Ahvenisto Race Circuit

Ahvenisto Race Circuit sits in Hameenlinna and was completed on 15 July 1967. Its first international meeting, the "I Hameenlinnan ajot 1967", already ran Formula Two and Formula Three races, won by Jochen Rindt and Freddy Kottulinsky, and an early Formula Two race brought names such as Jim Clark and Graham Hill here. The operator lists the circuit at 2840 metres, with a 280-metre main straight, a track width between 9 and 17 metres and 32 metres of elevation change; the surface is asphalt and it runs clockwise. The layout is a figure of eight with ten turns. Today it mostly hosts national and Nordic championships plus touring cars, rallycross and historic racing, and the operator also rents the site to companies, clubs and private individuals for driver training, vehicle presentations and exhibitions, with dates and prices going through its own booking. The spectator record dates from 1985 at around 40,000. The circuit has a reputation in Finland for being demanding, and it is the combination that does it: many fast bends, 32 metres of elevation change and run-off that is short or in places absent. You turn in over crests where the bike goes light and the line only becomes visible late. If the machine starts to weave at speed on the straight, top of our cause list is the ride-height and sag balance - with the rear sitting too high the bike feels vague. So set sag first, before you touch a compression click.