Mika Salo

Mika Salo

Mika Salo in 2009
Born (1966-11-30) 30 November 1966
Helsinki, Finland
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Finland Finnish
Active years 19942000, 2002
Teams Lotus, Tyrrell, Arrows, BAR, Ferrari, Sauber, Toyota
Entries 111 (109 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 2
Career points 33
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1994 Japanese Grand Prix
Last entry 2002 Japanese Grand Prix

Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2002. His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Career

Formula Three and Japanese racing

In 1989, Helsinki-born Salo competed in the British Formula 3 Championship, racing for Alan Docking Racing. He raced with the Reynard Toyota package which was not the season's best. Staying with Alan Docking Racing for 1990 and moving to a more competitive Ralt chassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rival Mika Häkkinen in Formula Three, finishing second to him.

In 1991 Salo headed to Japan to race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship (now named Super Formula). His initial aim was to race in Europe's Formula 3000 but did not garner enough funding to compete. A budget would have spanned from £200.000 to £500.000 to drive in Europe and Salo had only collected a fraction over £200.000, not enough to stay competitive. While in Japan, Salo landed a competitive seat and got also paid for driving for AD Racing's in their single car team. The Japanese Formula 3000 Championship in 1991 had increased stature thanks to the aggrieved Johnny Herbert (who raced in F1 in 1989) raising the calibre of the championship, driving in Japan in the same time than Salo.[1]

Formula One

1994–1998: Lotus, Tyrrell and Arrows

"I think it was six days before the race they said, 'Do you think you can drive it next weekend with no testing'. I'd never driven a Formula One car before in my life; that's what I've always wanted, so I said yes. I know the circuit so I don't think it's a problem. The next two nights I lay in my bed smiling, so happy it was happening."

Salo commenting on his first race for Lotus.[2]

After a few years racing in Japan he made his first Formula One start at the penultimate round of the 1994 season in Japan for the ailing Lotus team. He was kept on for the season's finale in Australia. Following the collapse of Lotus following the end of the season, Salo moved to Tyrrell for 1995. He was to spend three years with the team, scoring points several times. In the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix he completed the whole (rain-shortened and -slowed) race without refuelling, taking fifth place ahead of the faster Giancarlo Fisichella as a result.[3] Despite a promising 1998 with Arrows, he had no full-time drive in 1999.

1999: British American Racing and Ferrari

Salo driving for Tyrrell at the 1995 British Grand Prix.
Salo testing for Ferrari at Monza in 1999.

Following an injury to BAR driver Ricardo Zonta, Salo took his place for three races whilst the Brazilian recovered. However a greater opportunity arose when Michael Schumacher broke his leg in a crash during the 1999 British Grand Prix. Salo was selected as his substitute to partner Eddie Irvine at Ferrari. In his second race in Ferrari at the 1999 German Grand Prix Salo led for part of the race and would have scored a Grand Prix win but team orders demanded that he give the lead to Irvine, who at the time was fighting for the championship with Mika Häkkinen.[4] Following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture of gratitude. He also finished third at Monza, ahead of Irvine. These podium finishes were critical in helping Ferrari win their first Constructors' title since 1983.

2000–2002: Sauber and Toyota

Salo was back full-time in 2000 with Sauber, taking 11th in the championship, although he left the team at the end of the season to join the new Toyota team in preparation for its Formula One entry in 2002, and also cited a desire to score podiums rather than lower points-scoring positions. He scored two points for Toyota in their first season, becoming the first driver since JJ Lehto at the 1993 South African Grand Prix to score points on a team's debut by finishing sixth at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. He retired from Formula One at the end of 2002, after surprisingly getting fired from Toyota (though it was later revealed that he was not on good terms with the team due to his deemed poor performance).

During his Formula One career, he achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 33 championship points.

Post-Formula One

His first post-Formula One race came at the 2003 12 Hours of Sebring, driving the UK-entered Audi R8, the same car he was due to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans if it had not run out of fuel already after the first hour. He raced in four CART races for PK Racing during the same year, his best finish being third in Miami in his second series start.

Because of his strong links with Ferrari he was picked up to be part of the development program of the Maserati MC12 GT racer. He made his FIA GT debut in 2004, narrowly losing the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in a Ferrari 575. After that he entered the last four races of the season in the Maserati, winning two races and finishing second once.

