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33-579: Following a fatal accident at Eläintarha racetrack in 1963, the street circuit was closed for good and a need for a permanent racetrack was born in Finland. While the Finnish national motor racing association AKK was planning a new track at Tattarisuo in Helsinki, Curt Lincoln, a Finnish motorsport legend, leased a better suited place near the village of Keimola, Vantaa . The area of 52 hectares (130 acres)

66-487: A Chrysler and the third place went to Karl Ebb driving a Mercedes-Benz . Motorcycle races were also held from the beginning – the first motorcycle win was also taken by a Swede – Gunnar Kalén . The best-placed Finn was Raine Lampinen who finished second in the lower class. The Eläintarha race was an annual happening in Helsinki for almost 30 years until the final race was held in 1963. The winner of this last race

99-481: A Porsche 934 Turbo with Egon Evertz. They managed to collect three podium places and the highlight of the season was a second place at Watkins Glen . After the season the team quit in racing due to financial problems. Kinnunen quit his circuit racing career in 1977, but still raced in a few rally events in Finland, winning the 1979 Arctic Rally . He remained in the sport in administration and lived in Turku . Kinnunen

132-656: A threaded insert kit to fix it, but a mechanic inadvertently damaged the threads while installing the plug and it never seated properly. The rest of the season did not go well for the team either. They were not allowed to take part in the Dutch Grand Prix , and failed to qualify for the races in France , Great Britain , Italy or Austria . Lack of funding then forced the team to retire from Formula One. After his short stint in Formula One, Kinnunen went back to

165-566: A complete switch to circuit racing and won the Nordic Challenge Cup , predecessor of the popular Interserie , with two wins and a second place at Keimola Motor Stadium after a close battle with Jochen Rindt . He was then invited to test a Porsche 917 at Österreichring and made such an impression that he was hired to partner Pedro Rodriguez in the World Sportscar Championship . The pair surprised

198-656: A grid of three cars participated in a round of the Nordic Challenge Cup in 1969. Finnish driver Leo Kinnunen from AAW Racing Team drove three full seasons between 1971–1973 and won the championship in every year, which increased interest into the series. The track record is also held by Kinnunen who drove it in 1972 Interserie race with Porsche 917/10 TC . The lap time was 1:11.740 with an average speed of 165.4 km/h (102.8 mph). The winners of these races are listed as: Keimola hosted Finland's first ever drag racing competition in 1975. The quarter-mile track

231-479: Is sealed shut with concrete. During the next few years, the track will be redeveloped into a residential area with some roads running on the original track. The control tower will also be preserved as a historical monument. The track area is owned by media group Sanoma . The track was designed by Curt Lincoln and another Finnish race driver, Fred Geitel , using a ruler and compass . This resulted in clearly defined corners joined by long straights. The track length

264-468: The Grand Prix Legends historical racing simulation. 60°11′20″N 24°55′55″E  /  60.189009°N 24.931991°E  / 60.189009; 24.931991 Leo Kinnunen Leo Juhani " Leksa " Kinnunen (5 August 1943 – 26 July 2017) was a Finnish racing driver , and the first Formula One driver from Finland . Kinnunen won the Nordic Challenge Cup in 1969,

297-589: The Interserie from 1971–1973, and helped Porsche to take the World Sportscar Championship for manufacturers in 1970 (drivers championships were not awarded until 1981). In 1974 , he switched to Formula One, but in addition to the problems with the underpowered Surtees TS16, his team soon ran into financial problems. He was the last driver to compete in Formula One using an open-face helmet . Kinnunen started his racing career on motorcycles , but switched to four wheels after receiving his driver's license in

330-463: The 1930s motor racing events were also arranged couple of times in Munkkiniemi , a residential district in northwest Helsinki. The race has been arranged three times since to honour its memory – the first time was in 1982, then 1992 and the last time was in 2002. In the 1992 event Juan Manuel Fangio was present. Around 2005, a detailed and driveable virtual recreation of the circuit appeared for

363-608: The Interserie for the series' last event in Hockenheim . He won both heats, and placed sixth overall in the championship just for the points from this race. Kinnunen was then hired by Martini Racing to drive a Porsche 908 Turbo in the World Sportscar Championship in 1975. Partnered with Herbert Müller , his best result of the season was third at Nürburgring . In 1976, he switched teams and raced

