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Mika Salo | |
|---|---|
 Salo at the2009 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
| Born | Mika Juhani Salo (1966-11-30)30 November 1966 (age 58) Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Jesse Krohn (godson) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Finnish |
| Active years | 1994–2000,2002 |
| Teams | Lotus,Tyrrell,Arrows,BAR,Ferrari,Sauber,Toyota |
| Entries | 111 (109 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Careerpoints | 33 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1994 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2002 Japanese Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2003,2007–2010,2014 |
| Teams | Audi,Risi,AF Corse,SMP |
| Best finish | 18th(2009) |
| Class wins | 2(2008,2009) |
Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish formerracing driver andbroadcaster, who competed inFormula One from1994 to2002.
His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in1999, when he stood in for the injuredMichael Schumacher atFerrari for six races, scoring two podiums and ten points, contributing to Ferrari's constructors' championship win by a four-point margin. He also won the GT2 class in the2008 and2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 1989,Helsinki-born Salo competed in theBritish Formula 3 Championship, racing forAlan Docking Racing. He raced with theReynard Alfa Romeo package which was not the season's best. Staying with Alan Docking Racing for1990 and moving to a more competitiveRalt chassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rivalMika Häkkinen in Formula Three, finishing second to him.In 1990, Salo was caughtdriving under the influence in London.[1]
"I think it was six days before the race they said, 'Do you think you can drive it next weekend with no testing'. I'd never driven a Formula One car before in my life; that's what I've always wanted, so I said yes. I know the circuit so I don't think it's a problem. The next two nights I lay in my bed smiling, so happy it was happening."
After a few years racing in Japan he made his first Formula One start at the penultimate round of the1994 season inJapan for the ailingLotus team. He was kept on for the season's finale inAustralia. Following the collapse of Lotus following the end of the season, Salo moved toTyrrell for1995. He was to spend three years with the team, scoring points several times. In the1997 Monaco Grand Prix he completed the whole (rain-shortened and -slowed) race without refuelling, taking fifth place ahead of the fasterGiancarlo Fisichella as a result.[3] Despite a promising1998 withArrows, he had no full-time drive in1999.
Following an injury toBAR driverRicardo Zonta, Salo took his place for three races whilst the Brazilian recovered. BAR's first season was not successful but Salo scored their best result of the year, with a seventh-place finish atSan Marino.[4] However a greater opportunity arose whenMichael Schumacher broke his leg in a crash during the1999 British Grand Prix. Salo was selected as his substitute to partnerEddie Irvine atFerrari. In his second race in Ferrari at the1999 German Grand Prix Salo led for part of the race and would have scored a Grand Prix win but team orders demanded that he give the lead to Irvine, who at the time was fighting for the championship withMika Häkkinen.[5] Following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture of gratitude. He also finished third atMonza, ahead of Irvine. These podium finishes were critical in helping Ferrari win their first Constructors' title since1983.
Salo was back full-time in2000 with Sauber, taking 11th in the championship, although he left the team at the end of the season to join the newToyota team in preparation for its Formula One entry in2002, and also cited a desire to score podiums rather than lower points-scoring positions. He scored two points for Toyota in their first season, becoming the first driver sinceJJ Lehto at the1993 South African Grand Prix to score points on a team's debut by finishing sixth at the2002 Australian Grand Prix. He retired from Formula One at the end of 2002, after getting fired from Toyota. Though the news was initially met with general surprise, it was later revealed that Salo was not on good terms with the team, who heavily criticized his deemed poor performance.
During his Formula One career, he achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 33 championship points.
His first post-Formula One race came at the 200312 Hours of Sebring, driving the UK-enteredAudi R8, the same car he was due to race at the24 Hours of Le Mans if it had not run out of fuel already after the first hour. He raced in fourCART races for PK Racing during the same year, his best finish being third in Miami in his second series start.
Because of his strong links withFerrari he was picked up to be part of the development program of theMaserati MC12 GT racer. He made hisFIA GT debut in 2004, narrowly losing the 24 Hours ofSpa-Francorchamps in aFerrari 575. After that he entered the last four races of the season in theMaserati, winning two races and finishing second once.[citation needed]
2005 was a year somewhat lost in the doldrums with only two participations with theMaserati MC12 in theALMS GTS-class, a competition where the car turned out to be not even half as competitive as in theFIA GT series.
For 2006, Salo returned to racing full-time, signing withAF Corse in theFIA GT to drive theFerrari F430 and later on in the year withRisi Competizione in theALMS. He was victorious in class in the24 Hours of Spa and finished third in the FIA GT2 Drivers' Championship with 61 points, while his efforts in theALMS contributed to Risi's Teams' Championship cup.In the following year he continued withRisi Competizione in theALMS and took the GT2 class honours in the12 Hours of Sebring and the championship along with teammateJaime Melo. They won a total of eight races out of twelve in the class. In addition, he won theRAC Tourist Trophy withThomas Biagi when substituting forMichael Bartels, driving aMaserati MC12 once more.
