Markus in his first ever newspaper interview: "This is so cool. It’s nice to slide around the track when there are no races nor official practice. Daddy pushes the car to start the engine. Then he watches me drive. Sometimes he takes photos and clocks lap times", says Markus. Markus Palttala started karting at the age of four. In three years, he has collected quite an amount of awards - all first place. (From HS, 1985)

Later on, karting became more than just a hobby. From 1993 to 1997, Markus travelled around the world taking part in European- and World Championship karting races. The best results were 5th in Junior A World Championship, 5th in Formula A World Championship and fourth in Formula Super A European Championship race. During those years Markus raced against some well-known names, such as Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Kimi Räikkönen among others.  

In 1998, after 17 years in karting, Markus switched from karts to cars. This was a natural choice for a young and ambitious driver. As any talented driver, Markus was dreaming of Formula 1, but had to face the financial realities which denied him a chance in the European single-seater series. Instead, Markus got his break in the Finnish Touring Car Championship with Honda. Results in this rookie year were promising and he finished the season as 5th, taking his maiden win along the way. He also won the Manufacturers Championship for Honda. Markus finished eigth in an unofficial European championship race in Germany and last but not least, Markus was elected as the Rookie of the Year of all motorsport categories in Finland.  

In 1999, Markus continued racing in the Sport 2000 series targeting the Finnish Championship title. Off ourse, Markus’ aim was to step up to international level and he also participated in the DTC Light Series aiming to gather more experience and to learn more circuits. Markus raced in both championships with a small privateer team founded by some racing fanatics and friends from his home village to support Markus in his career. The car was not the fastest and the team not the biggest, but more than motivated and Markus was able to take wins and podium results again and finished 4th in Sport 2000 and 3rd in the DTC Light. He actually lost the DTC Light title in the final race when his drive shaft failed from a clear lead of the race.

Even though losing out at the end, Markus’ overwhelming speed in the last race in Zandvoort brought him in the limelight of some of the top European touring car teams and he was invited to several winter tests and also to a race in the VW New Beetle Cup. During the winter, Markus was negotiating with few BMW, VW, Ford and Honda teams.  

At the end of 1999, Markus signed his first contract with a professional team, Belgian-based PSI Motorsport, winner of the 1999 Eurofinal. PSI offered Markus the possibility to race with a familiar Honda Integra in the hard-level German DTC Championship. Right from the start, Markus was one of the fastest drivers of the series finishing on podium and setting a pole position. In spite of the great performance, the team decided to switch from the German DTC to Porsche Carrera Cup after just three races. The team’s plan was to grow from touring cars to GT races. They recognized great potential in Markus and the Porsche Cup was a fine way to get him some experience with more powerful rear-wheel-driver race cars. Following that plan, Markus also participated in some Porsche Supercup and Belcar races.

Markus also got an opportunity to race in two 24-hour races. He drove in the 24 hours of Zolder with a Porsche and in the 24 hours of Spa with Honda sharing the cars with local star drivers such as Marc Goossens, Stephane Degroodt and Eric Bachelar. Long distance races require a complete different driving style than sprint races and Markus got huge amounts of valuable experience for his future career in endurance racing.  

In 2001, Markus raced in the European Touring Car Championship for an Italian team GDL Racing who ran ex-PSI Honda. The best result was 6th, in Zolder. Markus drove again in endurance races, the FIA GT round 24 Hours of Spa (Belgium) and 24 Hours of Sicily (Italy). He won both races in his class! The victory in his first GT -race (Spa) was well noticed and gave Markus an opportunity to negotiate a contract for the FIA GT championship in 2002.  

In 2002, PSI Motorsport and Markus concentrated on developing the brand new Porsche 996 GT2-R Biturbo in order to make the car competitive at the highest level of GT -racing. The challenge was enormous as Porsche factory decided not to build a GT1-car and PSI did all the constructing, development and homologation work as a privateer. During this challenging year of working on a new car, Markus made his debut in the FIA GT championship. He participated in 4 FIA GT races together with former F3000 star Kurt Mollekens. Markus also raced in three Belcar races and in the Porsche Anniversary Cup which was a support-race during the F1 -event in Spa (Belgium). Markus and Kurt finished 7th in the FIA GT race in Jarama and in Belcar Markus got a third place sharing the car with multiple motocross World Champion Eric Geboers.  