2005 was a year somewhat lost in the doldrums with only two participations with the Maserati MC12 in the ALMS GTS-class, a competition where the car turned out to be not even half as competitive as in the FIA GT series.

For 2006, Salo returned to racing full-time, signing with AF Corse in the FIA GT to drive the Ferrari F430 and later on in the year with Risi Competizione in the ALMS. He was victorious in class in the 24 Hours of Spa and finished third in the FIA GT2 Drivers' Championship with 61 points, while his efforts in the ALMS contributed to Risi's Teams' Championship cup. In the following year he continued with Risi Competizione in the ALMS and took the GT2 class honours in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the championship along with teammate Jaime Melo. They won a total of eight races out of twelve in the class. In addition, he won the RAC Tourist Trophy with Thomas Biagi when substituting for Michael Bartels, driving a Maserati MC12 once more.

Salo and Melo with Risi Competizione earned the first team At-Large honours on the 2007 All-American Racing Team, as voted for by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters (AARWBA).[5] Salo raced again in the ALMS for Risi Competizione in 2008. Although he was not successful in defending his previous year's titles, he won the GT2 class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, coming in 18th overall.

In 2009, he joined the Risi Ferrari team at the blue-riband races only, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans event, winning all three of them. Having won these enduro races all more than once, Salo felt he was ready for a new challenge. He set his mind on NASCAR, and had his first test with Michael Waltrip Racing at the half-mile New Smyrna Speedway in November 2009.[6]

From 2010-12, Salo competed in the Gold Coast 600, an endurance event for the V8 Supercars. In 2010, he partnered with Walkinshaw Racing's Andrew Thompson and retired from both races. For 2011-12 he raced with Will Davison and the Ford Performance Racing team, finishing 2nd in the 1st race of 2011 and winning the 2nd race in 2012.

In 2014, driving for Maranello Motorsport, Salo co-drove a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour alongside Australian motor racing legends Craig Lowndes and John Bowe, and another local Australian driver Peter Edwards.

Personal

He currently resides in Estonia.[7]

His godson Jesse Krohn competes in Formula Renault, both in Scandinavia and the UK.

Like fellow Finns Keke Rosberg and JJ Lehto, both former Formula One drivers, Salo has commentated on several F1 races on MTV3 and the pay-channel MTV3 MAX from 2005 till present (2016).[8]

Since 2011, Salo has been hosting the Finnish TV-show, Virittäjät ('Test Drive by Mika Salo'), along with his former co-host Tomi Tuominen, who is a Finnish journalist, television presenter, sports commentator and former co-driver in the WRC. At first, Salo tests the two cars built by the cars owners, on the Finnish Ahvenisto Race Circuit and present his initial thoughts of the vehicle. He would then proceed to make a quick time attack lap around the track and afterwards give feedback of the car to its owner. At the end of the show, Salo reviews the car with his co-host, Tomi Tuominen. In 2013, the shows format was changed a little for the third season. Now, instead of two cars per episode, Salo drives and reviews only one car, then races the car on the Alastaro Circuit to set a time which the car owner would have to beat. In the last episode of each season, Salo selects a winner out of all the competing cars and shortly explains why he believes that the car and its owner in question deserved to win. The show continues to follow this format to this day and the fifth season of the show was aired on TV, in 2015 and the 6th in 2016.[9]

Helmet

Salo's helmet was originally dark blue with a white halo on the top (with a red line inside), 2 white stripes (with a red line inside) going from the rear going down diagonally to the sides of the helmet and a white trapezoidal shape on the chin area (with blue outline), slightly based on Prost's helmet. When he raced in Formula One, he changed the helmet from dark blue to sky blue with the rest of the elements intact.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1991 Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. SUZ AUT
14
FUJ
DNQ
MIN
6
SUZ
DNQ
SUG
DNQ
FUJ
18
SUZ
DNQ
FUJ
C
SUZ
Ret
FUJ
Ret
23rd 1
1992 Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. SUZ
Ret
FUJ
15
MIN
4
SUZ
Ret
AUT
10
SUG
Ret
FUJ
18
FUJ
17
SUZ
7
FUJ
15
SUZ
5
15th 5
1993 Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. SUZ
13
FUJ
9
MIN
7
SUZ
Ret
AUT
C
SUG
6
FUJ
C
FUJ
DNS
SUZ
17
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
Ret
17th 1
1994 Team 5ZIGEN SUZ
3
FUJ
5
MIN
7
SUZ
11
SUG
12
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
8
FUJ
Ret
FUJ SUZ
10
7th 6

