Relaa Racing won the inaugural FRC GT Open championship with Tommi Haru

The premier Finnish racing series, Finnish Racing Championship, concluded in the Alastaro circuit the past weekend. In the thrilling finale, two FRC GT Open starts were held with a total of 26 entrants. Relaa Racing fielded two Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992s in the Class 1 with the newly-crowned champion Tommi Haru and former Relaa and Porsche junior Luka Nurmi as drivers.

The opening race was held in dry conditions despite the weather predictions. Nurmi qualified on the front row in P2, with Haru behind the young Finn in P4. However, the race was controlled by the home venue hero Henri Tuomaala in another 992 Cup car with Nurmi finishing behind in P2. The podium was completed by Jyrki Peltola in a Class 2 Chevrolet Corvette C6. Haru fought hard for P4 with Olli Kangas in an identical 992 Cup car, but was forced to settle for fifth at the chequered flag.

Race 2 started in medium rain conditions behind a safety car. Nurmi, who was out on used wet weather tires, made the call together with the team over the radio to retire from the race due to increasing rain and puddles of water on the circuit. Haru stayed out, and as the pace car eventually dived into the pits, the wet weather specialist showed his skills in the heavy downpour by elevating himself up from P5 to P2 with a daring overtake from Kangas just in time the safety car was called again to finish the race.

-I managed to challenge Tuomaala at his home track, but we didn’t quite have enough pace to win the race. The second race was a full wet race and we only had a used set of wets available. We were aquaplaning even behind the safety car, and we made the call together with the team to return to pits. The weekend was very good training and experience for me, and I’m sure it’ll prove useful when we get to the final race of our Italian GT season in Monza in October, Nurmi recapped his weekend.

-We had not prepared for the first race to be dry, and the tires were finished little after the second half of the race. The second race was a true wet weather race. I managed to be faster than most in the difficult conditions, and the tires were working surprisingly well. It’s a shame we had to finish the race under safety car conditions, Haru said of his weekend.

The Finnish Racing Championship season 2024 concluded the past weekend with the 2025 calendar already locked in. The season was successful for the Porsche team, as Tommi Haru won the Class 1 championship and Relaa drivers won a total of 4 race starts. Relaa Racing continues in the promising and growing FRC GT Open category next season as the season begins from Kemora circuit in 24^th to 25^th of May. Relaa Racing wished to extend its gratitude to the team members, organisers, and partners of the 2024 season.

FRC Alastaro – FRC GT Open results