Juuso Puhakka

Juuso Puhakka (born 16 August 1998) is a Finnish road racing cyclist and former racing driver. He competed in three seasons of the GT World Challenge Europe between 2020 and 2022, and was successful in the Silver Cup for Toksport WRT and Attempto Racing. Since 2024, he is active in road cycling.

Career Puhakka began his single-seater career in 2015, competing in Formula Renault 1.6 Nordic for FinnDrive. In his rookie year in the series, Puhakka won at Falkenbergs Motorbana and Solvalla, as well as taking four other podiums to end the year third overall. Remaining in the newly-rebranded Formula STCC Nordic for 2016, Puhakka won at Skövde, Mantorp Park and Falkenbergs Motorbana en route to runner-up honours behind Linus Lundqvist. During 2016, Puhakka also raced part-time in the F4 Spanish Championship for MP Motorsport and Double R Racing, most notably taking a podium at Navarra with the former.

In 2017, Puhakka ventured to the Russian-based SMP F4 Championship with Lappalainen Team, taking a lone win at Smolensk Ring and three other podiums to end the season seventh in points. That year, Puhakka also made sporadic appearances in the F4 Spanish Championship for the Lappalainen-owned Kart in Club Driving Academy and SMP Racing, taking a best result of fourth at Aragón.

In 2018, Puhakka switched to sports car racing, joining Leipert Motorsport to compete in the Pro-Am class of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia alongside Mikko Eskelinen. In his rookie season in the series, Puhakka began the year by winning at Buriram and Suzuka, before taking a win in each of the final three rounds to secure the Pro-Am title at seasons' end. At the beginning of 2019, Puhakka moved to FFF Racing Team to partner Takashi Kasai in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East, scoring five podiums to take third in the Pro standings. Continuing with Kasai for Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, as a member of the Lamborghini Young Drivers Programme, Puhakka scored three Pro class wins en route to runner-up honours.

Stepping up to GT3 for 2020, Puhakka returned to Europe and joined Toksport WRT in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. Sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Óscar Tunjo, Puhakka won once at Magny-Cours in Silver Cup to end the year fourth in points. That year, Puhakka also made his 24 Hours of Spa debut with fellow AMG customer team Madpanda Motorsport. Continuing with Toksport for his second Sprint Cup season in 2021, Puhakka and Tunjo won in class at Brands Hatch and took five other podiums to end the season fourth among the Silver Cup entries. Towards the end of the year, Puhakka made a one-off return to the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for Madpanda at Barcelona.

In 2022, Puhakka graduated to the Pro class with Attempto Racing, partnering Audi works drivers Dennis Marschall and Markus Winkelhock in the GTWCE Endurance Cup. However, Puhakka was demoted to Silver Cup for the 24 Hours of Spa, where he finished second in class before parting ways with Attempto. Puhakka returned to action in an ADAC GT Masters cameo with Madpanda at the Lausitzring, alongside select appearances in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie's BMW M240i class for Schnitzelalm Racing. In 2023, Puhakka made three NLS starts for Schnitzelalm, including one in SP9, as his motorsport activity rapidly decreased.

In 2024, Puhakka began participating in road racing cycling events, primarily in Finland.

Karting record Karting career summary

Racing record Racing career summary Season still in progress.

† As Puhakka was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 1.6 Nordic results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

† As Puhakka was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

Complete SMP F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points 2017 Lappalainen Team SOC1 SOC2 SOC3 SMO1 SMO2 SMO3 AHV1 AHV2 AHV3 AUD1 AUD2 AUD3 MSC11 MSC12 MSC13 MSC21 MSC22 MSC23 ASS1 ASS2 ASS3 7th 136

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points 2020 Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Silver MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 4th 69 2021 Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Silver MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 MIS1 MIS2 BRH1 BRH2 VAL1 VAL 2 4th 80

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

Complete ADAC GT Masters 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 DC Points 2022 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo OSC1 OSC2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 LAU1 LAU2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 NC 0