Heikki Kovalainen
Encyclopedia : H : HE : HEI : Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen is a race car driver, born October 19, 1981 in Suomussalmi, Finland. He is currently third driver for Formula 1 world champions Renault.
Contents
Karting Days
Kovalainen's career, like many drivers, started in karting competitions in 1991. He stayed there until 2000. Along the way he finished runner-up in the Finnish Formula A in 1999 and 2000. He also became Nordic champion and won the Elf Masters in the Millennium year. He was also elected Finnish Driver of The Year.Karting to Formula Renault
Kovalainen's first season in cars came in the British Formula Renault championship series. He was soon spotted as he learned the ropes. A fourth-place championship finish saw him take Rookie of the Year, with 2 wins, 2 poles and 3 fastest laps.Formula 3
In 2002 Kovalainen moved series again to compete in British F3. He finished third in the championship on his debut season. With his 5 wins, 3 poles and 3 fastest laps he was again made Rookie of the Year. He also demonstrated strong form in the international rounds, with second place in Macao and fourth place at the Zandvoort Marlboro Masters.World Series by Nissan
Kovalainen's entered World Series by Nissan in 2003 and finished second on his debut year. He took the title with the Pons team in 2004. He also had his first F1 test, and began learning about the demands of driving an F1 car.World Series to GP2
In 2005, Kovalainen went over to another racing series. In the debut season of the GP2 series, the new feeder series for F1, the championship attracted a strong field of young drivers ready to make their mark. Kovalainen aimed to build a championship challenge with the team Arden International. A good start to the year saw him take wins in the opening rounds with ease. As the competition intensified, he lost out to Nico Rosberg in the final standings, but Kovalainen had demonstrated his abilities enough and qualified for a test driving role in the Renault F1 Team.With Fernando Alonso moving to McLaren next season, Heikki has been nominated as one of the most likely replacements (along with Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber) to move up to a Renault race seat for 2007.
| Season | Team Name | No. | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
| 2005 | Arden International | 22 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 105 | 2nd |
External Links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.