iRacer Profile – Kimmo Suominen

For a guy whose favorite quote reads “all good things must come to an end. Preferably in a humongous explosion,” Kimmo Suominen enjoyed a particularly “un-volatile” 2011 Season 3.  No surprise, really, given his safety rating of 4.80 and iRating of 6812.  Given those impressive mumbers, it’s also no surprise the resident of Salo, Finland piloted his Corvette C6.R to not one but two racing series championships in Season 3 — the iRacing Prototype and GT Challenge titles in open and fixed set-ups.  With 34 wins in 43 starts in the open series, and 21 wins in 32 tries in the fixed setup C6.R, that comes out to a sweet 73.3% winning percentage.

Nor were these two titles anything new for Suominen, who claimed the Season 2 GT Championship (fixed setup) in, what else, the Corvette class.  Lest you get the mis-impression that Suominen can only wheel a Corvette C6.R, consider he also did rather well in last season’s Radical Racing Challenge, winning 12 of ten starts en route to second place overall behind Stephen Grier.  Consider further that, given his druthers, the Finn would have iRacing add a decidedly off-beat car to its inventory . . .

Q:     How long have you been sim racing?
A:     Oh, I go way back. All way to the dark age of 2009. I did do some single player driving before joining iRacing, but it mostly the consisted of testing how big a crash I could create in turn one. I still have that skill in me.

Q;    What attracted you to iRacing?
A:     There was a free trial on the Radical site which I shamelessly abused.

Q:     What are favorite iRacing cars/tracks?
A:     I’ve been driving the Corvette lately so probably that one or maybe the Radical. Ah fine, deep down inside I know it’s the Solstice. I just can’t drive it because it’s socially unacceptable and everyone would make fun of me. I like all tracks, really. It’s the tracks that don’t like me.

Q:     What do you like most about iRacing?
A:     Facebook integration – there’s no better way to stroke your ego than to show off your results on Facebook. I guess the racing is pretty good too.

Q;    What would you change about iRacing
A:    Longer GT races, less HPDs, more cowbell.

Q:     How many hours a week do you spend on iRacing?
A;    The hours vary a lot from week to week depending on the alignment of stars and planets.

Q:     Tell us about the paint schemes on your helmet/car(s)
A:     I like to change them almost weekly. I currently have the puzzle schemed helmet. Maybe referring to how puzzled I feel most of the time. Who knows!

Q:     What other sim racing activities (Forza, Gran Tourismo, etc.) do you do?
A:     I have Forza on my Xbox but I prefer Generally over anything else. Drifting yo!

Q:     What are your favorite video games?
A:     I like all kinds of games: solitaire, minesweeper, tic-tac-toe etc.

” . . . it mostly the consisted of testing how big a crash I could create in Turn One. I still have that skill in me.”

Q:     What is your most memorable iRacing moment?
A:     Getting the DWC license was pretty cool and I also drove two of those races, both of which ended in a humongous crash. Yeah, and winning the Corvette championship last season. I’m still waiting for my prize and sponsorship money.

Q:     What is the iRacing moment you’d love to forget?
A:     I regret nothing and never admit mistakes, therefore I have nothing to forget.

Kimmo's dream iRacer? No doubt Robin Miller would approve.

Q:     What car/track would you like to see iRacing add to the service?
A:     Reliant Robin would be something different to what we already have.

Q:     What person, living or dead, do you most admire? Why?

A:     don’t know… my cat? Come on, she’s really cute and wise on her own way I guess.

Q:     What’s your favourite real world racing series?
A:     We used to race bikes around the local park. It was blast. Does that count? If not… then BTCC. Not because there’s a lot of crashing but because… fine, it’s the crashes.

Q:     Name the title of the most recent book you read.
A:     I last read the Song of Ice and Fire series. Blood and guts! Me likey.

Q:     Name of your favorite movie/TV show?
A:     I know I have put the Twilight movies as my favorites on the iRacing profile page so uhm… I guess I’ll stick with them.

Q:    How many of your close friends are iRacing members?
A:     None from the real world really. The only iRacers I know are internet people. They could be bots for all I know.

Q:    Has competing with iRacers all around the world influenced your opinions/outlook on life/world events? How?
A:     Ha, not really. I’ve always known that Americans are patriotic, Italians are crazy and Brits like to drink tea.

You may also like...

Recommended

iRacing 101: The NASCAR iRacing Series and Other Year-Long Series

Recommended

Steven Wilson scores ‘wild’ eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win over Minter and Honeycutt at Dover

Recommended

Could the Top 20 cut line affect the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoff picture again in 2024?

Recommended

This Week in iRacing: April 23-29, 2024