JUSSI KOHTALA

Jussi Kohtala is a former karting driver and current founder, owner and team manager for Kohtala Sports karting team. Jussi has spent all his life in karting tracks around the world. During his career Jussi won 9 Finnish Championship medals (5 golden) and 5 Nordic Championship medals (2 golden). One of the top karting moments Jussi had in Alahärmä, Finland, in Formula Super A category’s World Championship event, where he was third in 2002. In karting Jussi raced against i.e Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Giorgio Pantano and Nicolas Kiesa.

 

VALTTERI BOTTAS

Formula 1 driver, Valtteri Bottas, is the best known Kohtala Sports former drivers. Co-operation lasted 3,5 years in 2003-2006. During that time Valtteri was coached to another level as a driver and with that solid foundation he was able to move up to single seaters and gain success. 

During his years in the team, Valtteri won three Finnish Championships in three different categories, international Viking Trophy -race, WSK-series and many other podiums.

 

TEAM

Kohtala Sports is known as a karting team for making champions. It was established in 2003 and has been winning 16 Finnish championships and many international championships ever since. Top moment was in 2017 when the team won World championship bronze, driven by Juho Valtanen. Another top moments was in 2019, in the first European Championship race in Angerville, France, where Tuukka Taponen won the OKJ class by 6 seconds. Juho Valtanen was also on the podium, reaching 2nd place in the OK class. History was made also, as Juho Valtanen was chosen as the first motorsport athlete in history to receive the Olympic Committee's athlete grant.

 

SEASON 2020

For the 2020 season, there were clear plans to focus more and more on international competitions with a few Finnish drivers and the goal was to win the European and World Championships. With the spread of the corona virus, the whole world came to a standstill and plans had to be changed. The goals have not been abandoned, but now they are being fought with a slightly different plan. The establishment of the Kohtala Sports Junior Team in the Mini60 class Finnish Championship series is a new thing. Through this, we have the opportunity to develop new stars better and on a faster schedule to continue the Finnish motorsport tradition in the world.