Jari Ketomaa.

[A.F.F.]

I just wanted all you guys to know the name of future champion :)

And for the record, he is the new Jani Paasonen in my book. You should have seen him at NORF this year. Crazy and talented with the best attitude for a rally driver :up:

[GigiGalliNo1]

Who often has he done a crash/off this season? And what will he drive next year? Does he keep the car and allowed to drive it or he have to sit out because ford not giving out wrcars of the fiesta? What a shame...

[pino]

I just wanted all you guys to know the name of future champion :)

And for the record, he is the new Jani Paasonen in my book. You should have seen him at NORF this year. Crazy and talented with the best attitude for a rally driver :up:

Yes it was great to watch him live at NORF this year and I agree that he's as crazy as Paasonen but just more talented ;) Hopefully he will get a car for next season starting from Sweden :D

[N.O.T]

how old is he ?

His tarmac skills need a lot of work if he wants to be champion...last time we had a champion who could not drive on tarmac was very long ago.

[A.F.F.]

From there you're able to find all the info about him: http://www.ketomaa.com/

Two years ago at NORF, he was driving hopelessly old Subaru Impreza. After the first stages the reporter asked what is his goal in this rally?? Ketomaa answered that if he is not on podium he'll be disappointed :D :D :D

Talking about killer attitude !!!

[Hartusvuori]

Ketomaa is 31 years old, which in this current trend means he's old enough to retire, but if we really think about it, he definitely has some good 8-10 years of top level competition in front of him. And I believe he definitely hasn't showed his best yet.

Where comes the "how many crashes" thing? This year he started with awfully bad luck in Jordania (engine failure before start ramp), then won in NZ and Portugal, bad luck with car in Finland (4:10 time penalties) after which he didn't drove it safe and was faster than Kankkunen, Wilson and Räikkönen in Lankamaa and Sirkkamäki (of Lankamaa he commented on his home page: "Driving-wise I couldn't have drove Lankamaa any faster. But overall I could've safed some six seconds if I wouldn't have had to overtake one car in front of me and we also had a slow puncture by the end of the stage".) In Japan he won and in France, his first tarmac rally ever, he came second.

He is definitely made from classic elements of iconic rally drivers. He deserves the SWRC title the most (why isn't anyone raving about Pons?) and hopefully gets a WRC for next year.

[N.O.T]

time is running out then...lets hope he gets his chance soon and then we see what he can make of it.

[A.F.F.]

Pons is leading S2000 with seven points. So all Ketomaa has to do is to win next rally and he is the champion. Simple as that :)

[Tomi]

Ketomaa for sure has much potential, but the age might be a problem nowdays when the drivers are grabbed straight from cradle to learn how to drive in WRC.
On the other side his chance might be that there is no one of the current candidates for works drives, that are even close to his driving skills, time will tell.
Like Hartusvuori, I also wonder why people think he crash a lot.

[Viking]

no one of the current candidates for works drives, that are even close to his driving skills

Who are this current candidates? I see a few in the line before him...

[Tomi]

Who are this current candidates? I see a few in the line before him...

all those who drives witout works contract in WRC, who's aim is to get one.

[Viking]

all those who drives witout works contract in WRC, who's aim is to get one.

So Sordo, Petter, PG and so on are not even close??

[Tomi]

So Sordo, Petter, PG and so on are not even close??

sordo has contract, and pg too, petter would have been signed long time ago, if someone would want him.

[Viking]

Sordo has no contract for 2011, PG? what contract has he signed?

[Tomi]

Sordo has no contract for 2011, PG? what contract has he signed?

you better call him and ask.

[cali]

At what age Bosse came to the top.? I think there's quite many drivers who achieved their best when they were 30+

[rp]

Have to remember that someone called Marcus Grönholm was 31-year-old, when he made a works contract with Peugeot. He did not need to practise anymore or take some 5-year lessons and I am sure that Ketomaa is ready for the figth with the big boys straightaway. His tarmac skills needs to be developed, but on the gravel he is one the fastest. Hopefully Malcolm is clever and M-Sport can give him a competitive Fiesta RS WRC already next year...

[Tomi]

Agree with cali and rp, but the tendence nowdays seem to be different, not good in my opinion either.
And I think Ketomaas example shows something else too, that it is no point to burn money in expensive international rallies abroad, if there is an enough competitive national series, he was right away on the pace.

[Viking]

Bosses age was an exception, even in his time.

[Tomi]

What comes to Bosse, when he signed for Peugeot he had several teams to choose from, and if it would have been up to TTE and Ove Andersson, he would have been driving for Toyota long before that.

[cali]

Bosses age was an exception, even in his time.

Age is never exception when you are fast as hell, it's just another excuse. Bosse's speed was well known, but whenever he had the chance to shine, he did end up in a ditch or crashed quite hard. Luckily Peugoet guys saw the best in him and signed.

I hope that Ketomaa has the chance to prove himself. Certainly he's one of those who deserves it. He's not that old yet...

[Finni2]

Ketomaa is definitely the best driver without wrc-drive at the moment. Hänninen has been the best S2000 driver but Ketomaa's pace seems to be beyond Juho's.

It seems that Latvala could be a challenge to Ogier and Loeb in the future but in my view Ketomaa is more talented.

What's this age bull****? Grönholm and Loeb were older than Ketomaa at their best. Rally drivers best age is 30-35.

