Wins for Kristoffersson & Spitzmuller; Muller set for World RX

Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen Polo) continued his recent run of form in the World Rallycross Championship by winning the eighth round in Canada. It was another weekend of PSRX Volkswagen Sweden domination in Trois-Rivieres, despite EKS driver Toomas Heikkinen (Audi S1) setting the fastest time in Q1. Kristoffersson and team mate Petter Solberg (Volkswagen Polo) finished first and second in the Intermediate Classification, each won their semi-finals with ease and took their jokers on the second (Solberg) and third (Kristoffersson) laps of the final to claim victory. For the third event in a row, Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot 208) completed the podium. Third place had been held by Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208) until the Swede was forced to retire with engine failure. Kevin Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) scored a best result of the year in fourth, with Heikkinen fifth. Mattias Ekstrom (Audi S1) retired in the semi-finals with clutch problems.

Cyril Raymond claimed his fourth win from five rounds in the RX2 International Series. The points leader scored victory ahead of Guillaume De Ridder and Tanner Whitten. Vasily Gryazin earnt a best result of the season in fourth. Title contender Dan Rooke made contact with the rear of Raymond’s car at turn one and dropped to fourth. Trying to fight back through the field, the British driver was forced into a concrete wall, where he would retire. Simon Olofsson finished fifth.

Petter Solberg’s son Oliver (Subaru Impreza) competed in his first World RX weekend, driving in the Canadian National CXE four-wheel drive rallycross class. Despite setting the pace for much of qualifying, Solberg’s chances of a podium were ended by a broken driveshaft in his semi-final and contact with a wall in the final. Nicolas Hamilton took part in the SXS buggy support category but retired from the final with engine power problems.

Csaba Spitzmuller (Skoda Fabia) won the fourth round of the Hungarian Rallycross Championship at Kakucsring, after title protagonists and European Championship regulars Tamas Karai (Audi A1) and Tamas Pal Kiss (Peugeot 208) came together on the final lap and were both later disqualified. Zoltan Vass (Mitsubishi Colt) was second and Attila Mozer (Skoda Fabia) third. Zsolt Peitler (BMW E30) won the SuperTouringCars+ final and Janko Wieszt (Renault Twingo) won in the Super1600 category.

Allan Tapscott (Vauxhall Corsa) and Mark Jones (Toyota MR2) each won a round of the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship at Pembrey in South Wales, racing in the Supermodified category in rounds four and five of the series. Mike Dresser (Lotus Exige) and Phil Chicken (Citroen C2) finished second and third on the opening day. Dresser spun out of contention on Sunday, leaving Chicken to finish second and Tapscott third, behind Jones. Jeff Hopes-Davies (Citroen Saxo) and Richard Todd (Peugeot 106) won the in the Production category, while Brian Hardman (Ford Escort) twice won in the Historic category. Tom Constantine also scored a brace of wins, in the Junior division. In the Production 4×4 class, Liam Manning (Subaru Impreza) won in round four on Saturday and the amalgamated Production 4×4 and Supercar class on Sunday, ahead of Mad Mark Watson (Citroen Xsara), who had a boost issue. Roger Thomas (Vauxhall Astra) won the Supercar final on Saturday.

Audi DTM driver Nico Muller will made his debut in the World Rallycross Championship next month at Loheac in France, driving a fourth EKS-run Audi S1 Supercar in the event. Muller has undertaken a number of tests with Mattias Ekstrom’s team since first driving a rallycross Supercar in Barcelona last year, and will line up alongside the reigning World RX champion and the team’s other drivers, Toomas Heikkinan and Reinis Nitiss – the first time ever the squad had run four cars in the same event.