Jarno Vilmunen will race the full 2027 UIM F2 World Championship with Sundberg Boat Racing Team, driving a new Finnish-designed Motormix F2 hull powered by a Mercury OptiMax.
The 2023 UIM F4 World Champion joins a Finnish team that is growing quickly. Wilhelm Sundberg races for it in F4, and the team is preparing a six-boat programme for 2027 that runs from GT10 up to F2 and Offshore 3A, alongside a new Junior Academy.
Jarno Vilmunen, speaking to Powerboat News:
“What really attracted me was the opportunity to be part of a proper multi-driver racing organisation with strong technical knowledge, good support and a long-term vision. In powerboat racing, success is not just about the driver.”
A Season Cut Short on Purpose
Vilmunen raced the opening two rounds of the 2026 World Championship and scored at Brindisi, then sat out the remaining three. He says that was planned: 2026 was a development year with a new boat. His career record is in our 2026 UIM F2 World Championship Driver Guide.
The first Motormix F2 prototype went on the water in October 2024. The early performance was promising, but testing showed the hull needed more structural strength and better behaviour in rough water, and the team made significant changes.
At the European Championship at Viverone, the team had lost its two best propellers at the previous race and had to borrow replacements from other competitors. Vilmunen still completed four full heats. After that, the team stopped racing for the season.
“It was a deliberate decision to concentrate on making the new boat competitive and reliable rather than rushing through the season.”
Built With the APX in Mind
The Motormix F2 project restarted in 2023, after Vilmunen’s F4 world title. According to the team, the Motormix F4 design, first raced in 2013, has contributed to nine European and six World Championship titles.
The new F2 hull was designed with the heavier Mercury 250 APX in mind, the engine at the centre of this season’s ECU dispute. Vilmunen will stay with the OptiMax in 2027, developing the package with Motormix and boat builder and designer Roger Lönnberg.
“The Mercury APX is certainly part of our longer-term ambitions, and the new hull represents an important step in that direction.”
The Junior Academy
Sundberg’s Junior Academy will begin with four places. Drivers start in GT10 and progress through GT15 and GT30, with F4 and F2 as the goal. The team’s line-up graphics show Lucas Nevalainen in GT10, Osmo Kuosa in Swing Xtreme, and Wilhelm Sundberg and Emil Nikkanen sharing an Offshore 3A boat.
Vilmunen expects to help coach the juniors.
“Having drivers competing at F2 and F4 level within the same organisation gives the younger drivers a unique opportunity to learn from people who are actively involved in international racing.”
Targets for 2027
His target for next season is to fight for podiums as often as possible.
“We are not entering the season just to participate. We want to challenge the drivers at the front.”
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
