluster of new entries for F4 UAE". 29 December 2022.
- ↑ "Taponen takes his first F4 UAE win in Kuwait race two". February 2023.
- ↑ "Taponen earns clean sweep of F4 wins at Dubai". 12 February 2023.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (2022-12-19). "New Ferrari junior Tuukka Taponen joins Prema for Italian F4". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
External links
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