In 2003, Markus continued his work for PSI Motorsport and with Porsche GT2-R Biturbo. The team built a new car during the season and participated in the last 4 weekends of the FFSA GT Championship. The hard work started to finally pay off when Markus drove to pole position in Le Mans and also got two podium results. One of the best moments of his career was the victory in Magny-Cours. In the first race of the weekend, Markus and his young team-mate Romain Bera finished 3rd. The hopes were not high for the 2nd race, because the duo had to start from 43rd in the grid after being disqualified in the qualifying. However, Markus gave the French fans a brilliant show blazing through the field. After just few laps he was running 12th and climbing all the way up to 3rd before coming in for the driver change. A great pitstop brought Bera out on 2nd and the young Frenchman finished the job with one more overtaking and crossed the line first.

Markus also raced the entire Belcar Series in 2003 for RTM Racing together with a Belgian gentleman driver Leo Van Sande. The Belcar season was very difficult with a lot of ups and downs. Markus led 4 of the 7 races, but retired 6 times due to technical reasons. He crossed the finish-line only once when he finished 2nd in the final race of the season.  

In 2004, Markus continued his work for PSI Motorsport as the official development driver. He was responsible for the further testing and developing of the Porsche GT2-R and also took care of the customer teams of PSI Motorsport who were running PSI-built GT2-Rs in Great Britain, Spain and France. Markus had just finished his MBA studies, moved to Belgium and started working for PSI in organisational and marketing tasks in addition to his driving duties. Markus continued racing with Leo Van Sande in Belcar. The duo fought for poles and top places in every race, but the third place during the New Race Festival was finally the best result. Markus drove also in the 24 hours of the Nürburgring where he finished 4th in the class with a BMW. Just for the fun of it, Markus raced in the MINI challenge sharing his car with an old team-mate Kurt Mollekens. During the Belcar Masters event, Markus drove his Mini to the pole in race 1 and to a 4th position in race 2. In race 2, Markus started as last one because he retired in race 1.

Markus made a short comeback to his home country when he was a guest-driver in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. This project was realized in co-operation with Porsche Finland. In addition to the regular drivers of that series, Markus and 2-times F1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen were invited to race when the Scandinavian series visited Finland for the first time. Markus got on the pole, but lost to Häkkinen who got a better start. In the second race, Markus beat Mika Häkkinen and won the race. The two Finns had a close fight in both races, but were far ahead of the rest and created a great show for the Finnish fans.

In 2005, Markus started his 3rd season in Belcar with Leo van Sande and the duo fought again for some good results. Finally, they were 5th in the GT division and 4th in the GTA - class. During the Belcar Masters, both PSI Porsches were on the front row, Markus on pole, his 2nd of the season. In the 24 Hours of Zolder, Markus & co were second in their category. In October, Markus raced once again with a Mini during the Mini United Festival in Misano (Italy). He won the first race and was on his way to the overall title of Mini World Champion when an engine problem in race 2 dropped him to 6th.

Markus was also back in international racing participating in the Le Mans Endurance Series with Gordon Team. Markus shared the Porsche 996 GT3-RSR with the team’s regular drivers Christian Lefort and Yves Lambert. Markus showed some great performance again and was racing in top 3 in all of the races. Season highlight was his great run in Silverstone (UK), with very bad weather conditions. During his opening stint in heavy rain, Markus, who started from 38th overall and 8th in GT2, passed all the GT2 and GT1 cars and also most of the prototypes of LMP1 and LMP2 classes. He finally brought the car in the pits in 1st in class and 6th overall! Markus has always been strong in difficult conditions, but that race really gave justice to both of his most known nicknames: the Flying Finn and the Rainman. Gordon Team failed to win any races, but with constant performances throughout the season they finished 3rd in the Le Mans Endurance Series final GT2 points and earned a place in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Markus raced again in the 24 Hours of Spa for the Gordon Team. Unfortunately, a broken gearbox destroyed another great race just 2 hours before securing a 2nd place in class. Besides the LMES, FIA GT and Belcar races, Markus was also a guest-driver in several other races. He visited the GTP Pirelli Euro Trophy for team Chrzanowski. He drove 2 races, one at the Nürburgring, where he was third and one at Spa where he retired after engine problems. He was a guest-driver in the 12 hours of Spa where he drove for Euromaster Racing. The team, assisted by Markus, was fighting for the win until technical problems ended their race.

At the end of 2005, PSI Motorsport changed its name to PSI Experience. A former client, Frenchman Philippe Tillie, was now the new owner. With the new GT regulations, it was clear that the small-engine Porsche Biturbo was no longer competitive and the team bought two Corvettes from the USA (one C5-R and a C6.R).

