Matti Sipilä has won the Finnish Championship in digital track racing. Sipilä won all three starts in the Digital Racing eSM final on Saturday 5.8. Held as an invitational race at the Jyväskylä Paviljonki, the event gathered 20 of Finland's best digital drivers to attend.
"I had to drive fast," summed up the new champion in an interview after the final. "At least in the sprints, it worked well to drive faster each lap than the others."
Although the 23-year-old driver won all three starts of the final, he had a tough time, especially on the main start. Maati, who started from the fifth spot, completed the overtaking required for the championship and he finally arrived at the chequered flag first. "I got a little help from fighting in front of me, and I'm trying to take advantage of that," Sipilä comments on the exciting stages of the competition.
The championship was the first of Sipilä's career. Previously, his best finish in the eSM final was fifth in 2020. Sipilä comments on the past: "The last couple of years have gone really badly in the finals, happened something unlucky in the race or something similar, even though the pace has felt like I could have fought for the championship."
Second place in the competition went to Tuomas Tähtelä, who thus continued his streak of eSM medals: in addition to two bronzes and two golds, the trophy cabinet is now complemented by silver. The bronze medal was won by Williams Esports driver Atte Kauppinen, who was fourth in last year's eSM final. Defending Finnish champion Tomi Katila had an unlucky race and had to stop the main start due to an exit. Jesse Telkkala, the winner of the spring qualifying series, also failed and was only ninth in the final results.
After the spring qualifying series, the 19 best drivers and defending Finnish champion Tomi Katila were invited to the Digital Racing eSM 2023 final. The race was run as a live race at the Jyväskylä Paviljonki in the WRC service park.
The competition was organized by the Finnish Sim Racing Association (FiSRA) and has the official Finnish Championship in digital motorsport awarded by AKK-Motorsport ry and the official eSM value of the Finnish Electronic Sports Federation SEUL. Finnish championships in digital motorsport have been awarded since 2016.
