Eriksson, Cadeddu, Sandell, Kiss and Bortkevit victorious in busy rallycross week

The second round of Sweden-based RallyX Nordic Championship took place at Arvika, where reigning champion Kevin Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) scored his second victory of the campaign to extend his points lead. Lukas Walfridsson (Renault Clio) finished second with Alexander Hvaal (Volkswagen Beetle) scoring his maiden podium with the Eklund Motorsport team. Peter Hedstrom (Skoda Fabia) had been set for a podium finish but ran into technical issues in both the semi-final and final. He finished fourth with Stein Egil Jenssen (Ford Focus) fifth and Mats Ohman (Ford Fiesta) classified sixth. Ohman didn’t make it past the second corner, pulling off with front-end damage after making contact with the rear of Walfridsson’s Clio at the start of the final. Thomas Bryntesson won again in the Supercar Lites category, finishing ahead of Tobias Brink and Joachim Hvaal. In the Supernational category Patrik Ydrefalk (Toyota Corolla) won, while Simon Claesson (BMW E36) claimed victory in the JSM division.

Firmin Cadeddu (Citroen C4) was the dominant force at the third round of the French Rallycross Championship at Faleyras. Driving his ex-Davy Jeanney and Jean-Baptiste Dubourg Citroen C4, Cadeddu finished top at the Intermediate Classification and won his semi-final and final to claim not only his first victory but also the championship lead. Alexander Theuil (Citroen DS3) finished second with Florent Beduneau (Peugeot 208) third. Guy Moreton (Volkswagen Scirocco) finished fourth in his ex-Jochen Coox car, while David Oliver (Dacia Logan) impressed with fifth place in his naturally aspirated car. Albatec Racing’s Philippe Maloigne (Peugeot 208) finished sixth after a spin but moved up to second in the championship table. Title contenders Fabien Chanoine (Renault Clio), Andrea Dubourg (Citroen DS3) and Gaetan Serazin (Peugeot 208) all ran into problems in the event, as did Pailler brothers Jonathan and Fabien (Peugeot 208s); Jonathan making it no further than Q2 while Fabien was slowed by accident damage. Samuel Peu (Citroen Saxo) won the Super1600 final again to extend his series lead, with Maximilien Eveno (Citroen C2) second and Jimmy Terpereau (Citroen C2) third. In Division 3, Christophe Saunois (Toyota Corolla) and Marc Morize (Citroen DS3) were again the class of the field, Saunois coming out on top in the final. Henri Navail (Citroen DS3 completed the podium). Sebastien Le Ferrand (Peugeot 306) won in Division 4 ahead of Gilles Lambert (Honda Civic) and Guillaume Pinson (Renault Clio). Julien Hardonniere headed home Twingo R1 Cup championship leader Tony Bardeau and title contender Marceau Launay in the single-make final.

Former WRC driver Patrik Sandell (Ford Fiesta) won the third round of the Global Rallycross Championship at Dallas in Texas. Andretti Autosport driver Tanner Foust (Volkswagen Beetle), who won the opening two rounds of the year, had dominated proceedings until the start of the final, but dropped to third at the start behind Sandell and Steve Arpin (Ford Fiesta). Foust was also passed by team mate Scott Speed (Volkswagen Beetle) but later retook the position to claim the final step of the podium behind Sandell and Arpin. Speed was fourth with OlsbergsMSE driver Joni Wiman fifth and Austin Dyne (Ford Fiesta) sixth. In the GRC Lites category, Oliver Eriksson won after passing pole position starter Tanner Whitten during the final. Cabot Bigham finished second with Whitten third.

Circuit racing convert Tamas Pal Kiss (Peugeot 208) won the sixth round of the FIA Central European Zone Rallycross Championship at Greinbach in Austria, which was also a round of the Hungarian and Austrian Rallycross Championships. Kiss won ahead of fellow Euro RX racers Tamas Karai (Audi A1) and Max Pucher (Ford Fiesta), before the trio headed for Hell in Norway this weekend. Alois Holler (Ford Focus) finished fourth with Janko Wieszt (Skoda Fabia) and Zoltan Harsanyi (Mitsubishi Evo) both failing to finish the final. Mario Petrakovits (VW Polo) won in the Super1600 category at his home track, ahead of Werner Panhauser (Citroen C2) and Gergely Marton (Skoda Fabia). In the SuperTouringCar- category it was Erwin Frieszl (Peugeot 206) who claimed victory from Bruno Csirmaz (Honda Civic) and Ondrej Havlik (Peugeot 205). In the SuperTouringCar+ final it was the Ford Sierra of Oliver Gruber who won with Patrick Breiteneder (BMW E36) second and Karl Schadenhofer (VW Golf) third.

The second round of the Estonian Rallycross Championship took place at Hingu Kula where Ricardo Bortkevit (Mitsubishi Evo) won the Supercar final to move into the series lead. Priit Karjus (Mitsubishi Evo) was second, driving a Sten Oja Motorsport run car with Raini Roomets (Ford Fiesta) third. (Subaru Impreza) driver Oliver Oberg finished fourth. In the combined Super1600 and Junior1600 final, European Championship front-runner Janno Ligur (Skoda Fabia) won ahead of fellow Euro RX driver Siim Salrui (Citroen C2). Mihkel Varul (Peugeot 206) completed the podium. In the TouringCar final Siim Sundema (BMW 318) was victorious with Margo Soomets (BMW 318) second and Marten Teppan (BMW E36) third.

Former Olympian and WRC driver Albert Lovera will become the first amputee driver to race in the RX Lites Cup this weekend at the FIA World Rallycross Championship event in Norway, driving for the Polish Lotto Team. Lovera tested the adapted Lites car for the first time last week and will race in Norway, Sweden and Spain this year. Norwegian driver Henrik Krogstad will also make his Lites debut, driving a JC Raceteknik run car.

FIA European Rallycross Championship competitors will race in the second round of the championship this weekend in Norway, alongside the fifth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where Irish racer Ollie O’Donovan will make his first start of the season in his Tony Bardy Motorsport prepared Ford Fiesta, sporting a new livery designed by a competition winner.

A number of MSA British Rallycross Championship and BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship competitors took place in the annual Coventry MotoFest in the British Midlands city, including Albatec Racing Supercar driver James Grint (Peugeot 208) and Supermodified driver Andy Brinkley (BMW 325).

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