A World Rallycross Championship event will take place in Kouvola on 28–29 June, with Finland’s toughest drivers, led by Toomas Heikkinen, challenging top international names such as Petter Solberg and Jacques Villeneuve. In addition to speed, the event will offer the message of clean sport.
AKK-Motorsport ry, the umbrella organisation for automobile sports in Finland, will publish its new antidoping programme at the World Championship event in Kouvola. The organisers are also proud to accept the golden baton of clean sport that tours international championships in Finland. Automobile competitors were challenged to promote clean sport by the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championships.
“Ice hockey and motor sport are very different sports: hockey players move around inside in a rink while motor sport competitors move around an outdoor track. But we still share common values: fair play is at the heart of it all. Both athletes and spectators have the right to clean sport and fair play. If we abandon this goal, we will also abandon the core and the key idea of sport,” says Matti Nurminen, Executive Director of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
“We are very pleased to join this long chain of winners that promotes the important message of clean sport and fair play. At the same time as accepting the challenge, we will also publish our new antidoping programme,” says Anu Haapalainen, Information Manager at AKK-Motorsport ry.
Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen, who currently ranks third in the World Rallycross Championships, agrees:
“Rallycross and any automobile sport whatsoever at the top level is a truly elite sport. Rallycross is also very much a tough contact sport in which one cannot avoid bumps and hits. Therefore, it is important that everything happens in the spirit of fair play, clean in line with the rules and with respect for fellow competitors. Both on and off the track.
The Clean Win programme information desk will be at the World Rallycross Championships race in Kouvola on Saturday, 28 June from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, 29 June from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. At the desk, young athletes can, for example, take part in the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA quiz on clean sport and the public can compete in the horseshoe toss. The medallists will also sign the petition as a sign of their commitment to clean sport and fair play.
The Clean Win programme was launched in May 2008. The programme honours clean athletes and the values of fair play. It invites Finnish sports fans, sporting organisations, the friends and relatives of athletes and the athletes themselves to get involved in fair play.
Further information:
Anu Haapalainen
AKK-Motorsport Information Manager
Mobile +358 (0)40 565 3946
Susanna Sokka
FINADA Information Manager
Mobile +358 (0)40 740 7477
Internet: www.rxfinland.fi