Since 2018 the Finnish Championship series has been open to everyone to race against the top drivers in Finland and to turn this into a reality the Suomen Purjehdus ja Veneily ry (Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation) awarded a three-year contract to Liquid Level Promotions.
The former SM Series was then rebranded as RaceWKND to reflect the duration of the event and to give the competition a fast-paced feeling combined with a modern style.
‘For some time now there has been a need for a kind of facelift for this sport’ said Johannes Bohmig from Liquid Level Promotions. ‘So our aim has been to make it better known in the media. We also needed closer racing and to make it more interesting for current participants, the general public, as well as potential sponsors and competitors.’
The promoter is totally committed to developing circuit powerboat racing which in practice means setting out a common aim for all to compete, develop and evolve in the field of circuit powerboat racing by acting with a cheerful outlook for the benefit of the whole sport. ‘Let us encourage each other together, give help and dare to ask for it if necessary’ said Bohmig.
For the 2021 season RaceWKND organised four race venues, with Lohja, located near Helsinki hosting Round One. Attracting overseas competitors has always been Bohmig’s aim, so when William Sjöström and Matilda Wiberg from Sweden and Stefan Arand from Estonia entered the F4 Class it showed that he and his promotional team were heading in the right direction. But it was the Finish driver Sami Reinikainen from the Veleiro Racing team who kept the foreign racers at bay, going on to secure what would be his only F4 victory for 2021.
Just two weeks later the teams headed to Ramua on the West coast of Finland, a city inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List back in 1991. This time around Arand got the better of Reinikainen to secure the F4 Class, although the weekend’s racing was cut short due to high winds on Sunday. This also had a massive impact on the GT15 European Championship which was being held there. With no chance of any racing on the Sunday, Hendrik Arula from Estonia won the UIM title based on the results from Saturday.
A month later it was Kuopio, the city surrounded by Lake Kallavesi who hosted Round Three. Once again the teams faced challenging weather conditions, hail storms in mid -July was not what they had expected. The F4 class was once again fiercely contested with Alexander Lindholm securing the top step of the podium. In the GT30 class Noel Vänttinen extended his overall series lead with a second-place finish behind Sweden’s Hilmer Wiberg, whilst in GT15 BMG Racing Team’s Arthur Sundbäck moved further ahead in the title race.
The major port of Kotka on the Gulf of Finland would provide the final venue for the 2021 season and once again Lindholm showed his dominance by winning all the F4 heats to seal his title bid. Reinikainen and Arand both finished three points behind him, but it would be the Finn by virtue of his two second place finishes earlier in the year that would separate the pair in the final championship standings. Vänttinen who had never been off the podium all season secured the GT30 title and in GT15 Sundbäck followed up his victory at the previous round with another in Kotka.
The SJ10 Class for 8–12-year old’s was incredibly competitive all year with just six points separating the top three drivers. Valter Laine just edged out Adele Servin and Sisu Seliö to take the title.
The RaceWKND series moto is ‘Passion for Powerboat Racing’ and all at PRW share that ideal and are already looking forward to covering their 2022 race series.
