Jari Lappalainen
Jari Lappalainen (born 24th May 1997 in Jyväskylä, Finland) is a Finnish racing driver currently contracted to Astro Racing Stars. He joined De Friis Motorsport for his first season of AutoReject 3.5.
Personal and early life
Lappalainen was born in Jyväskylä in southern Finland. His mother was a primary school teacher, and his father worked in insurance. He was named after Finnish football player Jari Litmanen.
He has an older brother, Joonas, who manages Jari day-to-day.
Early racing history
Jari began karting aged 8, and won various championships in Scandinavia. He then moved to Towcester in England to take part in the British Formula Ford Championship. Whilst living here, he was in close proximity to Silverstone and spent a vast period of time testing on the circuit. He impressed many former racers with his tenacity and technical feedback, and joined a tight championship battle. This brought him to the attention of Fusion Motorsports.
F1RDS
Jari joined Fusion in 2015, who had just set up their fledgling RoLFS operation with Diego Álvarez Torrente as their first driver. Lappalainen became the tester, but team manager Jake Legge wished to put him in the car halfway through the season. However, Donkervoort were looking for a driver for their F1RDS operation, and so a deal was agreed to loan Lappalainen to them. He lined up alongside Brazilian Jalmerson da Cunha.
After a tough season where the Donkervoort could not make the best of the Toyota's advantage in race trim, Lappalainen finished 16th in the championship, albeit managing one win. He moved to Definitely Maybe Racing for 2016, in hope of further race victories. Lappalainen ended up carrying the team due to Angel Jose Castañeda's poor performances, but the Finn was unable to win again.
AR3.5
Instead of staying in the newly renamed AutoReject 2.0 series for a third year, Lappalainen moved up to De Friis Motorsport's AR3.5 team for 2017.
Complete Results
F1RDS Winter Cup Results
| Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Donkervoort Automobielen | Toyota 2.0L L4DOHC | SUZ 20 |
MOT 2 |
FUJ 12 |
6th | 14 | |||
| 2016 | Definitely Maybe Racing | Ford-Cosworth 2.0L V6 | SN1 14 |
SN2 16 |
LS1 10 |
LS2 4 |
LB1 8 |
LB2 17 |
14th | 14 |
F1RDS Results
| Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Donkervoort Automobielen | Toyota 2.0L L4DOHC | AUS 19 |
SM1 21 |
SM2 14 |
MON Ret |
FR1 11 |
FR2 25 |
CZ1 14 |
CZ2 3 |
GB1 20 |
GB2 1 |
GER 7 |
BEL 14 |
ITA 10 |
ND1 13 |
ND1 19 |
16th | 36 | |||||
| 2016 | Definitely Maybe Racing | Ford-Cosworth 2.0L V6 | SP1 6 |
SP2 10 |
UK1 6 |
UK2 20 |
ITA 17 |
AUT 18 |
TU1 20 |
TU2 9 |
FR1 12 |
FR2 20 |
GER 3 |
NED 22 |
EN1 3 |
EN2 23 |
BE1 17 |
BE2 2 |
CZ1 15 |
CZ2 10 |
JP1 9 |
JP1 Ret |
12th | 56 |
IFRC/AR3.5
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | De Friis Motorsport | AUS HEA 6 |
AUS FEA 16 |
FRA HEA 14 |
FRA FEA 17 |
AUT HEA 7 |
AUT FEA 15 |
ITA HEA 17 |
ITA FEA DNQ |
GBR HEA 8 |
GBR FEA 13 |
USA HEA 8 |
USA FEA Ret |
NED HEA 7 |
NED FEA 8 |
GER HEA 10 |
GER FEA 13 |
BEL HEA 10 |
BEL FEA 18 |
JPN HEA 11 |
JPN FEA 10 |
22nd | 13 |