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points
1994 Team Lotus Lotus 109 Mugen Honda V10 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN
10
AUS
Ret
NC 0
1995 Nokia Tyrrell Yamaha Tyrrell 023 Yamaha V10 BRA
7
ARG
Ret
SMR
Ret
ESP
10
MON
Ret
CAN
7
FRA
15
GBR
8
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
BEL
8
ITA
5
POR
13
EUR
10
PAC
12
JPN
6
AUS
5
15th 5
1996 Tyrrell Yamaha Tyrrell 024 Yamaha V10 AUS
6
BRA
5
ARG
Ret
EUR
DSQ
SMR
Ret
MON
5
ESP
DSQ
CAN
Ret
FRA
10
GBR
7
GER
9
HUN
Ret
BEL
7
ITA
Ret
POR
11
JPN
Ret
13th 5
1997 Tyrrell Tyrrell 025 Ford V8 AUS
Ret
BRA
13
ARG
8
SMR
9
MON
5
ESP
Ret
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
13
BEL
11
ITA
Ret
AUT
Ret
LUX
10
JPN
Ret
EUR
12
17th 2
1998 Danka Zepter Arrows Arrows A19 Arrows V10 AUS
Ret
BRA
Ret
ARG
Ret
SMR
9
ESP
Ret
MON
4
CAN
Ret
FRA
13
GBR
Ret
AUT
Ret
GER
14
HUN
Ret
BEL
DNS
ITA
Ret
LUX
14
JPN
Ret
13th 3
1999 British American Racing BAR 01 Supertec V10 AUS BRA SMR
7
MON
Ret
ESP
8
CAN FRA GBR 10th 10
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F399 Ferrari V10 AUT
9
GER
2
HUN
12
BEL
7
ITA
3
EUR
Ret
MAL JPN
2000 Red Bull Sauber Petronas Sauber C19 Petronas V10 AUS
DSQ
BRA
DNS
SMR
6
GBR
8
ESP
7
EUR
Ret
MON
5
CAN
Ret
FRA
10
AUT
6
GER
5
HUN
10
BEL
9
ITA
7
USA
Ret
JPN
10
MAL
8
11th 6
2002 Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF102 Toyota V10 AUS
6
MAL
12
BRA
6
SMR
Ret
ESP
9
AUT
8
MON
Ret
CAN
Ret
EUR
Ret
GBR
Ret
FRA
Ret
GER
9
HUN
15
BEL
7
ITA
11
USA
14
JPN
8
17th 2

Complete CART results

(key)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2003 PK Racing STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LS POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MDO MTL DEN
14
MIA
3
MXC
5
SRF
11
FON
C †
16th 26

† Cancelled due to California Fires

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2003 United Kingdom Audi Sport UK
United Kingdom Arena Motorsport
Germany Frank Biela
United Kingdom Perry McCarthy
Audi R8 LMP900 28 DNF DNF
2007 United States Risi Competizione United Kingdom Johnny Mowlem
Brazil Jaime Melo
Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 223 DNF DNF
2008 United States Risi Competizione Italy Gianmaria Bruni
Brazil Jaime Melo
Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 326 19th 1st
2009 United States Risi Competizione Brazil Jaime Melo
Germany Pierre Kaffer
Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 329 18th 1st
2010 Italy AF Corse Argentina Luís Pérez Companc
Argentina Matías Russo
Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 0 DNS DNS
2014 Russia SMP Racing Russia Sergey Zlobin
Russia Anton Ladygin
Oreca 03R-Nissan LMP2 303 37th 12th

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points
2010 Mad-Croc Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R ABU
QR

