KymiRing

Overview

KymiRing is a motorsport centre at Kausala in the municipality of Iitti, in southern Finland. Named after the Kymi River, in whose valley it lies, the 170-hectare site is about 90 minutes by road from Helsinki, 45 minutes from Lahti and 15 minutes from Kouvola. Alongside the asphalt Grand Prix circuit it has a rallycross track, a motocross track and off-road areas for enduro riding and training. Since February 2024 it has been owned by a Hungarian consortium led by TRP Hungary. The operator runs its own track days for cars and motorcycles from spring to autumn, as well as driving experiences and corporate events, and in September 2026 it also hosted the Historic Kymi Race meeting.

Technical Specifications and Track Features

The Grand Prix circuit is 4.5 kilometres long and 12 metres wide, with 21 corners, thirteen to the right and eight to the left. Its main straight of 1.1 kilometres is described by the operator as the longest Grand Prix straight in Europe. The layout uses the rolling terrain, with 18 metres between the highest and lowest points and gradients of up to 8.19 percent uphill and 7.63 percent downhill. The circuit was designed to FIA Grade 2 and FIM Grade A standards. It can also be split into two shorter configurations of about 2.3 kilometres each. The pit lane is 400 metres long and 15 metres wide. The track policy allows up to 40 cars or 50 motorcycles on the circuit at once, and applies a static noise limit of 110 dB(A) to cars, checked before driving. The rallycross track measures 1,153 metres, mixing asphalt and gravel, and holds an FIA World Rallycross licence, while the sandy 1,670-metre motocross track was built for MXGP.

Facilities and Specialized Areas

The main building houses race control and media facilities, a 700 square metre event hall for around 300 guests, the 120 square metre Kymi Lounge and several meeting rooms. It serves 36 pit boxes, each 6 by 20 metres, all with water and most with power connections. The paddock combines about 1.5 hectares of asphalt with 2 hectares of gravel, which leaves room for team set-ups and exhibitions. Car track days use an open pit lane format, with separate days for novices, general road cars, sports and race cars and race cars only, plus shorter evening sessions after work.

History

The operator dates the start of the KymiRing project to 2007, and Pohjola Racing announced it publicly in 2009 after a paper mill in the area closed. Apex Circuit Design reviewed the designs from 2010, and KymiRing Oy was established in 2013. Ground was broken in June 2016. In July 2017 the circuit signed a five-year agreement with Dorna to host a Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix, and it opened on 19 August 2019 with a MotoGP test, at which Mika Kallio became the first MotoGP rider to lap the track. The planned Grand Prix was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, postponed to 2022 and then dropped from the calendar in May 2022, and the developer later entered administration. After the change of ownership in 2024, KymiRing hosted the World Rallycross Championship and a round of the Motocross World Championship in 2025.