Rory Penttinen
Born (1979-10-30) 30 October 1979
Nykarleby, Finland
Le Mans Prototype career
Current teamGraff Racing
Car number9
Former teamsGDL-racing
Hunday Germany
Rinaldi Racing
Kessel Racing
United Autosports
Starts88
Wins5
Best finish1st in 2007 - 2021
Previous series
GT3 Series

Rory Penttinen (born 30 October 1979)[1] is a Finnish racing driver born in Nykarleby, Finland who in 2021 drives in the Asian Le Mans Series[2][3] with United Autosports and European Le Mans Series with Graff Racing.

Racing career

Penttinen's international career started in 2007 when he won the world championship in the Legends series finals in California USA. Since that he has raced different car types in several different series. Among other highlights in his career is the victory at the Nurburgring 24H race 2014 with Hyundai Germany and the Dubai 24H victory in 2017 in a Lamborghini Huracan with GDL-racing.

Penttinen is known for being a fast and reliable endurance driver, he has the ability to learn new cars and tracks in a short time and performs best when he is put under pressure. When Penttinen in June 2017 applied for a FIA bronze license, and made a debut in the Blancpain GT SERIES in a Ferrari 488 GT3 with Rinaldi racing, he finished third in class in the race.

2017 to 2019 Penttinen mainly raced GT3 cars (Ferrari 488 GT) with Rinaldi Racing and Kessel Racing but also did some other endurance races such as 25H VW FunCup in a Beetle and N24 with GDL Motorsport.

Racing highlights

Year Place Series / Race
2021 1st Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3
2015 3rd ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring SP2T class
2007 2nd Legends Trophy Finland
2007 1st Legends Car World Finals - Pro

Season 2020

In 2020 Penttinen raced for Graff Racing in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. His teammate was Matthias Kaiser.

In the seasons first race at Paul Ricard, in July, Penttinen and Kaiser finished 3rd.

In the second race, at Spa-Francorchamps, car #26 finished 5th.

In the third round, that was moved from Spain to France (due to COVID-19) and held the 29th of August at Paul Ricard the Graff duo Penttinen and Kaiser did a phenomenal job. In the qualification Penttinen took the podium and he also led the race for 26 laps. Their final results from Paul Ricard was P2 and after the race they are now second in the series.

Before the final race in Portimao the duo was in 4th place in the fight for the championship. In theory it was possible to end the season on the podium and in the race both drivers did a great job behind the wheel and they crossed the finish line as P1, unfortunately they got a time penalty and the final result was P7. Despite this mistake they were P3 overall.

Season 2021

Started[4] in February 2021, Penttinen was then racing in the Asian Le Mans Series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the British team United Autosports.[5] Driving the LMP3 car #23 together with Wayne Boyd and Manuel Maldonado.

Also in 2021 Penttinen is driving for the French team Graff Racing[6] in the full 6[7] races European Le Mans Series together with Matthias Kaiser in LMP3 car #9.

Racing Record

Career Summary

Year Series Team Races Wins Poles Podiums Points Position
2004 Legends Trophy Finland N/A ? ? ? ? 106 9th
2005 Legends Trophy Finland N/A ? ? ? ? 423 8th
2006 Legends Trophy Finland N/A 14 ? ? ? 1207 5th
2007 Legends Trophy Finland N/A ? ? ? ? ? 2nd
Legends Car World Finals - Pro (USA) N/A 1 1 0 1 N/A 1st
2008 Radical Sweden - RM JFG Motorsport 12 0 0 3 34 7th
2009 Radical Sweden - RM N/A 2 0 0 0 N/A 22nd
2010 Legends Trophy Finland N/A 13 0 1 1 968 10th
2011 Legends Trophy Finland - Pro N/A 2 0 0 0 88 23rd
Radical Sweden - RM JFG Motorsport 7 0 0 0 79 13th
2012 Radical Sweden - RM JFG Motorsport 6 0 1 3 103 1st
2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP2T Hyundai Motor Deutschland 1 1 ? 1 N/A 1st
2015 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP2T Hyundai Motor Deutschland 1 0 0 1 N/A 3rd
2016 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP3T Hyundai Motor Deutschland 1 0 0 0 N/A 4th
2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Am Rinaldi Racing 1 0 0 1 20 14th
24H Series - SPX GDL Racing Middle East 1 1 0 1 29 NC
2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Am Rinaldi Racing 5 0 0 1 59 9th
24H GT Series - SPX GDL Racing Middle East 1 0 0 0 0 NC
2019 The Hankook 25 Hours VW Fun Cup GDL Team Spain 1 0 0 0 0 89th
Intercontinental GT Challenge Rinaldi Racing 1 0 0 0 0 NC
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Am 2 0 0 0 31 15th
24H GT Series - A6 2 0 0 0 16 20th
24H TCE Series - TCR GDL Racing 2 0 0 0 8 NC
TCR Spa 500 GDL Team Australia 1 0 0 0 N/A 11th
24 Hours of Nürburgring - V4 JJ Motorsport 1 0 0 0 N/A 4th
2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3 Graff Racing 1 0 0 0 6 13th
2020 Le Mans Cup - LMP3 Graff Racing 7 0 1 3 70.5 4th
2021 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3 United Autosports 4 3 3 3 77 1st
European Le Mans Series - LMP3 Graff Racing 6 0 0 1 24.5 14th
Le Mans Cup - GT3 Iron Lynx 2 1 1 2 25 12th
2022 Asian Le Mans Series - GT Bilstein Haupt Racing Team 4 0 0 0 16 9th
Prototype Cup Germany MRS GT-Racing 2 0 0 2 0 NC

References

  1. rorypenttinen.com: "Rory Penttinen", January 18, 2021,
  2. 2021 Asian Le Mans Series#LMP3 January 18, 2021
  3. www.dailysportscar.com United Autosports Announce Final Full Asian Le Mans Series Crew, 18 February 2021
  4. The season is on! Rory Penttinen Mototsport
  5. United Autosports Announce Final Full Asian Le Mans Series Crew, 18 February 2021
  6. Graff Racing Drivers, December 25, 2020
  7. 2021 European Le Mans Series#LMP3 January 18, 2021
  • "Rory Penttinen Motorsport » Rory Penttinen Motorsport". Rorypenttinen.com. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  • "Payment | Driver Database". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
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