There’s no doubt that JConcepts’ Joona Haatanen has talent…. an amazing amount of talent. Only being 14 years old and traveling the world to compete with the world’s best drivers at the largest premiere events is every RC racer’s dream, but to perform and hold his own and make podiums at the age of 14 is absolutely amazing. From Worlds to Euros and everything in between like the Reedy and EOS races in Europe, Joona has been slowly building momentum, gaining experience, knowledge, and speed and it showed last weekend.
March 17th – 19th was round 4 of the European Offroad Series hosted by Area 33 in Germany. It was a weekend that is now known as the ‘changing of the guard’ as the young and talented teenagers were showing great speed and overtaking some of the current living legends in the industry.
The video game generation has emerged as they masterfully navigated their way around one of the most challenging tracks this year at the EOS. Jumps everywhere, technical timing, and grip for days, the layout at Area 33 was tight and required every ounce of focus as one mistake sent drivers back in the pack and on a track that only has one line, made passing and recovering from that mistake nearly impossible; masterclass level turned up to 11.
In qualifying, the 14 yr old Finnish Phenom was remarkable and was able to TQ rounds 1 and 2 to take the overall TQ spot in 2wd and show the world that he meant business. In 4wd, Joona was able to reach his goal and qualify into the A-Main to start 5th on the grid.
Here’s how all the mains went down and please have a view. Thanks to RedRC for their fantastic coverage of the EOS! The photos and video are all courtesy of RedRC so please visit Red RC and the EOS page for more info.
Here’s the 4wd portion of the event and with hard work and practice, Joona and Cragg improved the Team Associated B64’s performance from its’ debut race and the results definitely showed as Joona finished 3rd and Cragg 6th.
Here’s Joona’s winning run from A3 of Stadium Truck, which gave him the overall win in Truck to go along with his TQ in the class. What a performance by the rising star who used a stock T5M with laydown transmission to take the win.
Feeling happy and proud of his performance, Joona commented that he was “Super happy because I made triple podium and first time to make the A-main in 4wd and the finals went super good. I’m super excited.” With his confidence high, his eyes are already set on the next race with his goals being, “Making the podiums again and maybe win if luck is with me.” The star is rising quite rapidly.
Great job and congratulations to Joona and his father on their accomplishment at round 4 of the EOS. Can’t wait for round 5!
