Michael Mällinen (born March 4, 1958) is a racecar driver from the United States.

Mällinen raced in formula car and sports prototype series in IMSA, ALMS, Atlantic Championship, and SCCA. He won several US National titles and Championships in the Formula Atlantic series.

Mällinen had 65 starts with 18 wins, 36 podiums, ten poles, and ten fastest laps during his career.

Career

Mällinen began his racing career in the 1990s driving Formula Ford and sports racers built by Lola cars in SCCA, Conference and endurance series.

In 2004, Mällinen won the SCCA C Sports Racer championship in the northeast division. Mällinen began racing Formula Atlantic in 2005. In 2006, he was the runner up in the Southeast SCCA Formula Atlantic championship driving a Ralt RT41. In 2007, he finished third in Formula Atlantic and made his debut in IMSA Lites in the L2 class driving a Stohr sports prototype. In 2008, Mällinen raced in the IMSA Lites L1 class driving an Élan Motorsport Technologies DP02 sports prototype and won the 2008 Formula Atlantic championship driving a Swift Engineering TRD 014.a for Swan Racing in the southeast division.

Michael Mällinen driving a Swift 014.a in the 2009 Atlantic Championship Series C2 race at Sebring

In 2009 Mällinen made his debut in the IMSA Atlantic Championship racing for Swan Racing and won the Championship (C2) with four wins and three pole positions. In 2010, Mällinen won the American Road Race of Champions, finished third in the SCCA Formula Atlantic national championship series and third in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs driving a Swift Engineering TRD 014.a for Swan Racing. In 2010, Mällinen won seven races and eight pole positions. In 2011, Mällinen won the 2011 US National Championship, SCCA National Championship Runoffs, Division Championship, June Sprints, and the Triple Crown. Mällinen was the recipient of the Sports Car Club of America's 2011 Super Sweep Award in recognition of winning the National Championship, National Championship Runoffs, Division Title and various other races in a single season. In 2012, Mällinen finished second in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs driving a Swift Engineering TRD 014.a for Swan Racing. In 2013, Mällinen finished third in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs driving a Swift Engineering Cosworth 016.a for Swan Racing.

Michael Mällinen driving a Swift 016.a in the 2014 Atlantic Championship Series at Road Atlanta

In 2014 at Laguna Seca, Mällinen started from pole position and retired while leading the race due to a gearbox issue. And again, in 2015 at Daytona, Mällinen started from second and retired while leading with a mechanical issue. In 2020 at Road America, Mällinen finished sixth in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs driving a Swift Engineering TRD 016.a for Swan Racing.

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
2004Mid-OhioRadical SR3SuzukiC Sports Racer813Running
2005Mid-OhioStohr 05CTSuzukiC Sports Racer135Retired
2006Heartland ParkRalt RT41ToyotaFormula Atlantic811Retired
2007Heartland ParkRalt RT41ToyotaFormula Atlantic1312Retired
2008Heartland ParkSwift 014.aToyotaFormula Atlantic96Retired
2010Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaFormula Atlantic33Running
2011Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaFormula Atlantic11Running
2012Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaFormula Atlantic23Running
2013Road AmericaSwift 016.aMazda-CosworthFormula Atlantic33Running
2014Laguna SecaSwift 016.aMazda-CosworthFormula Atlantic111Retired
2015DaytonaSwift 016.aMazda-CosworthFormula Atlantic102Retired
2020Road AmericaSwift 016.aMazda-CosworthFormula Atlantic65Running

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Atlantic Championship

YearTeam123456789101112RankPoints
2009Swan RacingSEB 16UTA 10NJ1 14NJ2 14LIMACC1ACC2MOH 9TRRMOSATLLSN.C.0
2009 C2Swan RacingSEB 5UTA 1NJ1 1NJ2 1LIMACC1ACC2MOH 1TRRMOSATLLS1st93
2014Swan RacingATL1 7ATL2 8WGI1 12WGI2 19VIR1 7VIR2 5MOH1 12MOH2 18TOM1TOM211th160

American sports prototype racing results

(key)

IMSA Lites Championship

YearTeam123456789101112RankPoints
2007PVM RacingSEB1SEB2MMP1 4MMP2 4LIM1LIM2MOS1MOS2ATL1ATL2LS1LS29th20
2008Leslie RacingSEB1 12SEB2 14MMP1MMP2LIM1LIM2MOS1 12MOS2 11ATL1ATL2LS1LS220th15

External links

  • career summary at DriverDB.com