Top Gear Suomi is a Finnish motoring-based entertainment program, based on the original British program, which premiered in February 2024 on Nelonen network and Ruutu streaming service.
It is presented by Teemu Selänne, Ismo Leikola and Christoffer Strandberg, with "The Stig" featuring as the anonymous test driver.
Contents
Production
Development
All the driving segments of the program were filmed from Spring to Summer 2023 around the country, and the studio recordings took place in December at Vantaa, near the airport with an audience. The first season is set to have nine episodes. The first Finnish season premiers in February 2024. The series is sponsored by Fixus, Korrek and Beely.
In December 2023, one of the hosts of the show, Ismo Leikola, revealed, that the host trio intended to make the show unique, and that they would not try to "copy" the characters of Clarkson, Hammond or May. Same time he revealed that the first season would include testing of many varying car models, from BMWs to Lamborghinis. Christoffer Strandberg revealed that he drove cars that cost up to €400,000, during the first season. For his first filming day of the show, Strandberg revealed that he almost crashed the Tesla S Model accidentally, when failing to brake early enough from the top speed of 277 km/h (172 mph), and almost drove into a dense bush at the end of the track.
Release
The first episode received a neutral viewership, averaging to 231,000 and reaching a bit over 400,000 viewers during its peak. It reached to the Top 5 highest ranking programs of the week for the channel Nelonen, which is respectful when comparing to the audience of the channel in question.
Cast
Teemu Selänne, former Finnish elite ice hockey winger, Stanley Cup winner and World Championships medalist. Owns a car collection of 25 units.
Ismo Leikola, Finnish stand-up comedian, World's Funniest Person 2014. Enjoys watching Finland's Rally at his home town Jyväskylä.
Christoffer Strandberg, Swedish-speaking Finnish actor, imitator and television presenter. Likes the esthetic features in cars, and knows a lot of cars' names.
Stig is the mysterious test driver of the show. He is left undisclosed within his white driving suit, and is ready to test some cars. Internationally known as "The Stig".
Segments
Competitions
In the episodes, the presenters are given tasks they must complete. The best performed presenter wins a challenge. The competitions often may relate to racing to a given location. At the end of the season, the best driver is crowned.
Power Lap
In the Power Lap segment, each time a new car is introduced, it is being tested on the Finland's Top Gear test track by The Stig, who drives one lap around the track.
Celebrity Track Race Competition
Very much same as the Power Lap segment, but this time celebrity guests drive one lap, and compete for the fastest lap time of the season. The car they use is the Kia Rio.
The celebrity guests of the first season included Finnish football legend Jari Litmanen, rap-artist Gettomasa, singer Bess and presenter Jaana Pelkonen.
Episodes
Critical reception
Albeit the Finnish television consumers approached carefully towards the decision of making Finland's own version of Top Gear, and that it would be most likely a failed copy, many were positively surprised on the premiere night.
Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat has written, that many fans were happy with how original the presenters are from the British presenters, and how the format just works. The segments of the first episode were overall praised, and while some said that the presenters were a bit "weak" or "cold", the first program still managed to capture the atmosphere of the original Top Gear, yet it did not feel to be any kind of forced copy of it. A writer of Seiska commentated the succession of the format in Finland to neutral. The "cheap budget" could be sometimes seen in the program's flow, but the presenters are not great nor rubbish either, and each segment was at least watchable, but maybe not that memorable.
Before the start of the program, many Finnish media platforms reported that one of the presenters, Teemu Selänne, had criticized the age difference and sexual orientation between one of the Presidential candidates, Pekka Haavisto and his partner Antonio Flores. This raised a big uproar in the media, and many TV consumers were not sure about that, would it be right to show a program on the prime time, where Selänne would appear.