Victories for Bakkerud, Hansen, Dubourg and Speed

Following up on scoring a maiden victory for the Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Focus RS RX at the previous round in Norway, Andreas Bakkerud won again at the sixth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Holjes, Sweden. Bakkerud recovered from retiring with a double puncture and broken suspension in Q1 to win his semi-final and start on pole position for the final before scoring his fifth career World RX victory. Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208) made the best start in the final and took the lead, while Bakkerud took his joker lap at turn two, the pair swapping positions when Hansen took his joker on lap six.

Hansen ran second in the closing stages, but lost the position to team mate Sebatsien Loeb in the final corner when a handbrake problem struck the Swede’s Peugeot. He made it over the line in third. Anton Marklund (Volkswagen Polo) finished fourth having run as high as second in the early part of the race, only to be hampered by a misfiring engine. Marklund’s Volkswagen RX Sweden team mate Johan Kristoffersson had finished top at the Intermediate Classification but was struck by a puncture in the final, while championship leader Mattias Ekstrom (Audi S1) retired with a fly-by-wire throttle issue that also caused him to stop on track in Q1. Petter Solberg finished fourth in his semi-final in a surprise non-final appearance for the double champion.

Holjes also hosted the third round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, where Kevin Hansen (Peugeot 208) maintained his unbroken run of wins with victory at home. In an action-packed final, Fredrik Salsten (Peugeot 208) finished second and Tamas Pal Kiss (Peugeot 208) overtook Tommy Rustad (Peugeot 208) in the final corner for third, before being penalised for the move and disqualified from the final. Tord Linnerud (Volkswagen Polo) finished fourth having picked up a puncture in the final with Alexander Hvaal (Volkswagen Beetle) fifth. In the Super1600 category, Ulrik Linnemann (Peugeot 208) won with Norwegian driver Espen Isaksctre (Citroen Saxo) second and Czech Ondrej Smetana (Ford Fiesta) third. Ben-Philip Gundersen (Ford Fiesta) won the TouringCar final from Magda Andersson (Ford Fiesta) and Petter Brauten (Opel Corsa), while Thomas Bryntesson jumped the start of the RX Lites Cup final and had to take two jokers. Simon Olofsson won ahead of Cyril Raymond and Johan Larsson.

Scott Speed (Volkswagen Polo) won the sixth round of the Global Rallycross Championship at Marine Corps Air Station New River, his first victory of the season. Brain Deegan (Ford Fiesta) led the final until the last lap when passed by Speed and finished second. Steve Aprin (Ford Fiesta) completed the podium. Tanner Foust (Volkswagen Beetle) had run at the front of the final early on after winning the heats stages again, but retired with mechanical failure. Patrik Sandell (Ford Fiesta) finished fourth with Austin Dyne (Ford Fiesta) fifth and Sebastian Eriksson (Honda Civic) leading home team mate Joni Wiman (Honda Civic) in sixth and seventh. The Subaru USA team returned to action but was classified at the bottom of the order in 10^th and 11^th. The seventh round of the championship on Sunday was cancelled due to adverse weather. OlsbergsMSE driver Miki Weckstrom won the GRC Lites final with Blake Williams second and Parker Chase third.

DA Racing driver Andrea Dubourg (Citroen DS3) won the fourth round of the French Rallycross Championship at Lavare, to claim his first Supercar victory in the team’s new-for-2016 car. Alexander Theuil (Citroen DS3) finished second with Adeline Sangnier (Peugeot 207) third. Championship leader Firmin Cadeddu (Citroen C4) was denied the chance of fighting for victory by a puncture. Herve Knapick (Citroen DS3) finished fourth and Florent Beduneau (Peugeot 208) was fifth. In the Super1600 category, Jimmy Terpereau (Citroen C2) ended championship leader Samuel Peu’s (Citroen Saxo) unbeaten 2016 run, Peu finishing second in the final with Maximillien Eveno (Citroen C2) third. Division Three championship leader Christophe Saunois (Toyota Corolla) retired with engine failure in Q4 while Mathieu Trevian (Volkswagen Scirocco) scored a popular first victory by winning the final. Marc Morize (Peugeot 208) was second with David Vincent (Renault Clio) third. In Division Four, Jean-Mickael (Peugeot 206) was victorious. Guillaume Pinson (Renualt Clio) was second and Xavier Goubill (Peugeot 306) was third. In the Twingo R1 Cup category, Julien Hardonniere won ahead of Allan Mottais and Marceau Launay.

Swede Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky will make her return to rallycross at the fifth round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship next week, driving an RX150 buggy. Double champion Marc Scott will also return to the category, having sat out the first half of 2016. 60 British Championship cars have entered for the event, which takes place at Maasmechelen in Belgium, joining a round of the Belgian Rallycross Championship.

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