Tuukka Taponen

Tuukka Taponen (Born 26 October 2006) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship. He finished runner up in the 2023 F4 UAE Championship, and is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
==Career==
===Karting===
In 2017, he made his competitive karting debut in the native Finland, in the Finnish Junior Championship, in the Raket Class, which he won. He came third in the Finnish Championship OK Junior class the following year, and won the championship in 2019.
Taponen made his CIK debute in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and came thirteeth in his class. He also joined Kohtala Sports for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the Junior class, and came seventeenth.
He joined Kohtala Sports for the 2019 CIK-FIA European Championship and the 2019 CIK-FIA World Championship in the OKJ classes, and finished fourth and 33rd in them.
In 2020, Tuukka joined the Tony Kart team in the OK Junior category, and finished third in the CIK-FIA European Championship and runner-up in the CIK-FIA World Championship. He made his OK debut in 2021, and in his first weekend in the class, he won the 2021 CIK-FIA World Championship at Campillos. Taponen also won the WSK Open Cup in the same year as well, and at the end of the year he took part in the FDA Scouting World Finals but didn't win, and was instead put under special observation by Ferrari. 
Taponen had a second appearance in the FDA Scouting World Finals in 2022, which secured his place at the Ferrari Driver Academy.
===Formula 4===
Taponen made his Single-seater debut in the 2021 Formula Academy Finland for Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, in a part time campaign, he won the two races that he entered, he 2022 he did another part time campaign and came sixth in the championship.
He made his first full time Single-seater debut in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship for Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited.
In his first race weekend in the Dubai Autodrome, Taponen got his first podium in the series in his second race, he also achieved another podium in the race after that.
The second round in the Kuwait Motor Town only resulted in one third place which came in the second race, as he retired from the third race, but the next round in Kuwait Motor Town, was where he get his first win of the season in the second race.
Taponen collected his two maiden poles in the fourth round in Dubai Autodrome, and also got a clean sweep of wins in all three races.
In the final round of the championship in the Yas Marina Circuit, he collected two final second place finishes, but retired from the final race, as he finished second in the championship with 212 points, 4 wins and 2 pole positions. Although he didn't win the championship title, he won the rookie title instead.
For his full time Formula 4 campaign, he is competing in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing.
==Karting record==
===Karting career summary===
Season	Series 	Team 	Position
2017 	Finnish Junior Championship — Raket 	 	1st
2018 	Finnish Championship — OK Junior 	 	3rd
2018 	CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy 	 	13th
2018 	Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Junior	Kohtala Sports 	17th
2019 	WSK Final Cup — OKJ 	Kohtala Sports 	18th
2019 	Estonian championship — OK Junior 	Hemet Racing 	8th
2019 	Finnish Championship — OK Junior 	 	1st
2019 	CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ 	Kohtala Sports 	4th
2019 	CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ 	Kohtala Sports 	33rd
2019 	WSK Super Master Series — OKJ 	 	23rd
2020 	WSK Open Cup — OK 	Tony Kart Racing Team	4th
2020 	WSK Euro Series — OKJ 	Tony Kart Racing Team	5th
2020 	WSK Champions Cup — OK Junior 	 	
2020 	WSK Super Master Series — OK Junior 	Kohtala Sports 	13th
2021 	CIK-FIA European Championship — OK 	Tony Kart Racing Team	9th
2021 	Champions of the Future — OK 	 	4th
2021 	CIK-FIA World Championship — OK 	Tony Kart Racing Team	1st
2021 	WSK Open Cup — OK 	 	1st
2021 	WSK Euro Series — OK 	 	6th
2021 	WSK Super Master Series — OK 	 	4th
2021 	WSK Champions Cup — OK 	Tony Kart Racing Team	4th
2022 	CIK-FIA European Championship — OK 	Tony Kart Racing Team	11th
==Racing record==
===Racing career summary===
Season	Series 	Team 	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2021 	Formula Academy Finland 	 	2 	2 	? 	? 	? 	? 	?
2022 	Formula Academy Finland 	Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport 	5 	5 	2 	4 	5 	125 	6th
2023 	Formula 4 UAE Championship	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited	15 	4 	2 	2 	10 	212 	2nd
2023 	Italian F4 Championship 	Prema Racing 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
* Season still in progress.
===Complete F4 UAE Championship results===
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year	Team 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	Pos	Points
2023	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited	DUB11	DUB12	DUB13	KMT11	KMT12	KMT13	KMT21	KMT22	KMT23	DUB21	DUB22	DUB23	YMC1	YMC2	YMC3	2nd	212
* Season still in progress.
===Complete Italian F4 Championship results===
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year	Team 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	16 	17 	18 	19 	20 	21 	22 	DC 	Points
2023	Prema Racing	IMO1	IMO2	IMO3	IMO4	MIS1	MIS2	MIS3	SPA1	SPA2	SPA3	MNZ1	MNZ2	MNZ3	LEC1	LEC2	LEC3	MUG1	MUG2	MUG3	VLL1	VLL2	VLL3	5th*	123*
*Season still in progress.
Category:2006 births
Category:People from Lohja
Category:Finnish people
Category:Racing drivers