Sisu Seliö, whose father Sami races in the F1H2O World Championship for the Sharjah Team, secured the Finnish Championship by just two points from the reigning GT10 Nordic Champion Valter Laine.

Of the four round series organised and promoted by RaceWKND Seliö took the top step of the winners podium at Rauma and again at Vaasa, which was the young racers favourite race venue. Originally called the SJ-15 Junior Class, it was first established back in 1988 in Finland by Sisu’s Grandfather, Niilo Seliö who along with the Finish Motorboat Federation created it with the idea of giving young children a similar opportunity that ‘Go-Karting’ gave those who wanted to start car racing but preferred to race on water. The following season the class run for twelve–fifteen-year- olds attracted fourteen entries.

For the first ten years the class ran with 15HP 2-stroke engines but by 1998 boats were appearing with 15HP 4-stroke engine. Then in 2002 all the engines were change to 4-stroke and by 2017 the class was changed to run only 10Hp 4-stroke engines. 2018 was the first year that the RaceWKND series ran this new class attracting just five drivers.

This year they have tripled their entry such is the popularity of the class now run for seven to twelve-year-olds.

All of Sami Seliö’s children have competed in the Optimist sailing class, which originally designed back in 1947 has since become one of the biggest ‘One-Design’ boat category in sailing. Now Seliö believes that this GT10 class will become the ‘Optimist’ of the powerboat racing world.

“GT10 was the UIMʼs ‘missing’ class where young children can take their first step into ‘real’ powerboat racing”

“The most important thing is that it makes the starting point of this sport both level and as easy as possible for everyone.

This class does not require any specific skills from the driver or parents or mechanics and provides a good foundation and knowledge of the sport.”

The class is powered by four-stroke factory-made carburettor engines from either Yamaha, Mercury, or Tohatsu producing an approximate race speed of 45 km/h. The only approved hull is a Speedrace boat complying with specification in the UIM homologation file. Several UIM National Federations including Lithuania, Portugal and Sharjah have already purchased a set of moulds from Finland to produce the hulls. More countries have shown an interest including Ireland, Estonia, Norway, Egypt, and Fujairah.

With the class being an official UIM one we see its future as being a bright one

said Böhmig. “Our GT10 racers were so excited to travel last year to Lithuania to race with the drivers from the Academy run by the UIM European F2 Champion and President of the Lithuanian Motorboat Federation Edgaras Riabko. Our young powerboaters can’t wait to get to more international events. So, Finland is ready to rock in GT10 class.”

She continued by saying that to teach these young drivers good ‘race craft’ they always reverse the top ten on the starting grid after each of their four heats. That way they all get the chance to learn to safely overtake each other during the race.

“We now have four Finnish drivers racing in the F1H2O World Championship considered the pinnacle of circuit racing, Sami Seliö for the Sharjah Team, Filip Roms for Gillman Racing and Team Sweden’s Kalle Viippo. They all started their racing career in this type of class which means our young drivers can all see where one day they could be racing.” In the meantime Sisu Seliö will continue racing in GT10.“I love going racing” he said.

“It’s hard when they reverse the grid but it’s fun trying to catch people then try and pass them.

Some weekends are really tricky, like in Jyväskylä where I broke the engine’s mid-section but the team fixed it and I then went out and won the final heat. Next year I wish there were more races because they are fun.”

The Sharjah Team will also start testing sessions for him as he prepares to move up to the GT15 category possibly also developing a new hull fitted with a halo type safety device in the process. Sami Seliö concluded by saying “In the GT10 class children can start learning the basics of competing in a safe as well as an equal class. After that, it will be much easier for them to move on to the GT15 class which is already more demanding. Then it’s GT30, Formula Four, Formula 2 and perhaps one day they will win the F1H2O World Championship title for Finland.”

At the beginning of the season, Tino Lehto certainly looked the firm favourite for the title. This was quickly backed up when he won the opening F4 RaceWKND rounds in Lohja and Rauma. The momentum kept going when he won at the opening round of the World Series in Brindisi, Italy.

Then at the European Championship in Latvia, Lehto had a bad crash, because of which his hand had to be operated on and he will no longer be able to compete in the last races of this year. Lehto has a long rehabilitation process ahead of him and the target is next season.

Of course, this is a tough fight mentally as well. There would have been a chance to fight for the World Championship with Stefan Arand. It would have made a great battle. But there’s no need to worry. Every year, championships are awarded. This year was not my time. We have a good team behind us, and we will certainly have an equally competitive fleet in the future. I have full faith that we will come back here even stronger.

The Vaasa competition was won by Jarno “Jape” Vilmunen, who, along with second-placed Roope Virtanen, are amongst the favourites to become the Finnish Champion. The season culminates in Jyväskylä’s Lutako on August 20-21. ISTV and Ruutu will show the events of the closing day live.

The UIM F4 World Championship, on the other hand, will be decided in Smedjebacken, Sweden, on August 26-28. Virtanes and Vilmuse have an excellent chance to challenge Estonia’s Stefan Arand, who after Lehto’s injury is leading the World Series. Vilmus has the boat of last season’s World Champion Sami Reinikainen, and his pace has improved as the season progresses, so there is plenty to be excited about.

Images supplied by Nuppu Böhmig at RaceWKND

The organisers knew in advance that Freyr, the Norse God of Summer, and Rain was not going to help them much, so, sensibly they opted to run enough heats through the various classes on Saturday therefore they would have a set of results to count towards the series.

In the F4 class Tino Lehto continued where he left off in Lohja by winning all three heats.

At the other end of the scales Sisu Selio finished on the top step of the podium in the GT10 category but it wasn’t without some controversy when four competitors, including those that finished on the top steps of the Baltic Championship last weekend were disqualified for running boats with incorrect transom heights.

Sami Seliö, who has over seen the development of this class had mixed emotions, he was very proud to see his son on the top step of the podium but at the same time frustrated due to four entries being disqualified.

In the past the main focus of the technical officials has not been on the junior class, well that will now change and change for good. We had an excellent technical inspector who carried out strict measurements on the GT10 boats. What he found was that the transom height had been adjusted. Now whether they purchased the boat like that or adapted it themselves means they have penalised their own children. This attitude needs to change, and they must follow the rules and not give them an unfair advantage which does not teach them anything at this age other than how to break the rules.

Casper Åström and Sweden’s Måns Olofsson dominated the GT15 class whilst Hilmer Wiberg took all three heat victories in GT30.

The series now moves onto Kuopio in the region of Northern Savonia on July 16 – 17.