Tommi Hallman Interview

Nitro Rallycross World Final Champion of 2023, Tommi Hallman, stands as a force to be reckoned with, seamlessly transitioning from his roots in Rallycross to conquering various championships.

In 2023, taking the reins from Andreas Bakkerud at Hydro X Prix, Hallman embraced the challenges of the Extreme E rounds in Scotland. The Finnish driver reached new heights in 2022 when he became the Finnish Champion in Digital Rallycross which was a testament to his skills both at the real and virtual realms of motorsports.

Hallman’s journey takes a high-voltage turn as he delves into the world of electric race cars, taking victories in the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s RX2e series and becoming named a championship driver for Extreme E. With a winning mindset and an eye for new challenges, Hallman’s racing prowess continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

In this exclusive interview, I had the chance to learn more about Tommi Hallman’s experiences, challenges, plans and triumphs, providing you with a firsthand account of the adrenaline-fueled world that Hallman navigates with finesse.

Hope you enjoy.

Photo credit: FIA RX2e

Let’s start from the very beginning. How did your racing journey start? I know that up north, like in Finland, winter sports are quite popular, like skiing or snowboarding. What made you decide on motorsports?

It was actually since as early as I can remember, I was always kind of into it. My father started racing in rallycross when I was two or three years old. So when I was a kid, I was, you know, seeing that and being around it a bit. So it was kind of natural for me to get into it and I’ve always wanted to be a rallycross driver since that.

I think I played ice hockey for one winter when I was seven years old, but that’s the only sport I’ve really done other than motorsports. Racing has always been the main thing.

Did you start with rallycross or with karting? How did you build up your career?

I started in folk racing, I don’t know if you have heard of it, but it’s quite popular here in Finland and also in Sweden. It’s sort of like a super cheap way of rallycross with really inexpensive and entry-level cars but that was an easy way to start. We actually built the car that I used for practice when I was learning to drive back when I was 10 or 11 years old. We upgraded that a little bit and I started racing with it when I was 14, in 2015.

It was the earliest you can begin and after I drove it for a couple of years, I got interested in stage rallying because it’s probably the most popular motorsports here in Finland. Formula One is also really, really popular, as rally and Formula One are the biggest things here. So I wanted to try the rally and did that for one and a half seasons in the Finnish Championship for under 18 years old drivers in 2017 and 2018. I finished second in 2018 when I did my first full season and I had a good battle with Sami Pajari who is now driving in WRC2.

However, it wasn’t as natural for me as rallycross or folk racing so then I went back to the rallycross tracks. I did my first actual Rallycross race in 2019 when I did the RX Academy full season with the Renault Clios and started my Rallycross career in Höljes.

Definitely not a bad place to start as Höljes is one of the most legendary tracks of the sport. (Yes.) You have experience in combustion engine racing and electric racing and also iRacing. Do you have a favourite among these three or do you rather see them separate from each other, like incomparable?

It’s hard to say which one is my favourite. I think it’s nice to have a lot of experience in different things. They teach you a lot and you develop as a driver when you do all of them.

Obviously, the electric car is the fastest that I’ve used so far. On the other hand, it’s nice to have the sound in the combustion engine cars and it’s also more demanding with the gears and it’s more difficult because you have to handle so many more different things than electric cars. But, yeah, it’s hard to say which one is my favourite. iRacing has also been really good practice for the real thing and I think the competitions there are extremely tight, so it’s been good to challenge myself there also.

Especially now that the sim racing technologies are better than ever, how close do you think it is to on-track racing? Does it feel closer each and every year to you?

I think if a person who has never driven a simulator jumps in and tries for one lap, they will always say that it doesn’t feel anything like a real car but when you get used to it, then the driving technique is quite similar. You have to be really precise there so that’s good practice. I think it’s even more precise than real cars which is kind of funny, but yeah, it’s good practice.

