Eriksson in Nordic. Duval’s French hat-trick. ARX teams launch ahead of Mid Ohio opener.

2 June The third Rally X Nordic event of the year takes place at Nysum in Denmark and Oliver Eriksson (Honda Civic) takes his second win of the year to maintain his lead in the series. Robin Larsson (Audi S1) fought back from a problematic first round and disqualification in the second qualifier at Nysum (for passing under the yellow flag) to make it to the final and chase Eriksson home in second place. Young Finnish racer Jere Kalliokoski (Fiesta) completes the podium in third place.The Supercar Lites field is led home by Ben-Philip Gundersen who took the championship lead with his first win of the year. Linus Ostlund and Jimmie Walfridsson complete the podium in second and third places. The Crosscar section is won by Isak Reiersen.

2 June The third round of the RX Academy takes place alongside Rally X Nordic at Nysum in Denmark. Rasmus Tuominen is the third different event winner of the year. The 18-year-old Finn takes a clean sweep in the event, topping all four qualifiers and winning his semi-final and the final. Round one winner Tommi Hallman runs out a close second and Marko Muru is third to maintain his series lead.

2 June Francois Duval continues his rout of the French Rallycross Championship at Faleyras where he wins his third event in as many starts. The Belgian guides his Pailler Competition Peugeot 208 home ahead of the similar cars of Samuel Peu and Julien Febreau. Fabien Pailler dominates the weekend but loses the chance of victory when an electrical fault stops his 208 in the first lap of the final. After four events, Peu continues to lead the championship from Duval and Febreau.  Yvonnick Jagu (Skoda Fabia) returns to the top of the Super1600 podium, leading home Jeremy Lambec and Julien Hardonniere in the final. Xavier Briffaud (Mini) wins in Divsion Three and the Twingo Cup win is taken by Clement Jan. Division Four gets a notable new winner in 16-year-old Doran Deslandes who in his fourth event tops the competitive category with his Peugeot 208.

3 June In the build-up to the first event of the year, ARX announces an enhanced TV deal with CBS Sports Network and Facebook. “The Facebook partnership with ARX is a great step in the viewership direction,” said Andretti Rallycross driver Tanner Foust. “Digital streaming in sports is key, and to partner with one of the largest companies in the world is going to give us a great opportunity to focus on our digital efforts and gain more fans through this platform and expose to fans, for free, every second of track time and bring them as close as they can to the event experience.”  Shows will be presented by Andrew Coley with Bucky Lasek and James Rimmer also on the commentary team. To find coverage visit cbssportsnetwork.com or facebook.com/ARXRallycross.

4 June The Andros Torphy Ice racing series will switch to using all electric cars in the headline Elite Pro and Elite categories from this winter, and is also planning to introduce an electric category with the same machines into French rallycross events. The first man to race an electric car in Elite Pro when the Andros Sport 01 was introduced early last year, Nicolas Prost, joined four-time Andros Trophy Champion and European Rallycross Championship driver Jean Baptiste Durboug for a back-to-back test between the twin motor, four-wheel drive electric car and a World RX specification Peugeot 208 WRX at Faleyras on Monday, in part to test grip-limited tyres to encourage the cars to side on rallycross tracks like they do on ice. The rallycross class is planned to be introduced next year.

4 June Gray Leadbetter becomes the first driver to take advantage of the age reduction for ARX2 in the Americas Rallycross Championship. The 14-year-old will race with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing where she will be mentored by Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice. “Gray’s inner drive to be the best every time she gets behind the wheel can’t be taught. She has the skill of drivers much older and the ability to drive a variety of vehicles competitively. I am looking forward to developing her abilities to be a champion in the next few years and expanding her talent into a long career in four-wheel racing,” he said. 

5 June One the eve of the first ARX event of the year Steve Arpin reveals his 2019 livery with the return of Eneos as main backer. Arpin switches back to an updated and reworked version of the Ford Fiesta for 2019, having raced a Focus in the 2018 ARX season. The Loenbro Motorsports squad also included ARX2 graduate Travis PeCoy in a second Fiesta.

5 June Star of Discovery TV show Twin Turbos, Brad DeBerti is named as one of the DirtFish ARX2 drivers for Americas Rallycross. DeBerti was a shooting star of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series before a huge crash changed the course of his career. He will race with DirtFish alongside Fraser McConnell.

5 June Indy Car racer JR Hildebrand is named as the fourth driver in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s ARX2 squad for the Americas Rallycross season. “I had a lot of fun briefly testing the car after the Indy test a couple months ago and am excited to learn as much as I can this weekend in Mid Ohio. DRR’s track record is extremely good in these cars, so I’m looking forward to tackling it with them,” said the 31-year-old Californian.

Obituary Maurice Reeves died on 8 May, he was 88 and had been suffering from pneumonia. Reeves started to race in rallycross when the mid 1970s fuel crisis in the UK led to the cancellation of many rallies in which he was competing regularly. It soon became apparent that his son, Trevor, was the faster driver in their new discipline and Reeves senior stood down from driving but remained deeply involved in his son’s racing, overseeing the family-run team which scooped numerous national honours in the UK,including the 1977 BTRDA Championship, before graduating to the European Championship where Trevor was an event winner. Reeves’ involvement ran much deeper than this, however, and he was a valued and influential member of the British Rallycross Drivers Association for many years. We extend our sympathies to his family and many friends, and remember Maurice as a kind and generous man.