Photo : CHRISTOPHE JOUNIAUX / VSA

 

It was in 1990 that Mika Salo left his mark on the international motorsports scene when he battled his fellow countryman Mika Häkkinen, finally earning a title in the highly elevated British Formula 3 Championship. He left thereafter for Formula 1 in 1994 until 2002. The last year he was a part of Toyota's debut in Formula 1 after the GT-One program in Le Mans (1998-99). His teammate was none other than Allan McNish, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1999, Salo was chosen by Jean Todt, at the time Head of Scuderia Ferrari (and current President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), to replace Michael Schumacher after an accident at the Grand Prix of Great Britain. He made his first appearance in La Sarthe in 2003 at the wheel of an Audi R8. He was unable to drive it in the race, the car running out of fuel before he could take the wheel.

But Ferrari had not forgotten his gesture at the 1999 Grand Prix of Germany when he ceded the victory to Eddie Irvine, battling for the world F1 title with Mika Häkkinen. So Salo became one of the drivers involved with Ferrari's big return in endurance and in GT, namely in the U.S. with the Risi Competitizione team. This affiliation with the Houston-based Ferrari dealer amounted to two consecutive class victories with the F430 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008 (with Jaime Melo and Gianmaria Bruni) and in 2009 (with Melo once again and Pierre Kaffer). After another participation in 2010 with an AF Corse F430 (retired), he returned to La Sarthe this year in the LM P2 class. He is one of SMP Racing's drivers, benefitting from technical support from AF Corse. The race was difficult, but their Oreca-Nissan was the only LM P2 in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) to reach the finish. This earned the Finn and his teammates Sergueï Zlobin and Anton Ladygin the win's 50 points and allowed SMP Racing to remain in the running for the title against G-Drive Racing in the class at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, closing round of the 2014 season which will take place on Sunday, November 30th.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, TUESDAY JUNE 10 2014. After a four-year absence, Mika Salo returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for his sixth participation, the second at the wheel of a prototype.