In 2006, PSI Experience and Markus re-entered the FFSA GT Championship in France, this time with the Corvettes. Markus drove with the Corvette C6.R, the winner of Le Mans 24 Hours the year before, and his team-mate was Pertti Kuismanen, a fellow Finn and well-established gentleman. The C5-R was driven by former F1-pilot Philippe Alliot and David Hallyday, a musician and son of one of the most famous French performers Johnny Hallyday. After a hard battle between PSI and Oreca, Markus was second in the championship. Markus clocked several fastest race laps and also took 3 wins during the season in addition to several podium results.

Markus returned also to the Le Mans Series, sharing the Corvette C6.R with Kuismanen and a young and talented Dutchman Jos Menten. Best result of the season was 3rd in the 1000km of Spa, but two of the races ended prematurely because of technical problems and the team ended up 5th in the final standings.

Markus got also a chance to race the team’s other Corvette, C5-R, in the 24 hours of Spa. His team-mates were Pertti Kuismanen, Vincent Rademecker and Bernard Delhez. They finished 11th overall, and 7th in the GT1-class, after the team had to spend a long time in the pits fixing the car during the night.

Markus was again often invited to visit other championships like the ALMS. For the first time in his career, he drove in a Ferrari 430 GT of Ferrari works-team Risi Competizione during the Petit Le Mans race in Road Atlanta, a 10-hour endurance race in the American Le Mans Series. His team-mates were here Stéphane Ortelli and Ralf Kelleners. Markus adjusted well to the new circumstances (new car, team, circuit, championship) and did his job as requested by the team. He actually was the only driver of the team who didn’t damage the car during the race week despite being very competitive and he also did his best lap time during the dark hours of the night practice when the track was still partly wet. Unfortunately, Markus never got a chance to drive in the race because the team retired after a crash of Ralf Kelleners before even an hour of racing had been completed. Markus was impressed about the way the American Le Mans Series is organised and how competitive it is. This positive debut race lead Markus negotiating for a seat for the following season.

Markus drove also in two BTCS races for two different teams. During an ordinary BTCS sprint race he drove a Porsche of GPR Racing, replacing Marc Duez. The team suffered from technical problems, retiring from one race and finishing 3rd in class in the other. Markus returned with the Euromaster Racing to the 12 hours of Spa, aiming for a revenge from their bad luck the previous year. His team-mates were again Patrick Slaus and Marc Lupant. Markus had a great double-stint in the last part of the race and he was leading clearly. Unfortunately, a problem with a stuck wheel nut during the last pitstop dropped the BMW to 2nd place overall. However, this great result was important to the team and they won the championship later on. Markus came back to the Belcar series for one race (Racing Festival Spa) joining JMT Racing. The ex-PSI Porsche had some engine problems in the qualifying and Markus couldn’t start in the race.

Besides all these races and his position in the PSI organisation, Markus also joined a Finnish driving school project. Premier Events organises different kinds of driving events from basic car handling and safety driving to Racing Challenge events where the clients get a chance to experience real racing.  

At the end of 2006, Markus left PSI after racing for it for seven seasons and working full-time for three years. In 2007, Markus extended his participation in Premier Events and spent three months in Finland during the winter teaching some 3000 clients how to handle their cars on ice and snow. At Premier Events, Markus works as a race driver, driving instructor and also helps out in marketing tasks.

Markus had positive negotiations with some American teams, but at the end failed to get a drive in the USA. As a consequence, Markus isn’t doing a full campaign this year, but has been racing as freelancer in different series.

Markus was invited for the LMS race in Valencia (Spain). He drove for his old friends at the Gordon Team, this time with a Ferrari F430 GT. And his team-mates were again Yves Lambert and Christian Lefort. They finished 5th in the GT2 -class, the best result for the team since Markus’ last race with them in 2005! 

Markus also renewed his co-operation with a British team Rupert Lewin Racing. RLR is racing in Porsche Open Series with a PSI-built Porsche GT2-R, the car which Markus tested in 2003. Markus was hired to help the team develop the car and he was also invited to join Rupert Lewin in the longer races requiring a 2nd driver. The co-operation immediately proved successful as Markus took the pole position in his first race in Spa and was furthermore confirmed as Rupert and Markus won the race. Pole position, fastest lap and the win underlined a great return behind the steering wheel of a Porsche GT2-R Biturbo, a car Markus has done most of his GT races with. Unfortunately, this project was jeopardized after an accident lead Rupert to pull out from the series. However, the test program continues.