[Iskald]

how old is he ?

His tarmac skills need a lot of work if he wants to be champion...last time we had a champion who could not drive on tarmac was very long ago.

For once I agree with you N.O.T. In France he was beaten on most stages by four norwegians - three of them 21-22 years old...

[Barreis]

Just watched Japan S2000 and it was only 3 s2000 drivers there so is it fair enough that Ketomaa takes the title after kinda holiday competetion?

[Tomi]

Just watched Japan S2000 and it was only 3 s2000 drivers there so is it fair enough that Ketomaa takes the title after kinda holiday competetion?

As usual you dont have a clue, he has not taken any title yet.

[Frozzy]

wow Jani Paasonen thats a driver i havnt heard of for a while whats he doing now anyways?
as for ketmaa he seems well enough if villagra and wilson jr can get a wrc drive then he should defonitly get one next season :~D

[Barreis]

As usual you dont have a clue, he has not taken any title yet.

I thought maybe to go to Finland next year and invite you Finns to watch it together but maybe kinda fight could start after half an hour.. :D

[A.F.F.]

Like Hartusvuori, I also wonder why people think he crash a lot.

That would be my fault since I called him crazy driver :)

[A.F.F.]

For once I agree with you N.O.T. In France he was beaten on most stages by four norwegians - three of them 21-22 years old...

True... but Francce was Ketomaa's first outing on tarmac and he wanted the points. His goal was to keep S200 leaders behind him and in that he succeeded.

So, he is not just a driver with great attitude, killer instinct, fast as hell but also a smart with tactics :D

[Tomi]

That would be my fault since I called him crazy driver :)

Not sure if he is crazy, but he has good attitude.

[Addicted]

For once I agree with you N.O.T. In France he was beaten on most stages by four norwegians - three of them 21-22 years old...

About these norwegian rising stars:
- Henning, finally found class that dont have too hard competition for him so he dont have to cry about anything.
- Mikkelsen, if Räikkönen crashes often so does this tall guy. Potential but havent shown anything special lately.
- Östberg, he should know how good Ketomaa is, since Ketomaa showed him how drive Subaru fast. S2000 seems to suite him well.
- Brynildsen, nothing special, ever.

[Karukera]

How is he considered by the Finnish press and generally by the Finnish rally community ?

[Hartusvuori]

How is he considered by the Finnish press and generally by the Finnish rally community ?

Finnish press in general follows rather little of rallying these days, especially outside WRC, but lately Ketomaa's rallies in SWRC have been covered on the side article. He is - what - a three-time Finnish champion so from those years he is as well-known as a three-time Finnish champion can be. Journalists that follows even a little rallying knows what he's capable of.

By the Finnish rally community? Perhaps you can read little enthusiasm between the lines from posts of Finnish forum members. His last year's appearance in NORF with oldish S12b was a tide-breaker and after that it have been rumoured and hoped that he could make it to the big league. He did some tests with Subaru later in 2009 and was reportedly faster than anyone before in an S14, but that turned out nothing - thankfully, I think. This year the raw speed has spoke for itself - and again its rumoured and hoped that he could make that one more step up.

[darkstar]

ketomaa rock´s! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8AmHaLsiwE&feature=player_embedded

[A.F.F.]

ketomaa rock´s! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8AmHaLsiwE&feature=player_embedded

Finns... even on tarmac rallies they try to find quicker substitute :D

[darkstar]

hehehe ;)

[Mihai]

Ketomaa went to Transylvania Rallyshow (on tarmac) in Romania back in 2007 and reached the final stage, against strong opposition from drivers like Bugalski, Rovanpera, a bunch of Italians and the best local drivers. He was eventually defeated by Romanian record title holder Titi Aur, but he really made his mark. And he can drive on tarmac!

[Karukera]

Interesting to know. Kiitos Hartusvuori :up:

[OldF]

He won the Finnish championship with both Mitsubishi (2006, 2007) and Subaru (2009). He started to drive go-kart when he was 7 and rally sprint when he was 16. Of 50 competitions he won 43 in the rally sprint junior series.

[Tomi]

Yep,yep, among people who follows rally it has been no secret that Ketomaa knows how to drive, we have maybe 2-3 others with much potential too, maybe not winning guys yet, but regular podium preformers, hopefully they get their budget in order for coming years so that the fun continiues.

[snellman]

if this guy is so good, why won't mini sign him? sounds sarcastic, but it's not :D

[Finni2]

if this guy is so good, why won't mini sign him? sounds sarcastic, but it's not :D

Put it simply, people often do wrong choices.

Now I am hearing rumours about P-G Andersson going to Mini. During this year Ketomaa has been miles ahead of P-G with corresponding car.

My guess is that Ketomaa could have chance to get Ford. Malcolm may be wise enough to take Jari. Let's see. At least there is some contact between ford and Ketomaa because ketomaa has done good results with S2000 car.

[A.F.F.]

if this guy is so good, why won't mini sign him? sounds sarcastic, but it's not :D

They might just started to notice him....

[Barreis]

Money turns the world around..

[Daniel]

And for the record, he is the new Jani Paasonen in my book.

The kiss of death for someone's career if ever there was one ;)

[A.F.F.]

The kiss of death for someone's career if ever there was one ;)

If that's the case, let me rephrase a bit. Sebastien Loeb is the new Jani Paasonen in my book ;)

:p :