Jussi Välimäki

Jussi Välimäki (born 9 September 1974 in Tampere) is a Finnish rally driver, who scored eight World Rally Championship points during his career, with a best finish of fifth on the 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna.

Career

Välimäki's first World Rally Championship events came in 1998, in Sweden and Finland, behind the wheel of an Opel Astra GSi 16V. In 2000 he drove a Ford Escort WRC to 13th place on Rally Finland. In 2001 he contested the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) in a Peugeot 206 S1600, finishing third in the category in Finland and finishing the season ninth. He contested the 2002 JWRC season in a Citroën Saxo, but only managed a best finish of fifth on Rally GB, ending the year 15th in the classification. He also did two other WRC rounds in a Toyota Corolla WRC, but retired from both.

2003 saw Välimäki do four WRC rounds with the Hyundai team, but he retired from all four of them. He used the Hyundai Accent on four rounds of the 2004 season, finishing seventh on Rally Mexico. He also used a Ford Focus RS WRC 03 on Rallye Deutschland, finishing 14th. In 2005, Välimäki won the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, with five wins from seven rallies.

Välimäki returned to top-class WRC action in 2006, entering three rounds with a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05. He used it to finish fifth on Rally d'Italia Sardegna, before finishing ninth in Greece and seventh in Finland.

In 2007, Välimäki won the Finnish Rally Championship, and was runner-up in the following season. In 2009 he contested the Chinese Rally Championship.

In 2011, Välimäki announced he was ending his active rallying career.

WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 1998 Jussi Välimäki Opel Astra GSi 16V MON SWE35 KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN38 ITA AUS GBR NC 0 1999 Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FINRet CHN ITA AUS GBR NC 0 2000 Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MON SWE30 KEN POR ESP ARG GRE NZL CYP FRA ITA AUS GBR31 NC 0 Ford Escort WRC FIN13 2001 Jussi Välimäki Peugeot 206 S1600 MON SWE POR ESPRet ARG CYP GRERet KEN FIN36 NZL ITARet FRA29 AUS GBRRet NC 0 2002 Jussi Välimäki Citroën Saxo S1600 MONRet SWE FRA ESPRet CYP ARG GRERet KEN FIN GERRet ITA23 NZL AUS GBR27 NC 0 Toyota Corolla WRC SWE18 FINRet Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI AUS15 2003 Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai Accent WRC3 MON SWERet TUR NZLRet ARG GRERet CYP GER FINRet AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR NC 0 2004 Jussi Välimäki Hyundai Accent WRC MON11 SWE MEX7 NZL CYPRet GRERet TUR ARG 27th 2 Suzuki Ignis S1600 FIN26 Ford Focus RS WRC 03 GER14 JPN GBR ITA FRA ESP AUS 2005 Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MON SWE21 MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS NC 0 2006 Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA5 GRE9 GER FIN7 JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR 16th 6 2008 Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRE TUR FIN14 GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR NC 0

JWRC Results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 JWRC Points 2001 Jussi Välimäki Peugeot 206 S1600 ESPRet GRE7 FIN3 ITARet FRA12 GBRRet 9th 4 2002 Jussi Välimäki Citroën Saxo S1600 MONRet ESPRet GRERet GERRet ITA9 GBR5 15th 2

PWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PWRC Points 2008 Jussi Välimäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX SWE ARG GRE TUR FIN2 NZL JPN GBR 15th 8