Emma Kimiläinen

Emma Elina Kimiläinen-Liuski (née Kimiläinen, born 8 July 1989 in Helsinki) is a racing driver from Finland. She currently competes in the W Series.[1]

Emma Kimiläinen-Liuski
Nationality Finnish
Born (1989-07-08) 8 July 1989
Helsinki, Finland
W Series
Years active2019
Starts4
Wins1
Poles1
Fastest laps3
Best finish5th in 2019
Previous series
2005–2006
2007
2008
2009
2014–2016
2017-2018
2019–		Formula Ford NEZ
Radical Cup Sweden
ADAC Formula Masters
Formula Palmer Audi
Scandinavian Touring Car Championship
V8 ThunderCars Sweden
W Series

Biography

Kimiläinen entered professional motor racing in 2005, competing in the Northern European Formula Ford Championship. She was fifth in her first season, scoring a string of rookie awards along the way, and was tied on points with series champion Sami Isohella in 2006 however finished second on count-back (4 wins to Isohella's 5).[2] She remained in Northern Europe in 2007, racing Radicals in Sweden.

Audi then picked up the young Finn in 2008, and placed her in their Formula Masters series.[3] She finished 10th in the standings with a highlight of 2nd at Assen, however Audi cut back her funding following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and she ended up funding her own way into Formula Palmer Audi in 2009. She ended the season fifth in the standings with four podium finishes. However, with no more support from Audi and a lack of personal funds to maintain her racing career, she took an indefinite hiatus from motorsport and started a family after 2009.[4] Kimiläinen had been in contact with an Indy Lights team for 2010, however this was abandoned after it was revealed a team sponsor wanted her to produce adult content for them.[5]

In 2014, she received a surprise call-up from PWR Racing to complete the full Scandinavian Touring Car Championship season, making her the first woman to race in the STCC since Nettan Lindgren-Jansson in 1999.[6] She was retained for 2015 and 2016, however injury prevented her from completing the full 2016 season following a crash in the opening round at Skövde in which she strained her neck.[7] She switched to the Swedish V8 ThunderCar series for 2017, before announcing plans to compete in the Electric GT Championship for 2018 – which was subsequently delayed and then later cancelled altogether.[8]

She competed in the W Series for 2019 as one of the seasons' 18 permanent drivers.[9] She qualified well for the opening round at the Hockenheimring, however was involved in a crash with Megan Gilkes that re-ignited her neck injury and forced her out of the following two rounds.[10][11] She finished fifth on her return at the Norisring and followed that with a grand slam (pole position, fastest lap, race win) at Assen.[12] She would finish second in a race-long fight with Alice Powell in the series finale at Brands Hatch, enabling her to leapfrog Fabienne Wohlwend for fifth in the championship.

Career results
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position
2005 Formula Ford NEZ Team F40 9 0 1 1 2 77 5th
Formula Ford Finland 10 0 1 0 5 106 2nd
Formula Ford Sweden 4 0 0 0 1 38 7th
2006 Formula Ford NEZ Team F40 14 4 2 0 9 139 2nd
Formula Ford Finland 4 0 0 0 1 110 2nd
Formula Ford Sweden 4 0 0 0 0 48 6th
2007 Radical Cup Sweden JFG Motorsport 22 3 4 0 14 195 3rd
2008 ADAC Formel Masters Van Amersfoort Racing 16 0 0 1 1 76 10th
2009 Formula Palmer Audi MotorSport Vision 20 0 0 1 4 260 5th
2014 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship PWR Racing Team 11 0 0 0 1 55 11th
2015 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship PWR Racing Team 14 0 0 0 2 158 7th
2016 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship PWR Racing – SEAT Dealer Team 8 0 0 1 0 59 11th
2017 V8 ThunderCars NEZ N/A 6 2 0 0 4 2400 5th
2019 W Series Hitech Grand Prix 4 1 1 3 2 53 5th
2021 W Series Hitech Grand Prix

Complete Scandinavian Touring Car Championship results
Kimiläinen at the Falkenberg round of the 2015 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points
2014 PWR Racing Saab 9-3 TTA KNU
1
Ret		 KNU
2
9		 GÖT
1
Ret		 GÖT
2
DNS		 FAL
1
2		 FAL
2
11		 KNU
1
6		 KNU
2
7		 SOL
1
Ret		 SOL
2
11		 MAN
1
10		 MAN
2
9		 11th 55
2015 PWR Racing Team Saab 9-3 TTA VRS
1
6		 VRS
2
Ret		 AND
1
5		 AND
2
3		 MAN
1
7		 MAN
2
3		 FAL
1
9		 FAL
2
9		 KAR
1
7		 KAR
2
10		 SOL
1
5		 SOL
2
4		 KNU
1
4		 KNU
2
6		 7th 158
2016 PWR Racing - SEAT Dealer Team SEAT León STCC SKÖ
1
Ret		 SKÖ
2
Ret		 MAN
1		 MAN
2		 AND
1
8		 AND
2
6		 FAL
1
6		 FAL
2
Ret		 KAR
1
7		 KAR
2
Ret		 SOL
1		 SOL
2		 KNU
1		 KNU
2		 11th 59

Complete W Series results
Kimiläinen at the 2019 W Series Brands Hatch round.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 DC Points
2019 HOC
Ret		 ZOL
WD		 MIS
 NRM
5		 ASS
1		 BRH
2		 5th 53

References
  1. "Emma Kimiläinen – W Series". W Series. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  2. "Speedqueens: Emma Kimiläinen (Liuski)". Speedqueens. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  3. "Kimiläinen avasi Formula Masters -kauden lupaavasti (in Finnish)". MTV Uutiset. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  4. "Finnish motorsport's leading lady: The story of Emma Kimiläinen". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  5. "W Series Racer Emma Kimiläinen Walked Away From An Indy Lights Seat When The Team Demanded She Pose Topless". Jalopnik. 28 December 2020.
  6. "Emma Kimiläinen first female driver in STCC since 1999". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  7. "Video: Emma Kimiläinen will miss Mantorp races after Skövde crash". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  8. "Emma Kimiläinen — Electric GT Championship". Electric GT Championship. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  9. "W Series announces its driver line-up". W Series. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  10. "Vivien Keszthelyi To Race In W Series Today At Zolder In Place Of Emma Kimilainen". W Series. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  11. "Emma Kimilainen to miss W Series' Misano race this weekend". W Series. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  12. "Assen Race Report". W Series. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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