With no pre-season testing and after a difficult start marked by mechanical problems at Monteblanco, the young Finnish driver has turned her GT debut into one of the standout stories of the 2026 Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica. She is second in the Ladies Cup, eighth overall and in Category 2, and is already targeting overall podiums in the second half of the season.
She arrived at the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica with almost everything to discover. A new championship. New circuits. A new team. And, above all, a radical change in her career: after single-seaters, Flame Airikkala was facing the challenge of GT racing for the first time, behind the wheel of a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup run by Portuguese team AF Motorsport. Three rounds later, the young Finn heads into the summer break as one of the major revelations of the season. She sits second in the Ladies Cup, eighth in the overall standings and Category 2, while her results have also made an important contribution to AF Motorsport’s excellent second place in the Teams’ Championship.
A journey that becomes even more remarkable when considering that practically everything had to be learned in competition: “The start of the season was certainly challenging. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish any of the races at Monteblanco due to mechanical problems and, without pre-season testing or additional testing between rounds, I had to adapt and learn very quickly.” But the response came quickly: “I managed to make significant progress at every event. Each new circuit has been another opportunity to improve and the entire AF Motorsport team has given me incredible support in helping me develop both my pace and my understanding of the car.”
From single-seaters to a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup
The scale of the adaptation becomes even clearer when looking at Flame’s career. She started in rental karting at the age of 14, moved into the Fiesta Junior Championship and later into single-seaters, competing in GB4 and the Kyojo Cup in Japan. The Radical Cup UK followed before her move into GT racing in 2026 through the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica. And switching from a single-seater to a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup meant having to relearn some of her references: “What surprised me most was probably the car itself. It is incredible to drive and the confidence you can have in the brakes and tyres is something that really impresses you. Coming from single-seaters, I had to adapt to the weight transfer, because the Porsche is almost twice the weight of a Formula 4 car, so the driving style is very different.” Even the Iberian heat represented something new for someone accustomed to British rain and Finnish winters. The Porsche cockpit, she admits, turns the high Spanish temperatures into an additional challenge during race weekends.
AF Motorsport: learning and growing together
Throughout this accelerated adaptation, Flame repeatedly highlights the role played by AF Motorsport. The Portuguese team paired her with British driver Chloe Grant and has played a fundamental role in helping her discover both the Porsche and the championship itself: “AF Motorsport has supported me incredibly well from the very beginning and has played a huge role in my adaptation to the championship. The engineers and mechanics give me valuable feedback after every session, which has helped me understand the car and build speed quickly, despite not having done any pre-season testing. We have built a very strong working relationship and I feel that we are improving together with every round ”
The results of that work have already started to appear. After the difficulties at Monteblanco came her first PSCI podium, in Race 3 at Estoril — precisely the moment Flame identifies as the highlight of her season so far: “After such a difficult start to the season, with the setbacks at Monteblanco, it was really rewarding to see all the hard work, both mine and the team’s, being rewarded.”
Kika, Chloe and a Ladies Cup raising the bar
If Flame is one of the major new faces of the season, she has found two rivals in the Ladies Cup who have given her no time for a gentle adaptation: championship leader Francisca “Kika” Queiroz and her own teammate, Chloe Grant. The Finn makes no attempt to downplay the quality of the opposition: “The Ladies Cup has been really competitive this season and it has been fantastic to be part of it. Racing against Kika and Chloe has forced me to improve every weekend and having such strong competition raises the level for all of us. They are both incredibly talented drivers and we have already had some very close battles during the season. It is always rewarding to compete against drivers who push you to give more, because that helps us develop and get the best out of ourselves.”
The second half of the season will be solo
But an important change is on the way. For the final three rounds, Flame will compete on her own, no longer sharing the Porsche with Chloe Grant: “For the final three rounds I will be competing on my own, like Kika, instead of sharing a car, which will give me twice as much track time. Every additional lap is another opportunity to keep improving.” And perhaps this is the clearest demonstration of just how much has changed in only half a season. The driver who arrived at Monteblanco without testing and still discovering GT racing enters the second half of 2026 with considerably higher ambitions: “My main objective for the second half of the season is to build on the progress we have made so far. The goal is to consistently fight for overall podiums, as well as podiums in the Silver Class and the Ladies Cup.” It is no small ambition for a GT rookie. But there is also a family story that helps explain where this desire to compete comes from.
Flame is the granddaughter of Pentti Airikkala, a driver who competed in the World Rally Championship, while her mother also raced in the UK during the 1990s. Motorsport has therefore been part of her life from a very early age: “I grew up surrounded by the sport. Following in their footsteps has always been a huge motivation and I am really enjoying the opportunity to continue that journey while developing as a GT driver with AF Motorsport.”
Away from the track, Flame finds ways to switch off from the pressure of competition through music — Noah Kahan is among her favourite artists — walks around the paddock and spending time with other drivers. But when we asked her to leave a message for young girls who dream of becoming racing drivers, her answer carried particular strength: “Believe in yourselves and never give up on something you are passionate about. You deserve to be on the grid just as much as anyone else, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Perhaps the best summary of this first half of the season, however, comes from Flame Airikkala’s final answer. For her, competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica means “constantly challenging myself to be better. Every weekend is an opportunity to compete against a talented field and take another step towards my goal of becoming a professional racing driver.”
Three rounds have been enough to take several of those steps. From her GT debut to second place in the Ladies Cup and the overall Top 8. Now, with a Porsche exclusively to herself and twice as much track time, Flame Airikkala wants to turn that learning process into something even bigger: consistently fighting for overall podiums in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica.