Jarmo Lehtinen has been a rally fan for as long as he can remember. Born in 1969, Lehtinen was always watching rallies with his father and his friend, Jari Mikkola, back in Finland.

He started his career in 1988 at the lowest level of the sport and worked his way up the ladder. He had a number of co-drives with a number of drivers over the years till he reached a halt with rising star Mikko Hirvonen. The pair just hit it off and stayed together till 2003, when Hirvonen got a call up from Ford. Obviously, Lehtinen got the nod for the Co-Driver's seat next to Mikko. After a season at Ford, they moved to the Famous Subaru outfit for the 2004 season. They had an impressive season with Subaru and despite their many achievements, the duo were sidelined when they reached back to Ford for the following year.

They changed this however, with impressive drives in Sardinia, Greece, Finland and in Spain. These drives ensured that Ford had no option but to recall them back to the works Ford Team for the 2006 season. This callback was part of a three year long deal. Hirvonen and Lehtinen didn't disappoint the faith of the team either. They had massive success in 2006 with 8 podium finishes, which included their first ever World Rally Championship victory in Australia.
In 2007, things got even better. The duo ended up with three incredible wins for the season. This performance made the team promote the pair to the status of Team Lead for the 2008 season. Ford will certainly be hoping that Lehtinen can guide Hirvonen on his way to a Drivers' title this season. Their career graph is on the way up and definitely, that's the way Lehtinen would want to keep it.