Set Promotion team to a double win in the Finnish event at Kouvola where Andreas Bakkerud sealed the 2012 ERC title in the Super1600s class.

Set Promotion had a field day in the ERC event in Kouvola. The team drove to a double win in the Super1600s category, conquered the front row of the A final and on top of it all Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud (Renault Twingo Mk2) sealed the second European championship title of his career.  For Set Promotion itself this title was the sixth.

The event was won by Finn Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme (Renault Clio Mk2) ahead of his compatriot Teemu Suninen (Renault Clio Mk2). “A fine and colourful event. A hard fight for every place which must have made the spectators happy, even though the weather was poor. A home event in which we managed a win, a second place and a European championship title. It could have not gone much better. Incredible moments,” said team manager Jussi Pinomäki.

The teams goal was to get all its drivers into the A final. But unfortunately one of the drivers was left outside the A final. The Finns Joni Wiman (Renault Clio Mk2) and Suninen took the first two places in the final, while Bakkerud also got a place in the A final through the qualifying heats. Leppihalme and Russian Timur Shigaboutdinov (Renault Clio Mk2) were left to a place in the B final, which was won by Leppihalme. Shigaboutdinov’s race ended in the B final.

“Once again I am feeling both happy and disappointed. There’s always someone who succeeds and someone who doesn’t. This time it was Wiman whose false start in the A final really bugs me. He had amazing qualifying heats before that,” said Pinomäki. There was no shortage of drama in the A final. Wimans car twitched and he was disqualified for a jump start. Leppihalme finished second, but the winner, Russian Rasul Minnikhanov got a time penalty for not doing the Joker Lap detour. It was an obvious decision and Leppihalme knew he was going to win. Bakkerud also knew he had won the title when he crossed the finish line.

“We have done an incredible amount of work for this circus this year. We got our reward, and this was our third title in a row. We have obviously done things right. Now it’s time to enjoy it, but soon we will start preparing for the next race,” said Pinomäki. Late after the event the jury dropped Bakkerud from third to fifth place. This meant that the team didn’t manage a triple win. However, it didn’t affect the title claim. The last event of the season is in Germany the coming weekend.

Photo: Joni Wiman dominated the Super1600s, but was disqualified in the finals for a jump start. © JKR/ERC24