WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal
Portugal
Starts: Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 8:00:00 AM
Rally Islas Canarias
Spain
Starts: Thursday, May 2, 2024 at 1:00:00 PM
Euro RX of France
France
Starts: Saturday, June 8, 2024 at 6:00:00 AM

Sat 06 Apr 2024

Päivi Välilä: The ERC mother keeping her son in line

Tuomas Välilä and Päivi Välilä will form a unique partnership when they begin their FIA European Rally Championship adventure on V-Híd Rally Hungary from 12 - 14 April.

While fathers driving sons has been commonplace in the ERC over the years, the Finns are one of the first son and mother pairings to compete in the championship.  


Päivi Välilä has co-driven her son Tuomas since 2014 and V-Híd Rally Hungary will mark the 60th time they have competed together – as well as their ERC debut.  


“After last year we want to go to next level in our racing path and go to Europe,” Päivi Välilä explained. “Rally Hungary is the first one in the ERC calendar so we want to start there. We are planning to drive in Sweden and Estonia too. We would like to drive the whole series, but for that we would need more supporters.”

She continued: “Last year we got the silver medal in the Finnish championship. We are a very small team, but we are serious. We want to measure our speed in Europe and a podium place is our goal.”  


The Väliläs will campaign a Ford Fiesta Rally4 in the FIA ERC4 Championship. The category has attracted 20 registrations for the Hungarian season opener.  


Photos: Taneli Niinimäki