Jussi Välimäki is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 rally

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

 driver, who scored eight World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

 points during his career, with a best finish of fifth on the 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna

2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna

The 3° Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the seventh round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season, took place between May 19 and May 21, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:...

.

Career

Välimäki's first World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

 events came in 1998, in Sweden and Finland, behind the wheel of an Opel Astra

Opel Astra

The Opel Astra is a small family car engineered and manufactured by the German automaker Opel since 1991.It is branded as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, the Buick Excelle XT in China and the Chevrolet Astra/Vectra in Latin America...

 GSi 16V. In 2000 he drove a Ford Escort WRC to 13th place on Rally Finland

Rally Finland

The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year....

. In 2001 he contested the Junior World Rally Championship

Junior World Rally Championship

The FIA Junior World Rally Championship is a complementary series to the World Rally Championship as is the Production World Rally Championship , and the Super 2000 World Rally Championship . As JWRC was originally envisioned as a series for developing drivers, it is limited to drivers below the...

 (JWRC) in a Peugeot 206

Peugeot 206

The Peugeot 206 is a supermini car, manufactured by the French automaker Peugeot from 1998 to 2010.Even though the 206 has finished production in most markets as of 2010, in Europe since 2009, it is available the 206+, with a back and especially a front design that resembles the Peugeot 207.-The...

 S1600, finishing third in the category in Finland and finishing the season ninth. He contested the 2002 JWRC season in a Citroën Saxo

Citroën Saxo

The Citroën Saxo is a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1996 to 2003. It was also sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson. It shares many engine and body parts with the Peugeot 106 , the major difference being interiors and body panels...

, but only managed a best finish of fifth on Rally GB

Rally GB

Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and was formerly a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and is based in and around the city of Cardiff in Wales...

, ending the year 15th in the classification. He also did two other WRC rounds in a Toyota Corolla WRC, but retired from both.

2003 saw Välimäki do four WRC rounds with the Hyundai

Hyundai

Hyundai ) is a global conglomerate company, part of the Korean chaebol, that was founded in South Korea by one of the most famous businessmen in Korean history: Chung Ju-yung...

 team, but he retired from all four of them. He used the Hyundai Accent

Hyundai Accent

The Hyundai Accent , or Hyundai Verna in South Korea, is a subcompact car produced by Hyundai. In Australia, the first generation models carried over the Hyundai Excel name used by the Accent's predecessor. The Accent was replaced in 2000 by the Hyundai Verna in South Korea, although most...

 on four rounds of the 2004 season, finishing seventh on Rally Mexico

Rally Mexico

The Corona Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato...

. He also used a Ford Focus WRC

Ford Focus WRC

The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...

 on Rallye Deutschland

Rallye Deutschland

The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier...

, finishing 14th. In 2005, Välimäki won the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, with five wins from seven rallies.

Välimäki returned to top-class WRC action in 2006, entering three rounds with a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05

Mitsubishi Lancer WRC

The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC is a World Rally Car built by Ralliart, Mitsubishi Motors' motorsport division, to compete in the World Rally Championship...

. He used it to finish fifth on Rally d'Italia Sardegna

2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna

The 3° Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the seventh round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season, took place between May 19 and May 21, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:...

, before finishing ninth in Greece

2006 Acropolis Rally

The 2006 Acropolis Rally was the eighth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between June 1-4, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:-External Links:...

 and seventh in Finland

2006 Rally Finland

The 2006 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the tenth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between August 17–20, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:-External Links:*...

.

In 2007, Välimäki won the Finnish Rally Championship

Finnish Rally Championship

The Finnish Rally Championship is the national rally championship in Finland. The series currently has three classes; Group A , Group N and a group "n" for Group N cars with a 2000 cc engine limit...

, and was runner-up in the following season. In 2009 he contested the Chinese Rally Championship.

In 2011 Välimäki announced he was ending his active rallying career.