Salo and Melo with Risi Competizione earned the first team At-Large honours on the 2007 All-American Racing Team, as voted for by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters (AARWBA).[6]Salo raced again in theALMS forRisi Competizione in 2008. Although he was not successful in defending his previous year's titles, he won the GT2 class in the24 Hours of Le Mans, coming in 18th overall.
In 2009, he joined the Risi Ferrari team at the blue-riband races only, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans event, winning all three of them. Having won these enduro races all more than once, Salo felt he was ready for a new challenge. He set his mind onNASCAR, and had his first test withMichael Waltrip Racing at the half-mileNew Smyrna Speedway in November 2009.[7]
In 2010–12, Salo competed in theGold Coast 600, an endurance event for theV8 Supercars. In 2010, he partnered withWalkinshaw Racing'sAndrew Thompson and retired from both races. For 2011–12 he raced withWill Davison and theFord Performance Racing team, finishing 2nd in the 1st race of 2011 and winning the 2nd race in 2012.
In 2014, driving forMaranello Motorsport, Salo co-drove aFerrari 458 Italia GT3 to victory at theBathurst 12 Hour alongside Australian motor racing legendsCraig Lowndes andJohn Bowe, and another local Australian driver Peter Edwards.
Salo lives inEstonia,[8] and has a son[citation needed] and a daughter with his wife Noriko Endo, who he married in July 1999.[9] His godsonJesse Krohn competes in theIMSA SportsCar Championship. Like fellow FinnsKeke Rosberg andJJ Lehto, both former Formula One drivers, Salo has commentated on several F1 races onMTV Oy since 2005.[10] Since 2011, Salo has been hosting the Finnish TV-show, Virittäjät ('Test Drive by Mika Salo'), along with his former co-host Tomi Tuominen, who is a Finnish journalist, television presenter,sports commentator and formerco-driver in theWorld Rally Championship.[11]
In 2013, Salo featured in Discovery channel's program calledDriven to Extremes along with Hollywood actorsTom Hardy andAdrien Brody. Salo appeared in two episodes, one with Tom Hardy in minus 50 degrees Celsius in Russia, and the other one with Adrien Brody to the Malaysian jungle at the height of the monsoon season.[12]
Salo's helmet was originally dark blue with a white halo on the top (with a red line inside), two white stripes (with a red line inside) going from the rear going down diagonally to the sides of the helmet and a white trapezoidal shape on the chin area (with blue outline), slightly based on Prost's helmet. When he raced in Formula One, he changed the helmet from dark blue to sky blue with the rest of the elements intact.
 |
† Not eligible for championship points.
‡ Team standings.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Alan Docking Racing | Alfa Romeo | A | THR 7 | SIL 5 | BRH Ret | SIL 10 | BRH 5 | THR 7 | SIL 5 | DON 10 | SIL 6 | SNE Ret | OUL 12 | SIL 11 | BRH 7 | DON 5 | SIL 6 | THR Ret | 14th | 10 | |
| 1990 | Alan Docking Racing | Mugen | A | DON 2 | SIL 1 | THR 2 | BRH 4 | SIL 1 | BRH 1 | THR 1 | SIL 2 | DON 5 | SIL 1 | SNE 7 | OUL 2 | SIL 2 | BRH Ret | DON 3 | THR 1 | SIL Ret | 2nd | 98 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. | SUZ | AUT 14 | FUJ DNQ | MIN 6 | SUZ DNQ | SUG DNQ | FUJ 18 | SUZ DNQ | FUJ C | SUZ Ret | FUJ Ret | 23rd | 1 |
| 1992 | Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. | SUZ Ret | FUJ 15 | MIN 4 | SUZ Ret | AUT 10 | SUG Ret | FUJ 18 | FUJ 17 | SUZ 7 | FUJ 15 | SUZ 5 | 15th | 5 |
| 1993 | Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. | SUZ 13 | FUJ 9 | MIN 7 | SUZ Ret | AUT C | SUG 6 | FUJ C | FUJ DNS | SUZ 17 | FUJ Ret | SUZ Ret | 17th | 1 |
