Karjala Grand Prix


 * Not to be confused with the similar Dash Cup race, the Karjala GP.

The Karjala Grand Prix is the crown-jewel race of the TM Master Cup schedule. It is traditionally held each May at the Karjala Raceway in Finland.

Origin
Master Cup co-founder Gerard Madigan, bolstered by his success in constructing the Decatur Raceway, set off to build a Grand Prix-style track in Europe. He settled on a plot of land in central Finland to build what would become the Karjala Raceway. However, the design of the track proved to be too dangerous for Grand Prix cars, so Madigan decided to bring the Master Cup to the track as a source of revenue.

History
"When one first thinks of an American oval racing series, the very last thing they expect is for the biggest race of the season to be held at a road course in Finland ... halfway across the world ... and especially with this race's history."

- Lance Andrews on the Grand Prix

The first Karjala race was held in 1977. Ten TM Master Cup series regulars showed up, reportedly quite nervous at being so close to the Soviet Union, along with 28 European drivers. Master Cup driver and legend Arthur Thomas and his Camelot Racing #23 car won what he called "the most difficult race of my life." Heikki Sirola won the second race in 1978, and in doing so became the first non-American driver to win a TMMC race - that is, if one counts non-points events. However, on his victory lap, he famously drove his car into the turn-4 sand trap by accident, giving that section of the racetrack the nickname "Sirola Park".

In the 1980s, with most non-American drivers hailing from the Soviet Touring Car Championship, the race became a de-facto duel between U.S. and Russia. TMMC officials collaborated with the STCC officials in the early part of the decade to create a car that could essentially be used in both series, allowing easier access by the Russian teams into the race. However, none of them ever managed to win the event, and as the race eventually lost its Cold War stigma, use of the new car was ceased and the original TMMC model returned.

With the drivers having nothing but positive things to say about the circuit, its prestige grew, however, it wasn't until 1984 when the race became a points-paying event, and 1987 when Master Cup drivers outnumbered one-off teams from Northern Europe. Perhaps the most memorable Karjala Grand Prix race was when Leonid Roderick won the race as a rookie in 1998, something that was unheard of. He won it again in 2005.

Coming to the checkers of the 2004 edition, Danny Savin and Lance Andrews drew even. According to the transponders, Savin took the win by thousandths of a second. However, some still claim, most notably two-time champion Alexis Rainsford, that Lance's car in fact hit the line before Savin's but was afflicted with a glitched transponder, causing the results to be flawed.

2006 featured one of the most epic and controversial duels in TMMC history, as Tyrone Stanley and Steve Marshall went at it for the lead in the final laps, ramming both cars off the course in the process as Stanley took the win.

In 2007, Yuliya Nosova became the first female driver to win the race, the first Russian driver to win the race, and the first driver to win the race in his or her first attempt. While Roderick had won the race as a Master Cup Rookie of the Year candidate nine years earlier, it had been his second start at Karjala. Another ROTY candidate would take victory in 2009, when the race finally saw its first native winner; Arto Kekkonen, who crossed the finish line first after starting from 8th. In victory lane, he declared it "the happiest day of my life!" Similarly to Roderick, Kekkonen had also made his first Karjala start one year prior to his victory.

2011 saw Alexis Rainsford manage to win the event after starting 18th, the furthest back any winner has qualified since Benny Dwyer won the race from 37th in 2000. One year later, Leonid Roderick bettered that by winning from 19th, achieving his third Karjala victory.