Photo credit: FIA RX2e

So let’s talk about your 2023 season. First of all, congrats. I think it was a season that you should be really proud of. (Thank you.) So many wins in a variety of series as well. But the one I would love to start talking about is your RX2e debut in Lydden Hill. How was it to dominate all sessions in your first time in the series?

It was quite exciting. I only had one day of testing with the car, which was in the beginning of February, so almost half a year before the event and I went for the third round of the season. Obviously almost everyone else had been in the first and second round so I jumped in more or less in the middle of the season and had the least experience with that car.

But one good thing was that I was in Lydden Hill in the previous year with Nitro Rallycross so I knew the track and then as there was the incident with the RX1e cars, they cancelled the first free practice, so there was only four laps before the first qualifying session to get used to the car. I think I was second fastest straight away in the warm-up session, and then in qualifying I was already the fastest.

I’ve never really had a good chance in any season to get a lot of practice or preparation. So it has kind of developed me as a driver who gets used to things or new cars and new stuff really quickly. That’s one of my strengths at the moment. I would say I wasn’t surprised to be that fast. But at the same time, it was really hard to know the level before the event, so it’s always a bit interesting to go there and see whether I am really as good as I think or will I be far off the pace… but luckily it was the first one.

It is interesting that you mentioned how adaptable you are, because I’ve been meaning to ask you… You are now racing on so many different tracks and series, you do a lot of travelling, there is always this circulation of people around you… I think you would have to be really adaptable in order to be able to focus on racing, which you just said that you are. How do you sustain that mental power? Does that come naturally to you or do you exercise it? How do you focus and how do you motivate yourself?

I don’t really practise it. I think it comes more or less naturally, but I think one thing that I would maybe mention is that I like to think things quite simple and I think in Rallycross and probably other forms of racing as well, people tend to make simple things way too complicated. You sometimes make simple things extremely difficult for yourself. I think that’s not necessary. Obviously you have to focus on details but you still have to be able to make it simple enough for yourself. I think that’s what I’ve been trying to do and just trying to be confident that I have the skills required to be the fastest.

I don’t need to be faster than I am. I don’t need to push over the limit. I just need to be clever and perform with the normal level that I do. That’s probably the main thing: don’t push too much and make things simple enough.

So, back to Lydden Hill, it is a quite significant place because that’s where Rallycross was born. Because of the historical importance of it, does it increase the feeling of victory when you perform well there?

Probably not at that moment, but yeah, as you say it now and when I look back at it, it’s obviously one of the most legendary places of Rallycross, so it’s nice to have a great result there. I actually like the track a lot. It was really fast and it was suiting me quite well.

Photo credit: FIA RX2e

I was also curious to know what other tracks you love racing at. Do you have a top three?

Not really. I like most of the tracks. I think it’s good to have a lot of different tracks and I like that it’s not not just similar every weekend. There is a lot of variation and for me there’s not really a top three.

But I can say that the Nitro tracks in the US were really cool. There were big jumps and they were quite spectacular… On the other hand, in Europe, the tracks are more technical and in that way more demanding. When you manage to be fast on the demanding track then it also feels really nice. So yeah, it’s best to have a lot of different tracks.

It exercises a variety of different skills and muscles for you, as a driver we can say, right?

Yeah exactly.

I believe one of the unique circuits you’ve raced in was Hydro X Prix, as you were also a championship driver for Extreme E this season. Can you walk me through your Extreme E experience?

I think it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was really interesting to see how an organisation that big operates. I hadn’t really seen that so much before, but with Extreme E, I got to be a part of the organisation to be testing the track, to be testing the cars and being as helpful as possible for the organisers. We also did some media activities, some preparation for the safety marshals and safety drills. For example, we would test what we needed to do in situations like car failures and many different things.

Another thing that stood out to me is that you are in an environment where every driver around you is quite famous, so it was extremely nice to be a part of it.

As we talk about the legendary names in motorsports, do you have an idol when it comes to the motorsports landscape, someone that you look up to?