| 1994 | Team 5ZIGEN | SUZ 3 | FUJ 5 | MIN 7 | SUZ 11 | SUG 12 | FUJ Ret | SUZ 8 | FUJ Ret | FUJ | SUZ 10 | 7th | 6 |
(key)
(key)
| Year | Team | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | PK Racing | 27 | STP | MTY | LBH | BRH | LAU | MIL | LS | POR | CLE | TOR | VAN | ROA | MOH | MTL | DEN 14 | MIA 3 | MXC 5 | SRF 11 | FON C † | 16th | 26 | [13] |
† Cancelled due to California Fires
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 |  Audi Sport UKArena Motorsport |  Frank BielaPerry McCarthy | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 28 | DNF | DNF |
| 2007 |  Risi Competizione | Johnny Mowlem Jaime Melo | Ferrari F430 GT2 | GT2 | 223 | DNF | DNF |
| 2008 | Risi Competizione |  Gianmaria BruniJaime Melo | Ferrari F430 GT2 | GT2 | 326 | 19th | 1st |
| 2009 | Risi Competizione | Jaime MeloPierre Kaffer | Ferrari F430 GT2 | GT2 | 329 | 18th | 1st |
| 2010 | AF Corse |  Luís Pérez CompancMatías Russo | Ferrari F430 GT2 | GT2 | 0 | DNS | DNS |
| 2014 |  SMP Racing | Sergey Zlobin Anton Ladygin | Oreca 03R-Nissan | LMP2 | 303 | 37th | 12th |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Audi Sport UK | LMP900 | Audi R8 | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | SEB 6 | ATL | SON | TRO | MOS | RDA | LGA | MIA | PET | 28th | 12 | |||
| 2005 | Risi Competizione | GT1 | Maserati MC12 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | SEB | ATL | MOH | LIM | SON | POR 4 | RDA | MOS | PET | LGA | NC | 0 | ||
| 2006 | Risi Competizione | GT2 | Ferrari F430GT | Ferrari 4.0L V8 | SEB | REL 3 | MOH 6 | LIM | MIL 1 | POR 1 | RDA | MOS | PET | LGA 1 | 7th | 82 | ||
| 2007 | Risi Competizione | GT2 | Ferrari F430GT | Ferrari 4.0L V8 | SEB 1 | STP 1 | LBH 1 | REL 1 | MIL 9 | LIM 9 | MOH 2 | RDA 1 | MOS 1 | DET 1 | PET 6 | LGA 1 | 1st | 202 |
| 2008 | Risi Competizione | GT2 | Ferrari F430GT | Ferrari 4.0L V8 | SEB 12 | STP 10 | LBH 9 | MIL 13 | LIM 3 | MOH 5 | RDA 5 | MOS 1 | DET 3 | PET 1 | LGA 2 | 4th | 121 | |
| 2009 | Risi Competizione | GT2 | Ferrari F430GT | Ferrari 4.0L V8 | SEB 1 | STP | LBH | MIL | LIM | MOH | RDA | MOS | PET 1 | LGA | 8th | 60 | ||
| 2010 | Risi Competizione | GT | Ferrari F430GT | Ferrari 4.0L V8 | SEB | LBH | LGA | MIL | LIM 4 | MOH | RDA 7 | MOS | PET 7 | 20th | 28 | |||
| 2011 | Risi Competizione | GT | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5L V8 | SEB 9 | LBH | LIM | MOS | MOH | RDA | BAL | LGA | PET | 25th | 12 | |||
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Mad-Croc Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | ABU QR Ret | ABU CR 15 | SIL QR | SIL CR | BRN QR 19 | BRN CR 12 | PRI QR | PRI CR | SPA QR | SPA CR | NÜR QR 15 | NÜR CR 23 | ALG QR | ALG CR | NAV QR | NAV CR | INT QR | INT CR | SAN QR | SAN CR | 52nd | 0 |
† Not Eligible for points
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Swiss Team | Maserati Quattroporte | MNZ 1 6 | MNZ 2 16 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | SPA 1 5 | SPA 2 3 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | 19th | 30 |
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Maranello Motorsport | John Bowe Peter Edwards Allan Simonsen | Ferrari 458 GT3 | A | 111 | DNF | DNF |
| 2014 | Maranello Motorsport | John Bowe Peter EdwardsCraig Lowndes | Ferrari 458 GT3 | A | 296 | 1st | 1st |
| 2015 | Maranello Motorsport | Ben CollinsTony D'Alberto | Ferrari 458 GT3 | A | 0 | DNS | DNS |
| 2016 | Maranello Motorsport | Tony D'AlbertoGrant DenyerToni Vilander | Ferrari 458 GT3 | AP | 63 | DNF | DNF |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | SMP Racing | GTC | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | SIL | IMO | RBR | HUN | LEC 5 | 12th | 11 |
| 2014 | SMP Racing | GTC | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | SIL | IMO 10 | RBR 9 | LEC 11 | HUN 11 | 28th | 4 |
