Although Joonatan Ylilammi didn’t manage to qualify for the final in either of the opening RallyX rounds at the Montalegre circuit, the young Finn admits he’s starting to find his footing behind the wheel of his new Casmat chassis.

After finishing fourth overall last season, with two wins and five podiums to his name, Ylilammi is taking on a very different kind of challenge this year.

With his time in the Speedcar Xtrem now behind him, the Finnish driver made his debut under the Casmat banner and the JC Raceteknik team, getting to grips with his new setup in Portugal.

“The problems started on Friday with a gearbox failure that forced us to change the engine,” Ylilammi explained. “But the team did a fantastic job, and the car was ready to go again by Saturday morning.”

That setback didn’t stop the Casmat driver from securing fifth place in the intermediate standings.

“After the second qualifying heat, we made some adjustments to the chassis, and things improved significantly.”

Eliminated in the semi-finals of Race 1, and forced to retire at the very start of Race 2, Ylilammi wasn’t able to make a real impact over the weekend. Relegated to 13th in the intermediate classification, he narrowly missed out on a spot in the final after finishing third in his semi-final.

Still, the experience hasn’t shaken his confidence. Instead, Ylilammi believes the event gave him a better understanding of the Casmat chassis, which he was only just beginning to explore in Portugal.

“The results aren’t the most important thing at this stage, but this event gave us valuable experience and helped us make real progress with our starts. There’s still work to do on the chassis, but I think the pace will come naturally once we put all the pieces together. The car is really strong off the line, but we still need to sort out the grip issues we were dealing with on this track. In any case, we know this championship is incredibly competitive, and a lot of drivers will have a shot at winning this year.”