The opening round of the 2024 season saw Mika Salo make his first appearance as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS driver advisor.
The Finn will brings a wealth of expertise to his new role, which includes an eight-year Formula 1 career and significant success in sportscar competition. In recent years, Salo has regularly acted as a steward at F1 events.
"I only have good memories of my time racing with SRO, so I am happy to be part of this championship and put my knowledge to good use," said Salo during the Circuit Paul Ricard weekend.
"I'll give the stewards a driver's view of incidents, using my experience from many categories over many years. Of course, GT racing has changed a lot since I was competing: there are far more cars now and it has become extremely competitive.”
Salo can draw upon a long and successful career in GT machinery. This includes many outings in SRO series such as the FIA GT Championship, where he scored multiple victories in the iconic Maserati MC12. He later clinched GT2 class honours at the 2006 CrowdStrike 24 Hours driving a Ferrari for AF Corse.
Prior to his GT career, Salo made his name thanks to a starring performance at the 1999 German Grand Prix. Standing in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, he charged to the lead of the race before moving aside to hand victory to his title-chasing teammate Eddie Irvine.
Salo will be on-site for all of this season’s Fanatec GT Europe Endurance Cup events. The next round for the long-distance championship is the marquee CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which marks its centenary edition on 26–30 June.