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396-457: The car would not last the whole race, so they fueled it for only ten laps in order to make a quick press run . This compensated for the TS16's heavy weight, and Kinnunen managed to overtake five cars in eight laps before a spark plug problem forced him to retire. Kinnunen later stated that a spark plug thread in the cylinder head had been stripped prior to the race. A Ferrari mechanic had loaned them

429-432: The driver was pinned under his vehicle. As a result of the crash Atterberg sustained fatal injuries. The race was stopped by the race officials one minute after crash and the jury told the race was over. As the setup was considered too dangerous this was the final race to be conducted on the city circuit. The racing events that followed the ill-fated Eläintarha race were held at Keimola Motor Stadium between 1966–1978. In

462-658: The early 1960s. He quickly gained success in rallying, autocross and ice racing . He finished runner-up in the Finnish Rally Championship and matched the points total of the winner Simo Lampinen . Kinnunen also participated in the Finnish F3 Championship with an outdated Brabham in 1967, and a Titan which he drove to several victories in 1968, including one at Ahvenisto Race Circuit in which he managed to beat Swedish future Formula One star Ronnie Peterson . In 1969, Kinnunen made

495-766: The last three were recognized by the FIA as rounds of the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers . The fastest official race lap records at the Keimola Motor Stadium are listed as: [REDACTED] Media related to Keimola Motor Stadium at Wikimedia Commons El%C3%A4intarhan ajot Eläintarhan ajot ( Finnish : Suomen Suurajot; Suomen Grand Prix ) was a Finnish motor racing competition arranged between years 1932 and 1963 in Eläintarha , Helsinki , Finland. The idea for

528-402: The late 1960s. In addition to race events, the track was used to host music festivals in the 1970s. They included Helsinki Rock Festivals (or Keimola-Rock) in 1972 and 1973. The 1972 event became known as "Keimola mud festival" after a rainstorm transformed the rallycross track into a lake. Financial difficulties finally led to the closure of the track at the end of 1978. The last event held on

561-466: The new Porsche 908/03 as Rodriguez was ill on the race day. On the final lap of the race, Kinnunen set a time of 33'36min, breaking the old lap record by 1½ minutes. This is still the fastest ever time recorded for the Sicilian road circuit. Kinnunen then moved on to drive Porsche 917 for Finnish AAW Racing Team in the Interserie . He won the championship in his debut year, despite withdrawing from

594-512: The offer and demanded a wage for his services, as he was a professional racer. In 1974, Kinnunen was looking for a job and John Surtees offered him one of his new Formula One cars, Surtees TS16, on lease. Kinnunen accepted the offer since the Surtees TS14 had done well the previous season. After finally finding sponsorship, Kinnunen entered the series with a new team and a Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 litre engine. Antti Aarnio-Wihuri allowed

627-533: The only driver not to qualify for the race. After Nivelles, the team concentrated on testing and fixing the car. They did not travel to Monaco but entered the next race in Sweden . Kinnunen qualified 25th, and while usually only 24 drivers would be allowed to start, Kinnunen's good standing within the Swedish motorsport circle meant an exception was made for him and he was allowed to start. The AAW team knew that

660-518: The race at Norisring after seeing his former team-mate Rodriguez crash into the barriers and lose his life. He eventually went on to win the championship three times in a row, in 1971, 1972 and 1973, with a total of 18 heat and 11 outright wins. In 1973, he also participated in the World Rally Championship event 23rd 1000 Lakes Rally and finished third with his Porsche Carrera , behind Timo Mäkinen and Markku Alén . Kinnunen

693-495: The race came from a racing driver, S. P. J. Keinänen . Its racing history included the pre-war Finnish Grand Prix . The first Grand Prix -race was a success and it attracted around 25,000 spectators. There were ten cars in the first start, six of them Finnish and four Swedish. The very first win went to the Swede Per Viktor Widengren who drove a Mercedes-Benz , second to qualify was S. P. J. Keinänen in

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726-433: The racing world by winning the first race, 24 Hours of Daytona , and went on to win the overall championship for Porsche . For Kinnunen, however, this was unsatisfying time. The car was built for Rodriguez' measurements and driving style, and after Kinnunen managed to quickly outpace him with his own set-ups, he wasn't allowed to modify the car to suit his style anymore. His chance to shine finally came at Targa Florio with