Ret
ABU
CR

15
SIL
QR
SIL
CR
BRN
QR

19
BRN
CR

12
PRI
QR
PRI
CR
SPA
QR
SPA
CR
NÜR
QR

15
NÜR
CR

23
ALG
QR
ALG
CR
NAV
QR
NAV
CR
INT
QR
INT
CR
SAN
QR
SAN
CR
52nd 0

Complete V8 Supercar results

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Final Pos Points
2010 Walkinshaw Racing YMC
R1
YMC
R2
BHR
R3
BHR
R4
ADE
R5
ADE
R6
HAM
R7
HAM
R8
QLD
R9
QLD
R10
WIN
R11
WIN
R12
HID
R13
HID
R14
TOW
R15
TOW
R16
PHI
Q
PHI
R17
BAT
R18
SUR
R19

Ret
SUR
R20

Ret
SYM
R21
SYM
R22
SAN
R23
SAN
R24
SYD
R25
SYD
R26
NC 0 +
2011 Ford Performance Racing YMC
R1
YMC
R2
ADE
R3
ADE
R4
HAM
R5
HAM
R6
BAR
R7
BAR
R8
BAR
R9
WIN
R10
WIN
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
QLD
R18
PHI
Q
PHI
R19
BAT
R20
SUR
R21

2
SUR
R22

14
SYM
R23
SYM
R24
SAN
R25
SAN
R26
SYD
R27
SYD
R28
52nd 201
2012 Ford Performance Racing ADE
R1
ADE
R2
SYM
R3
SYM
R4
HAM
R5
HAM
R6
BAR
R7
BAR
R8
BAR
R9
PHI
R10
PHI
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
SMP
R18
SMP
R19
SAN
Q
SAN
R20
BAT
R21
SUR
R22

18
SUR
R23

1
YMC
R24
YMC
R25
YMC
R26
WIN
R27
WIN
R28
SYD
R29
SYD
R30
NC 0 †

† Not Eligible for points

Complete International Superstars Series results

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

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2012 Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte MNZ
R1

6
MNZ
R2

16
IMO
R1
IMO
R2
DON
R1
DON
R2
MUG
R1
MUG
R2
HUN
R1
HUN
R2
SPA
R1

5
SPA
R2

3
VAL
R1
VAL
R2
PER
R1
PER
R2
19th 30

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2014 SMP Racing LMP2 Oreca 03R Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS
1
COA FUJ SHA BHR SÃO 8th 50

Bathurst 12 Hour results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2013 Australia Maranello Motorsport Australia John Bowe
Australia Peter Edwards
Denmark Allan Simonsen
Ferrari 458 GT3 A 111 DNF DNF
2014 Australia Maranello Motorsport Australia John Bowe
Australia Peter Edwards
Australia Craig Lowndes
Ferrari 458 GT3 A 296 1 1
2015 Australia Maranello Motorsport United Kingdom Ben Collins
Australia Tony D'Alberto
Ferrari 458 GT3 A 0 DNS DNS
2016 Australia Maranello Motorsport Australia Tony D'Alberto
Australia Grant Denyer
Finland Toni Vilander
Ferrari 458 GT3 AP 63 DNF DNF

References

  1. ""Ensi vuodeksi formula 1:een" Mika Salo ajaa Japanin formula 3000-sarjassa" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 20 March 1991. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. FIA Formula 1 World Championship – 1995 Season Review (VHS). Duke Video. 11 December 1995. Event occurs at 13:00–14:00. EAN-13 5 017559 034955. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  3. "Salo, Mika | Formula 1 complete – all access F1". F1complete.com. 30 November 1966. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  4. 1999 German Grand Prix www.grandprix.com Retrieved 21 June 2007
  5. NHRA News: AARWBA All-America team includes new champs, Anderson, others (12/8/2007)
  6. "Salo relishing NASCAR chance (17/11/2009)". Autosport.com. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  7. "Hyvä ja halpa Viro". Iltalehti. 2013-03-01.
  8. "Mika Salo's LinkedIn profile". Mika Salo. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
  9. "Virittäjät". Elisa. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Bernd Schneider
Thomas Jäger
Alexander Roloff
Winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour
2014
(with Peter Edwards & John Bowe & Craig Lowndes)
Succeeded by
Katsumasa Chiyo
Wolfgang Reip
Florian Strauss
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