Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography | USF Pro Championships

With only nine laps to go in his third ever USF Juniors race, DEForce Racing’s Vilho Aatola found himself under a load of pressure at Barber Motorsports Park.

A crowd of cars seeking to pounce on the second yellow-flag restart of the race sat right behind the 16-year-old rookie. He had already stuck to the inside on the first, allowing him to keep second position after his first front row start in an open-wheel car. If that wasn’t enough, a larger than normal crowd was on-hand as USF Juniors supported IndyCar that weekend.

With calm and precision well past his years, Aatola took the same line, made the move stick through the tight opening section, and was able to hold on to the spot he spent most of the race fighting to keep until the very end.

To many, he may have looked like all other young drivers standing on the podium that day. 
But as he showed a bright-eyed smile into the crowd into the sunny Alabama sky, the Finnish driver hoisted his second-place trophy. 

At that moment, Aatola became the first driver from the Nordic country in series history to secure a podium, and the first Finn on the podium in any American junior open-wheel series since 2011. He also finished the race as one of only two drivers in the top ten in their first year out of karting. 

“It was a very nice moment (to achieve a podium) in front of the IndyCar paddock,” said Aatola, reflecting on his best finish of the season. “There were so many fans at the track that weekend, so getting the first podium was a great feeling.”

As the only full-time driver in the series based in Europe, his journey to the grid involved frequently traveling eight timezones, learning how to communicate both verbally with his team in English, as well as communicate about a car which he had less experience driving than practically anyone else in the USF Juniors field. 

Despite the challenges, Aatola’s season was marked by an exceptional level of consistency. He was the only series rookie to grab top five finishes at every track. He outperformed his teammates by an average of five positions per race, the fourth-strongest teammate relative performance of anyone in the field and the sixth best among rookies in series history. 

When reflecting on his first year, Aatola can not help but look forward with optimism.

“Now we can try to fight for the championship and try to win the scholarship to get into USF2000 in 2027,” Aatola said. “We had good speed, and with it being my first year in Formula cars, I learned a lot.”

Aatola hails from Turku, a coastal city in southeastern Finland. That means, on average, he travels 5,000 miles and sets his clock back eight hours to reach each race weekend. Racing in America was never a straightforward process, and Aatola was only given the opportunity thanks to the support of a national racing hero.

Despite Finnish drivers having combined to have won 57 Formula One grand prix, only one Finnish driver has ever raced in the Indianapolis 500. Tero Palmroth is the only driver from the country to have taken part, having secured a best finish of 12th place in 1990.

Out of a desire to increase his nation’s motorsport presence stateside, Palmroth founded the Indy Junior Academy Finland-USA to help cultivate the next group of IndyCar prospects and talents from the country. After a lengthy application process, Aatola, after securing karting wins and strong performances across Europe in 2024, was selected.

“I think it’s a very great opportunity,” Aatola said. “I’m very happy that I was able to be selected and I’m going to try to do my best to make sure that someday I can make the Indy 500.”

Aatola still has a long way to go, with USF Juniors sitting four levels below IndyCar. 

Additionally, the financial side is also a major concern for Aatola and his family. The continued growth of the Indy Junior Academy program will be accompanied by an expansive level of sponsorship outreach in 2026, with a dedicated hospitality area at the Indianapolis 500 for companies interested in learning about the growing economic ties between Finland and America, and additionally, try to build a network of potential partners to support talented drivers like Aatola. 

But with how quickly the young driver has gotten the hang of racing cars even having done so far from home, there’s a lot of promise that if the right conditions present themselves, Aatola can become one of many promising talents who have a shot at performing at the next level.

As he aims for the USF Juniors title in 2026 with DEForce, he knows that he’ll need to repeat his unprecedented consistency to have a shot at winning it all.

“It’s important to be fast every weekend and not make mistakes,” Aatola said. “Last year I had to really improve my qualifying pace, so having that experience to now contend for poles and the top three is important because it’s so important in this car to start at the front.”

Vilho Aatola and the rest of the 2026 USF Juniors field will kick off their season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on February 16-18.