Reigning Global RallyCross champion Toomas Heikkinen is set to drive a Super2000 Rally car during the winter months.

Reigning Global RallyCross champion Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen is set to swap his usual 560-horsepower Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST SuperCar for something a little bit different during the winter months.

The 22-year-old Finn is planning on contesting a series of Rallysprint events on snow at home in Finland, at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Super2000. Topi’s first event will be the Kitee Rallysprint in January, close to his hometown of Joensuu.

He then plans to drive on two or three more Rallysprint events before the 2014 Rallycross season begins in earnest.

This won’t be the first time that Topi has tried his hand at Rallysprint, as he drove a Fiesta S2000 on the Kitee event last March. He’s also driven a Mitsubishi Lancer Group N car there in the past – with the Kitee Rallysprint being one of his very first experiences in motorsport.

“It’s quite a special event for me, because this is where it all began,” said Topi, who won five consecutive rounds of the Global RallyCross Championship series this year. “So as well as being good fun, it’s also really good practice for me to stay sharp for Rallycross, with a bit of competition over the winter. The Super2000 car obviously doesn’t have anything like the same amount of power as our Rallycross car, but the handling is absolutely fantastic and the whole car is incredibly reactive. I’m really looking forward to having this experience again: it’s going to be a nice way to start the year.”

Before then, Topi will have what should be the final operation on his leg, following the injuries he sustained during his X Games practice crash last year. So the Rallysprint events will also help him get back up to full strength as he prepares for the next season of competition.

Rallysprint is a good test of mental reaction as well, because the drivers are only allowed to walk around the single stage on foot – and then it’s straight into a fight against the clock, driving the road as they see it.

Most people use the winter months to relax and maybe do a bit of skiing or sledging. Not Topi. He’s after something a bit faster and more challenging…

Photo: Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen and his Ford Fiesta Super2000 pictured at Kitee in March 2013. © Toni Ollikainen/ERC24