With the leadership of Lahti, Kouvola and Iiti, it is hoped that Kymi Ring will continue to aim for major motorsport events.
The first snowflakes of winter fly along the main straight of Iitin Kymi Ring. However, even before the first frosts in November, Finland’s largest motor track has been covered in snow.
The ten years of Kymi Ringi have been full of bad news.
The MotoGP race in Iiti had to be canceled in May 2022 for the third time in a row.
The reason for canceling the race was that the track did not meet the safety criteria of the International Motorcycle Federation. Among other things, there were tire ramparts on the track.
In the summer, it was confirmed that the MotoGP race will not be held at the Kymi Ring in 2023 either.
International MotoGP and motocross events have been Kymi Ring’s financial mainstay. So far, however, it has not been possible to organize a single international race on the track.
The income of the track company Kymiring oy has so far consisted of renting the motor track for, among other things, car brands’ advertising shoots.
The income has been moderate: in 2021, the company’s turnover was around 300,000 euros. This year’s turnover is forecast to be 160,000 euros.
Kymi Ring’s financial difficulties progressed to the next level in June 2022, when contractors Macra oy and Maanrakennus Pekka Rautiainen ky filed for bankruptcy of the railway company. In July, Kymiring oy itself applied for corporate restructuring. Last week, the railway company submitted its restructuring program proposal to the Päijät-Häme district court, on the basis of which it will begin to settle its debt burden of more than 20 million euros.
Credibility to be restored
Due to the avalanche of negative news this year, many motorsport fans and local entrepreneurs have become frustrated and lost faith that international races would ever be held at IIT.
The municipal administration of Iiti is disappointed with the cancellation of the MotoGP races.
The municipality of Iiti, with a population of just over 6,500, is one of the owners of the railway company, but it has expressed its desire to give up its current 9.48 percent ownership. Next, IIT needs to restore credibility to the track.
– It is of primary importance to get the track area in such condition that the next time we start talking about organizing MotoGP, there will be no question as to whether the track will be completed, Salonen states.
The city of Lahti is involved in Kymi Ring through the event organizing company Lahti Events. Lahti Events is a subsidiary of Koko Lahti oy., which is wholly owned by the city of Lahti. Lahti Events was supposed to organize an annual MotoGP weekend and motocross international competitions at the Iiti track.
The Lahti city council is satisfied with the sum of two million euros.
– The amount is sufficient, says Mäkinen.
Kymiring oy’s debt burden is currently a good 22 million euros. The largest creditors are Nordea Bank oyj, A. Ahlström Kiinteistöt oy, WS Finance oy and Lahti Events.
The railway company’s next step is to collect additional money of 3 million euros. The money is used as initial capital in the debt consolidation program. If the money is not collected by the end of January, the railway company will have to start liquidating its assets. This means, among other things, selling the pit building.
But do the leaders of the nearby regions believe that there will be a MotoGP race on the border between Päijät-Häme and Kymenlaakso?
– Yes, I believe in that. Not necessarily in the first years, but within a few years the facilities will be like that. The interest in bringing the competition to Finland is still there, Iit’s municipal manager Jarkko Salonen states.
– It’s up to the owners in what condition they intend to put the track in, says Mika Mäkinen, group service director of the city of Lahti.