Reigning RX Academy Champion Rasmus Tuominen impressed on his debut weekend in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 at Barcelona in Spain by claiming a podium finish, driving a Renault Twingo for multiple champions SET Promotions as his RX Academy prize drive.
 
The opening two rounds of the delayed Super1600 season took place as part of a double-header weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the event was held behind closed doors.
 
Finnish 19-year-old Tuominen got his weekend off to a solid start in Q1 on Saturday morning with third fastest time in the competitive front-wheel-drive Euro RX category. P8 and Q2 and P2 in Q3 followed, and second position in the semi-final ensured a final start. Taking an early joker lap, Tuominen made a critical well-executed overtake during the six-lap race to climb to third before the finish, and score a debut podium, the 98^th ever Euro RX Super1600 podium for the SET Promotion team.
 
Using the experience learned from day one, Tuominen aimed to build on his performance in the second round on Sunday, and the 2019 RX Academy Champion again set the third best time in Q1. He was fourth fastest in Q2, but was handed a penalty for an on-track incident in Q2, before contact at turn two in Q3, where the SET Promotion Renault Twingo rubbed side-by-side with another competitor which sent the Twingo into the air in unfortunate circumstances, before rolling onto its roof.
 
Hard work by the SET crew got the Twingo fixed in record time, and Tuominen made it to the grid for the semi-finals. The effort was almost rewarded with a place in the final, until a broken power steering hose, a legacy of the Q3 accident, cost just enough time to just miss out on a final qualifying position.
 
Tuominen lies sixth in the Euro RX Super1600 championship. The third and final round will join the final round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Nürburgring on December 12-13.
 
Rasmus Tuominen (FIN), RX Academy Champion and Euro RX Super1600 driver:
 
“I was a little nervous going to the first pre-starts on Saturday, but started to get the confidence with the car and from there it went really well. We improved every time we went on track, thanks to work from Topi [Toomas Heikkinen] as my spotter and driver coach too, and to finish on the podium was amazing. On Sunday I was really focused on what I needed to do at the starts, and on track. Things went well in Q1 and Q2, but in Q3 I made a bit of a bad start and after that had some contact which caused a small roll. The guys did awesome work to fix the car so I could drive it again, but in the semi-final I got squeezed in the first corner. From there I focused on my own race and we were looking like we would be going into the final, but the power steering failed on lap four and the last lap was really hard to drive. Overall the weekend was really good, I learned a lot and I have pretty positive feelings going to the Nürburgring.”
 
Toomas Heikkinen, SET Promotion Super1600 Crew Chief and Spotter
 
“I knew that Rasmus was quick, like all the RX Academy Champions have been, that he could have good pace and have a good weekend. We had a good Saturday, we didn’t have any drama, Rasmus put up some good lap times and he managed to climb to the podium. On Sunday it was a bit of a different story, I think the driver did everything correct, and the roll in Q3 was unfortunate. That was a shame, but there are a lot of positives and I think there is a lot more to come from Rasmus moving into the future. He kept his head down all weekend, delivered consistent lap times and made no big mistakes. He has nothing to prove so I think it will be much easier for us to go to the next one.”

Find full event information can be found on the FIA World Rallycross Championship website.
 
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About SET Promotion   SET Promotion is one of the most successful teams in the action-packed sport of rallycross, with nine FIA European Rallycross Championship titles to its name. In 2020, SET Promotion operates the event-winning team GRX Taneco in the FIA World Rallycross Championship and cars in the supporting classes, including the FIA European Rallycross Super1600 Championship. Run by brothers Jussi and Kalle Pinomäki,, SET’s structure offers a unique internal ladder of opportunity for drivers starting out in the sport to the very top in the growing FIA World Rallycross Championship.   #PoweredBySET   SET Promotion information here. World RX / Euro RX information here.

RX Academy will take a sabbatical in 2020, but work is ongoing to continue the concept into the future.
 
Created for the 2017 season by multiple championship winning rallycross team SET Promotion, RX Academy has given aspiring World Champions of the future a platform in which to start their careers, with coaching and tuition in all aspects of becoming a professional driver. A number of RX Academy participants have already progressed up the ladder in the motor sport world.
 
Having made best use of the RX Academy experience, and the prizes on offer, the three RX Academy Champions so far, Jesse Kallio (2017), Sami-Matti Trogen (2018) and Rasmus Tuominen (2019) will be competing in high level international series this year, in both rallycross and rally, as they progress in their careers.
 
A study will be undertaken by SET Promotion through 2020 on the future direction of rallycross, as the sport moves towards electrification at the highest level, before defining the possibilities to continue with RX Academy in 2021.
 
Head of RX Academy: Jussi Pinomäki:
 
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved with RX Academy since we came up with the concept in 2016. We have delivered on our promises and more, and created a unique environment in which there has been a brilliant feeling among everyone in the programme. While I want to thank everyone for their efforts in RX Academy so far, I want to be clear that this is not the end either. We will take a break, but I still feel positive about the future for RX Academy, I strongly believe in the sport of rallycross and that electrification can present new opportunities for drivers at every level. I’m excited to see where the next phase of this journey will take us.”
 
The identical Renault Clio RS race cars will be used in a five-round Finnish Circuit Racing Championship in 2020 while SET Promotion assesses what direction RX Academy will take in the future.