759-508: The team to use the AAW Racing Team name, which was recognized and had a good reputation in racing circles. AAW Racing's first Grand Prix at Nivelles turned out to be a disaster. The TS16 arrived in time for the race weekend, but Kinnunen had never even sat in the car before. It also turned out that the car had been used as a mobile testbed by the factory, and it already had a damaged monocoque and rear suspension. On top of that, it

792-405: The track area soon learned about this and destroyed the surface of the track with a plough in early 1989. This ended the racing for good. The track has been unsuitable for driving for many years, but some structures are left standing, such as the control tower next to the back straight and a television camera tower near turn seven. The control tower was badly damaged in a fire in 2004 and its door

825-405: The track remained in a good condition for some time, with local enthusiasts using the track illegally. These were called the "moonlight races" (Finnish: kuutamoajot). These races ended with a moose accident on 10 May 1988, which injured seriously a young motorist. Deep ditches were then cut through the track at five locations. These were quickly filled with sand by moonlight racers, but the owner of

858-462: The track was a world record in reverse driving made by journalists of Tekniikan Maailma and Vauhdin Maailma on 20 and 21 October 1978. They drove a Volvo 343 equipped with a Variomatic continuously variable transmission , which meant the car could be driven at the same speed in both directions. The total distance was 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) covered during 24 hours. After the closure,

891-523: The twistier part of the circuit, partly outside of it, in 1974. A twisty karting track was built behind the turn two Volkswagen grandstand in 1971. Many well-known Finnish racing drivers, such as Mika Häkkinen , JJ Lehto and Mika Salo took on the track in their youth. The track length was 687 m (2,254 ft) and its width 6 m (20 ft). Keimola was host to a round of the European prototype series Interserie between 1970 and 1972 after

924-422: Was Timo Mäkinen , although the main start ( Formula Junior ) was canceled after a fatal accident. At the start a driver (whose identity has not been confirmed) hit Curt Lincoln 's Brabham BT6 (Formula Junior), and the car slid to the left side of track. Most drivers managed to avoid a collision but the Swedish Örjan Atterberg hit his countryman Freddy Kottulinsky . Unfortunately Atterberg's car flipped over and

957-405: Was 80 kilos overweight, the engine lacked power and the team was not allowed to get the top quality tires used by the top teams. When Kinnunen took the car on track, its gearbox broke after three laps. The team, consisting of only three mechanics, had no spare parts and repair work turned out to be unsuccessful, as the gearbox broke again in qualifying, leaving Kinnunen without a recorded time and

990-496: Was close to moving to Formula One already for the 1971 season. With the help of Jochen Rindt he was negotiating for a race seat with Team Lotus , which was dominating the series at the time and eventually won the World Constructors' Championship that season. After Rindt's sudden death at Monza , the negotiations came to a halt. According to Kinnunen, Bernie Ecclestone wanted him to drive for free. Kinnunen turned down

1023-416: Was measured to be 3.300 km (2.051 mi) on the center line. Its width varied between 9 and 15 m (30 and 49 ft) with height differences of only 14 m (46 ft). The pits were located on the back straight, between turns 1 and 2. Access roads between the front and back straights allowed various layout configurations to be used. The first Finnish rallycross track was built partly inside of

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1056-566: Was more than enough to build a racetrack of international proportions. The track was opened on 12 June 1966 with races of various classes. The track was designed to fit Formula Two specifications, being too short for Formula One cars. Because Formula One drivers could also participate in Formula Two races during the late 1960s, the track saw legends like Jim Clark , Graham Hill , Jack Brabham , Jochen Rindt and Denny Hulme in 1966 and 1967. The track raised interest into Formula Vee in

1089-646: Was run on the front straight, opposite to the normal running direction. The first Keimola Rallycross race was organised and driven on 9 June 1974. It was a round of the Embassy/ERA European Rallycross Championship that was won by Swede Björn Waldegård . Between 1974 and 1978 there were a total of five ERC rounds at the venue, all organised by the Helsinki-based club Helsingin Urheiluautoilijat , and

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