Not a clear one, but coming from rallycross, I think Johan Kristoffersson is the driver that I look up to the most. Especially with his performance being the best for the past years.

Photo credit: Extreme E

Both Extreme E and RX2e have female drivers on the grid, which is not something we see in every motorsport series. Especially the most popular ones like Formula 1 or Formula E are really male-dominated, as you know. When I look at you, I see that you are racing against some amazing women rivals. How does your experience shape your thoughts on the topic of women in motorsports in general? How do you foresee the future of gender equality in the world of motorsports?

I don’t think there’s any difference between female and male drivers, all are equal to me, you know. There’s no point in starting to think of the gender of a driver. As a driver on the track, obviously, you don’t think about that sort of thing at all. It’s really nice to see females there and it’s obviously getting more attention in the sport now which is really positive.

When we look at 2024, what is next for you? The seasons are about to start, what are your plans?

Everything is still under negotiations, nothing is 100% decided yet. We are quite far into the discussions, but I cannot really say anything at the moment. I hope that we can reveal the plans soon but let’s see when that will be. What I can say is that I will be racing again in 2024, for sure, and Rallycross will be the main thing.

I will be trying to win as much as I can and obviously the goal is to become professional and be fighting for the biggest titles in the sports. I believe I’ve gone quite a long way but still a long way to go to the top. I’m trying my best each season to take a step forward each time I can.

When you reflect back on 2023, what was your biggest challenge and what are you working on to improve in 2024, to take that step forward in the upcoming season?

I would say there was not a single big thing and I was actually quite satisfied with the overall performance. I wasn’t maybe the fastest in every single lap or something, but I always managed to keep it together. I was taking risks when needed, but also remembering to back off when it’s going to be too risky. The balance was really good.

Obviously, you can always be faster, you can always be better, but there was not a single major factor that was a problem for me. I think it’s the details which you can always improve.

While you work on improving yourself as a driver, the sports around you evolve with time as well. What do you think will be the next big thing in electric racing and also in rallycross? What do you hope for to happen, within the car development or within the series?

I don’t know so much about electric vehicle technology, but obviously it’s nice to see electric cars getting faster and more enjoyable to drive. I got the chance last year to test the Nitrocross FC1-X Group E car which was just mind-blowing with how fast it is. It was still one of the first electric cars back then that I had driven so it was amazing to experience and understand how fast the electric cars really are. The acceleration is nothing like I’ve experienced before.

In terms of Rallycross, I think it should focus more and more on the city circuits to be more accessible to the people. Obviously being electric is a big part of that as it makes it possible to race without making too much noise. With the old combustion engine cars it would be probably difficult to get permissions for races that are closer to city centres, but with electric cars it can be possible. It is also good to see that, in the world championship they went to Hong Kong and now in Nitro they are going to Las Vegas… So in both series they are going to have more city circuits and that’s, I think, the right way to go.

Photo credit: QNIGAN Rallycross Media by Jakub Nitka

Now that you mentioned the variety of countries you race in, do you have a favourite country to race in? Also, how much do you enjoy the travelling part of what you do?

It’s always nice to go to the places that you’ve never been before. I really love to travel, to be honest, and see new places. New places are always exciting but from what I’ve been to so far, I think, USA is really cool. I think that there’s a lot of cool things to do and people are really enthusiastic. The general vibe is somehow, I think, different than in Europe. But also in Europe too, when you go to, like you said, Lydden Hill or other classic places, it’s always nice to be there.

I’m sure there will be people that would want to follow your racing journey. How can they do that? Are you active on your social media or maybe your team’s socials?

I try to be as active as possible on my own social media. They are all under my own name, Tommi Hallman.

To keep up with Hallman’s exciting racing journey, make sure to follow him on his social media. As we wrap up this insightful interview with Tommi Hallman, we wish him all the best on and off the track, as he continues to push the limits.

Author: Öykü Ceylan