BIOGRAPHY
Driver: Elias Niskanen
Date of birth: 29.5.2000
Email: elkku.niskanen@gmail.com
Club: Kuopion Urheiluautoiijat
2022 GT4 SuperCars
Elias, who won numerous championships and other medals on Finnish tracks, as well as the silver medal in the international Lamborghini Super Trofeo European Championship series in 2020, will return to the international racetracks after the covid break.
Elias will drive the 2022 Mercedes AMG GT4 car in the Southern European GT4 SuperCars series. Elias is seeking the championship with Portuguese Manuel Gião.
2020 Lamborghini Super Trofeo PRO-AM
In 2020 Elias is taking next step in his career and moves on to GT cars and competes in Lamborghini Super Trofeo European series in PRO-AM class. The team is Leipert Motorsport with 620hp Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO car and Mikko Eskelinen will be the co-driver of the car.
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"My dream and goal is to reach the top in motorsport and to get a profession out of that“
2019 Asian international Formula Renault AFR -series
Formula Renault is the next step after Formula F4 and Formula Ford. PS-Racing is a Finnish team owned and operated by Pekka Saarinen. The headquarter is located in Zhuhai International Motorway, China.
The season started with a win and a pulling of from a clear lead to a technical fault on China's Zhuhai track. The season ends on December 5th in Zhuhai China. Overall, Elias is fourth before the final race weekend.
We decided to focus on the future and Elias will not drive the last race weekend. In 2020 the goal is to step in to GT cars. For this reason Elias headed to Barcelona to test his speed on the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo GT shoot out organised by Mikko Eskelinen and the German Leipert Motorsport team.
The GT series in Asia and Europe are growing rapidly and provides seats for fast proven drivers. Many successful drivers in the Asian FR-series have switched to the GT Series and gained a career in motorsport. Asia is also a growing market in motor racing and driver markets.
2018 Finnish Championship series in Formula Ford
Returning to Finnish Championship series in Formula Ford. Series included 8 starts, in which Elias won 6 and game twice 2nd. Elias also set a track record in Alastaro circuit where he sealed his Championship.
2017 SMP F4 NEZ
A season full of technical problems. In the season opener at Sotchi, the speed was good, bringing good results. The rest of the season was overshadowed by numerous technical issues that led to the decision not to run the last two racing weekends. However, after a season of disappointments, driver coaching remained a good thing.
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At the end of the season, there was also one race weekend in the Finnish Championship series with Henry Naaskko's Formula Ford from HMH Racing. Best result from this weekend was 2nd place in qualification and 2nd place in one start.
2016 Finnish Championship series in Formula Ford
Elias moved to HMH-Racing team for the season's goal of clearing the silver of the 2015 season to the Finnish Championship. There were 13 races in the Finnish Championship series, in which Elias scored 8 wins and numerous podium finishes. Elias also set track records to the Kemora and Ahvenisto circuits. Elias sealed the Finnish Championship with a triple win in Alastaro before the last two races at Ahvenisto.
Elias also drove the final race of the Spanish F4 series in Jerez with the RR Race. After just two official practice sessions, the pace improved a lot in every heat and Elias drove good competitive times, improving throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, in the first lap of the final, the front wing was damaged and Elias was forced to pull out from the final.
2015 Stepping up to Formula Ford Finnish Championship series
In the season opener at Ahvenisto Elias was exceptionally young among other drivers, but the 14 year old driver of the Mäkelä Racing team did well to finish third. The speed increased so well as the season progressed that Elias secured second place in the Finnish Championship series.
At the end of the season, we went to Spain to test with the Koiranen GP's Formula 4. The test went great and Aaro Vainio's great coaching gave a lot of input for the future. Finnish Championship silver also brought an invitation to AKK’s Champion’s Evening-event in January at the Jyväskylä Pavilion among other successful and award-winning Finnish motorsport people.
2009 - 2014 Karting
2014
In the Finnish Championship series, without constant technical engine issues, Elias would have fought for the medal and in the end 7th place was not what we were aiming for.
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In Pori at the opening of the series, pulling offs already in the formation laps from the front row gave an unsuccessful direction for the entire series. The same troubles with the engines continued throughout the season. Rankings in Kouvola 3rd and Lappeenranta 4th were the best in the Finnish Championship races. In Kouvola Elias was leading until the last laps technical troubles. In Vihti, after many technical issues, Elias started from the back to the final, but finished exceptionally 5th. The pace was good throughout the season, but you have to remember that technical issues are always a part of the motorsport.
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In the international races there were new homologation engines in use and with them we had no problems what so ever. At the opening of the season in Margutti Trophy in Italy Elias was the only Finn in the final among the 76 drivers. Unfortunately a minor contact in the final resulted to a technical problem and Elias was forced to pull off.
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The best result of the season came in Norway. In the Northern European Championships (NEZ), everything went really good and Elias finished 3rd. The NEZ medal also brought an invitation to AKK's Champion’s Evening-event. In the event among other motorsport people, atmosphere was nice.
2013
Switching to bigger category, KF3. In Pori good result from “rookie” as 6th.
2012
Signing up with famous Kohtala Sports karting team. Elias was 2nd in the KF 6 Challenge series and 2nd in the Karting Federation Championship series and season opener victory in Pori.
2011
Elias moved to KF 6 category. He won Savo Cup, was 3rd in Karting Federation championship series , and before the season we also went to Italy for the first time to a driving camp.
2010
In addition to the Savo Cup series victory, there were also national competitions in the Mini category, where the best result was 2nd in the prestigious and traditional Pori Autum Race.
2009
Elias drove the first karting race, which was a Savo-Cup race in Joensuu. A week before the race he was practising by driving 236 laps in that 1 km circuit! It paid of well, and Elias won the race and the whole series.