In addition to these, Markus has also tested a Ford GT40 of Matech Racing, a Swiss team ran by the former chief of PSI, Christian Schumacher. Later on this year, Markus will continue that test work and also do a few of races with the new American beast. Markus was also invited to join G-Force Racing in the 24 Hours of Zolder. Markus kept his record of leading the race, as he did in 2003-05, but fuel problems prevented the team to win and they finished 4th in class and 6th overall.

With a last-minute call, Markus drove for Konrad Motorsport in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup in the race at Spa-Francorchamps. Due to several circumstances, Markus finished the race in 19th position.

In 2008 Markus started the race season with the 24 Hours of Dubai in a Porsche 996 GT3 RS for Belgian team ProSpeed Competition. He shared the car with Rudi Penders, Franz Lamot and Finnish professional show jumping rider Mikael Forsten. Qualified in 6th place they were forced to retire in the race due to a crash.

Markus' main program for 2008 was the FIA GT for ProSpeed Competition in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in class GT2. ProSpeed Competition, which was supported by Porsche Motorsport, entered a second car, driven by the Porsche factory drivers Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard. Markus shared the car with Mikael Forsten. Just in Zolder Mikael couldn’t participate, so the Porsche factory driver Marc Lieb was Markus’ team-mate. They finished this race on the podium (3rd in class). For the 24 Hours of Spa Mikael and Markus were supported by Geoffroy Horion and Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler. They had to retire prematurely as the result of a drive shaft problem.

When there was no clash with the FIA GT schedule Markus participated in the Le Mans Series for James Watt Automotive (JWA) in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. He drove together with car owner Paul Daniels and Tim Sugden. They finished all their races into the points.

Besides the FIA GT and LMS program Markus participated at two race weekends of the Belgian GT Championship (former Belcar). In Zolder he was driving together with Christian Kelders for GPR Pino Racing in a Porsche 997 in class 3. The first race of the weekend they finished on the 3rd position in class and the second race they won in their class.
Markus drove also the 24 Hours of Zolder. He shared the Porsche 996 RS of MPM Racing with Armand Fumal, Michel Pulinx and former PSI team-mate Jos Menten. Qualified on 14th position (2nd in class) they finished the race on the 3rd position overall (2nd in class).

In addition Markus found time to drive in 3 races of the VdeV championship (Jarama, Val de Vienne, Magny-Cours) together with former PSI team-mate Leo van Sande.

In 2009 Markus did only a few races as guest driver in different race series due to the global economic crisis. For him the season started with the FIA GT race in Silverstone for DKR Engineering. Together with Jos Menten he drove a Corvette, the same car they shared in 2006. Because it was a last minute deal they had no time for testing, so the finished the race only on the 7th position. Markus participated also at the FIA GT highlight: 24 Hours of Spa. He drove in class G3 for ProSpeed Competition together with Oscar Slingerland, Niki Lanik and David Loix. Markus set the fasted G3 race lap and finished the race on the podium (3rd in class).

He made also a comeback to his home country when he was a guest-driver in the Nordic GT3 with No Brakes Motorsport for a few races. Besides 2 pole positions and 2 wins together with Petri Mannila, Markus set also a new lap record for sportscars in Ahvenisto.

Markus was invited by MPM Racing to drive the 25 Hours Fun Cup in Spa for the first time. Together with Armand Fumal, Michel Pulinx, Pierre-Yves Corthals and François Verbist he won the race.

In addition Markus participated in 2 races of the Le Mans Series (Spa, Silverstone) together again with Paul Daniels. In Silverstone they were supported by Martin Rich. The finished both races in 9th position, just out of top-8 to score points.

A race of the German GT3 was also in Markus’ schedule. He got a deal with Fischer Racing to race their Ford in Oschersleben with fellow Finn Mikko Eskelinen, who won the Nordic GT3 championship 2009. Under difficult wet and cold condition Eskelinen had a heavy crash in the free practice and the car couldn’t repair in time for the race.

Since the FIA downgraded Markus status from Platinum to Gold he was now allowed to drive in the FIA GT3. Together with his team-mate from Nordic GT3, Petri Lappalainen, he raced in the FIA GT3 finale in Zolder. They finished in 10th and 6th and were the best Porsche in both races.

Markus completed the season with the 6 Hours of Estoril (VdeV). He won in his class together with Oskar Slingerland for team Speedlover.