Oliver Solberg claims maiden win. Foust, Dubourg and Kiss also victorious

Driving his father’s double FIA World Rallycross Championship winning Citroen DS3 Supercar, 15-year old Oliver Solberg won the second round of the RallyX Nordic Championship at Arvika and as a result becomes the youngest ever top-level Supercar winner. His result, coupled with his podium from round one, elevated him into the points lead. Thomas Bryntesson (Ford Fiesta) topped the Intermediate Classification and like Solberg won his semi-final, but made a slow start in the final and dropped to third. He re-passed his team mate, Ola Froshaug, for second and closed on Solberg, but spun in the joker lap in wet conditions. He remained second, with Mats Ohman (Ford Fiesta) completing the podium. Froshaug was fourth with Alexander Hvaal (Volkswagen Polo) fifth and Christer Dalmans (Volkswagen Polo) sixth. In the Supercar Lites category, William Nilsson led from the front in the final to claim his maiden Lites victory. He was joined on the podium by his JC Raceteknik teammates, Sondre Evjen in second and Henrik Krogstad third. Nilsson and Evjen share the points lead.

Tanner Foust (Volkswagen Beetle) and Steve Arpin (Ford Fiesta) claimed a win apiece in the third and fourth rounds of the Global Rallycross Championship at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in New England, in a weekend where Foust dominated and would have won twice but for breaking a wheel in the final stages of Sunday’s event. The former World RX event winner led the round three final from lights to flag, as his team mate, Scott Speed (Volkswagen Beetle) was forced to fight through the pack after a slow start. He finished second, passing OlsbergsMSE Honda driver Mitchell De Jong (Honda Civic) in the closing stages. De Jong scored his first Supercar podium in third. Arpin, Austin Dyne (Ford Fiesta) and Patrik Sandell (Subaru Impreza) completed the top six. In round four on Sunday, Arpin took the lead when Foust hit a wall from the front of the final with a broken wheel, as Scott again finished second and Chris Atkinson (Subaru Impreza) scored his first rallycross podium. De Jong, Sandell and Sebastian Eriksson (Honda Civic) finished fourth, fifth and sixth. Cyril Raymond won twice in the GRC Lites category. Christian Brooks finished second on Saturday with Travis PeCoy third, while Colin Braun was runner-up on Sunday with Brooks completing the podium.

Making a one-off appearance in his home round of the French Rallycross Championship at Faleyras, round two of the series, World Rallycross campaigner Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Peugeot 208) claimed victory. Florent Beduneau (Peugeot 208) finished second in a similar car to the winner, while former champion Fabien Pailler (Peugeot 208) moved in the championship lead with a third place finish. Formula 1 television commentator and sometime rallycross driver Julien Febreau (Citroen C4) finished fourth, while Patrick Guillerme made it four Peugeot 208s in the top five. Round one winner Guerlain Chicherit (Renault Clio) was hampered by technical troubles. Samuel Peu (Citroen Saxo) led home Yvonnick Jagu (Audi A1) in the Super1600 final, the pair holding the same positions in the championship, while Maximilien Eveno (Citroen C2) was third in Faleyras. Division Three points leader Mathieu Trevian could only manage 12^th in Falyeras, Christophe Saunois (Toyota Corolla) claiming victory in what is set to be his last event for the foreseeable. Xavier Briffaud (Mini Cooper) was second with Benoit Morel (Ford Fiesta) third. In Division Four, Aurelien Crochard (Renault Clio) won, with Stephane Hameau (Peugeot 206) second and Florian Zavattin (Renault Clio) completed the podium. The Twingo R1 Cup was won by Allan Mottais, who moved into the championship lead. David Bouet was second with Olivier Spampinato third.

Having won the French Championship event, DA Racing driver Jean-Baptiste Dubourg was also confirmed as the 2017 Andros Trophy Champion this week, following an investigation by the FFSA into a protest from rival Jean-Philippe Dayraut about the homologation of DA Racing’s Renault Clio silhouette. Dubourg’s team was cleared of any wrong-doing and keeps its second Andros crown in two years.

European Championship contender Tamas Pal Kiss (Peugeot 208) won the third round of the Hungarian Rallycross Championship at Mariapocs, his third win in a row in the series to extend his championship lead. Kiss beat fellow Euro RX racer Tamas Karai (Audi S1) in the final, while Attila Mozer (Skoda Fabia) finished third. Zoltan Vass (Mitsubishi Colt), Csaba Spitzmuller (Mitsubishi Evo) and Peter Kotan (Ford Escort) completed the Supercar final in fourth, fifth and sixth. Janko Wieszt (Renault Twingo) won the Super1600 final in a SET Promotion-built car, with Andras Ferjancz (Citroen Saxo) second and Jozsef Moricz (Skoda Fabia) third. Gabpor Papp (BMW) won the over two-litre Supernational category, while Patrik Kadar (Honda Civic) won the under 1600cc division.

British driver James Grint and the Spencer Sport team that he will race for this season completed a two-day test at Dreux in France last week with its Mitsubishi Mirage RX Supercar, and now expects to make a competitive debut at the third round of the British Rallycross Championship later this month at Pembrey. The team were forced to withdraw from the second round at Lydden Hill due to pre-event testing engine troubles. “I feel we learnt a lot about the car after suffering lots of reliability issues, we now know where our strengths and weaknesses are which is vital in developing a brand new car,” said Grint. “I have managed to find a good feeling in the car, it’s a very nimble and a well-balanced chassis. We have made a massive step forward from my first experience in the car at Lydden.”