Markus Palttala

Markus Palttala, born on August 16, 1977, is a Finnish racing driver with a career spanning various motorsport disciplines. He began his racing journey in karts before transitioning to cars in 1998, competing in the Finnish Touring Car Championship. His early career also included participation in the European Super Production Championship in 2001, driving a Honda Integra. Palttala's first experience with Grand Touring cars came in 2000 in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany.

Palttala moved into the FIA GT Championship in 2002, with sporadic appearances in 2006, 2008, and 2009. He further participated in its successor championships, the FIA GT1 World Championship and FIA GT3 European Championship, up until 2011. Some of his best seasons were in 2011 and 2012 in the Blancpain Endurance Series, where he consistently achieved high results, finishing 2nd in the championship both years while driving for Marc VDS Racing Team. In 2015, he won the Spa 24 Hours race.

Palttala's experience extends to endurance racing, including the Le Mans Endurance Series from 2005 to 2010. He secured a GT1 class victory at the 1000 km of Spa in 2010 and participated in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. He continued in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012 and 2013, including further Le Mans outings. In 2014, Palttala joined Turner Motorsport for the United SportsCar Championship season. Later in 2014, driving for Turner Motorsport, he achieved his first GT-Daytona class win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, followed by another win at the Six Hours of Watkins Glen.