Perkiomaki is Finnish champ, National wins for Eriksson, Higgins & Timerzyanov. Doran to GCK, Audi drops rallycross

26 August Oliver Eriksson wins the penultimate round of RallyX Nordic on the series’ first visit to Kouvola in Finland to move himself back into title contention, as Oliver Solberg finishes second and moves back into the points lead. Joint-leader heading into the event, Thomas Bryntesson, fails to start the semi-finals thanks to a small stone in the throttle system. Ari Perkiomaki finishes on the podium as highest place Finnish driver and claims the Finnish Rallycross Championship title, overcoming Riku Tahko who had led into the final round. Peter Hedstrom, Ola Froshaug and “CsuCsu” complete the list of finalists in the 32-strong Supercar field. Ben-Philip Gundersen tops a JC Raceteknik one, two, three in Supercar Lites. He is joined on the podium by Jimmie Walfridson and William Nilsson.

26 August Sami-Matti Trogen wins the fourth round of RX Academy at Kouvola, his second victory in succession to extend his lead in the points. Polish driver Oskar Leitgeber finishes second and remains second in the points while Juho Valtanen scores a rallycross debut podium.

26 August The Russian Rallycross Championship moves onto Kazan where the ‘High Hill’ circuit hosts the annual President’s Cup event. Making a one-off appearance in the series at his home track, World RX star Timur Timerzyanov wins the event in the ex-GRC Dodge Dart Supercar he now owns. A full replay of the seven-hour live stream from the event is below.

26 August Jerome Grosset-Janin releases a statement to say that his World RX season will end with immediate effect. The Frenchman has raced with GCK in the first half of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, collecting its first podium finish with third place in Sweden. Grosset-Janin says “…there are certain conditions that make it no longer possible for me to finish the second half of the season…”

27 August GCK announces that Liam Doran will drive one of its Renault Meganes at Loheac in round seven of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. Doran has been absent from the World Championship since the summer of 2016, but remined everyone of his immense pace with a third place finish in the first round of the ARX Championship at Silverstone in May. The announcement makes no reference to the departure of Jerome Grosset-Janin, merely saying that Doran (below right) will joing Guerlain Chicherit in the team.

27 August EKS announces that Audi DTM driver Nico Muller will return to drive in World RX of Latvia where the team will field a third Audi S1. Muller joined the team in 2017, driving in France and Latvia where he placed sixth and 17th respectively. The Swiss-driver’s car will be presented in the pink livery of Force India sponsor BWT.

27 August Mark Higgins wins the seventh round of the British Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill to move back into the championship lead. Ollie O’Donovan wins the final after climbing to second at the first corner from the second row of the grid, then passes Higgins at the North Ben Hairpin, but is given a two-second penalty after the final for the move on Higgins and is dropped to second. Oliver Bennett returns to the series with his OMSE-built Ford Fiesta as Steve Hill finishes fourth. Both Julian Godfrey and Kevin Procter are slowed by punctures due to contact. Tristan Ovenden wins the Supernational final and Tom Constantine is victorious in Junior RX. The points leaders in the single-make support categories David Ball (BMW Mini), Morgan Bailey (Swift Spoft) and Chrissy Palmer (RX150) all extend their leads with wins, while Steve Harris takes Retro Rallycross honours with his Ford RS200.

29 August Audi Sport publishes details of its 2019 motor sport programme which features Formula E and DTM, but does not include rallycross. The statement puts a caveat on its DTM programme by saying “minimum of three brands being represented from 2020 on at the latest will be the prerequisite for Audi’s continuing DTM commitment.” 

29 August Rallycross France announce that comedian Arnaud Tsamere will drive in the one-make Renault Twingo Cup at Mayenne on September 23.