Lysen gains first victory

Timerzyanov leads championship. Rakhmatullin and Enerberg take class victories.

Mats Lysen gained his first victory in the European Rallycross Championship on home territory, the 19-year-old Norwegian passing compatriot Sverre Isachsen in the last lap to take the win in one of the Helmia Motorsport Renault Clios. Thereby, Lysen is the youngest ever ERC round winner in the top category of the sport, since the by then 20-year-old Dutchman Piet Kruythof won the ERC round of August 21 1977 at Valkenswaard in Holland. Timur Timerzyanov finished third having won through from the B final, the place putting the 24-year-old Russian ahead in the championship while Isachsen’s place brings him back up to second place after a tough third round in France last month.

Lysen is the fourth different winner in as many events and another day of mixed results for some of the leading contenders keeps this one of the most open championships of recent years, just four points covering the top five with Lysen and Tanner Foust tied in third place, the American crashing out of the A final after a first corner clash with the Citroën C4 of Timerzyanov.

The day was a significant one for Russian drivers as Ildar Rakhmatullin won in Super1600, his first win in the new Renault Twingo. The Set Promotion team that runs Rakhmatullin also had plenty to celebrate, its cars also placing second and third in the hands of Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud and Finn Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme, the latter crashing into the ERC in spectacular fashion and taking third place in his first international start.

TouringCar, by comparison, gave Norwegian Lars Øivind Enerberg his fourth successive victory, the story being Irish Derek Tohill’s strong recovery drive to win the B final and then place second in the A.

The finals brought a muddled conclusion to the event, starting late at 15.37 and eventually ending at 17.29, during which time there drivers argued with officials, cars were sent to the paddock, then to parc fermé and back again and the fans were left not knowing what was going on. Fortunately it does not get dark early this far north…

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