Gronholm wins at Holjes. Electric Bakkerud in final. Gonzalez takes CARX win. Luigi in CEZ.
by Rallycross World |
13 May / Lydden Hill race circuit confirms that spectators will be allowed to attend the first round of the 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship on 29-31 May (a holiday weekend in Britain).
13 May / On what is a holiday in much of Europe, the third round of the RallyX Nordic series takes place at the beginning of a full weekend at Holjes in Sweden. Niclas Gronholm (Hyundai i20) takes the win ahead of Anton Marklund (VW Polo) and Krisztian Szabo (Hyundai i20). Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo) set the pace during the day but a puncture early in his semi-final cost him the chance of a start in the final. Tommi Hallman claimed the Supercar Lites win for SET Promotion, leading home Nils Andersson (KMS) and Linus Ostlund (OMSE). The Crosskart win was secured by Isac Egonsson who raced hard all day and overcame Latvian Ronalds Baldins to take the final. Alex Gustafsson took the Junior Crosskart win. Simon Tiger (BMW E30) was best of the small Open 2WD field all day. Andreas Bakkerud and Henri Haapamaki drive STARD-built Ford Fiesta ERX electric cars in the event. Heavier and less powerful than the leading Supercars they raced with, the two cars ran competitively throughout the event. Bakkerud placed ninth, fourth in semi-final one and Haapamaki 10th after finishing fifth in semi-final two.
14 May / While the RallyX Nordic racers take a day off, Swedish Championship drivers start in the first round of the SM Rallycross Championship. The national Swedish series has three classes, all for two-wheel drive cars, 2400cc, 2150cc and Junior. Among the 2400cc runners, Niclas Hardevik Norstrom (Escort) recovers from a DNF in heat one to make into the semi-finals and from there to the final which he wins. Local favourite Per Berglund (Volvo BMW E30) places second ahead of Jim Jansson’s Subaru Impreza. Bjorn Putte Alvarsson (Porsche 944) also wins the hard way, recovering from a DNF in the second qualifier. Erno Antikainen (BMW E36) and August Krokstrom (BMW E36) complete the top three. Among the 19 Junior racesr Oskar Hellstrom (BMW E30) is only beaten once all day as he strides to victory. Filip Martinsen (BMW E36) was fastest in the second qualifier, but had to give best to Hellstrom in the final. Alexander Jepsson (BMW 325) completed the round one podium.
16 May / The fourth round of the RallyX Nordic season is staged over a two-day event at Holjes where Niclas Gronholm defeats mixed weather conditions and the rest of the Supercar field to take his second win from the long weekend in Sweden. Gronholm narrowly beat Johan Kristoffersson in the final with Fraser McConnell battling to third place after a trying event. Krisztian Szabo (Hyundai i20), Enzon Ide (Audi S1) and Andreas Bakkerud in a STARD Fiesta ERX completed the finalists. Nils Andersson bagged his first Supercar Lites victory and was joined on the podium by local favourite Linus Ostlund and series points leader Tommi Hallman in third. Isaac Reiersen took the Crosskart final with EKS JC teammate Alex Gustafsson best of the Junior field. Simon Tiger (BMW E30) continued his winning ways in the Open 2WD category. In aseries of demonstration races for the new RX2e car, a team comprising Johan Kristoffersson, Timmy Hansen and Sebastian Eriksson took the win.
16 May / Third in the opening round of the series, Jim Jansson takes his Subaru Impreza to victory in round two of the SM Rallycross season at Holjes. Ramus Olsson (BMW E36) and Daniel Loggert (Opel Ascona A) join Jansson in a diverse top three for the 2400 class. In the 2150cc section Max Forsman (BMW E36) shades Erno Antikainen’s similar cars to take the win by just 0.4s while Henrik Carlsson grabs third place in his venerable Saab 99. In the Junior series Filip Martinsson turns the tables on round one winner Oskar Hellstrom while Filip Thoren completes the top three in his E36. Jansson, Antikainen and Hellstrom lead the three championships respectively. The series moves to Pitea on 12-13 June for rounds three and four.
16 May / The opening event of the Argentine and South American season gets underway at Concepcion del Uruguay. In the RC2N class Santiago Baldo (Ford Fiesta) became the winner despite non-finishing his semi-final after his car suffered a puncture. Gifted a place on the back of the grid for the nine-car final, Baldostayed out of trouble and progressed as the pack fought for position. When the chequer came out, Baldo had taken the lead and the victory ahead of Ricardo Martinoglio (Renault) and Diego Levy (Fiat) who had won semi-final one. Gaston Gonzalez (VW Gol) won the first semi in the MaxiRally category and then beat Federico Villagra (Toyota) to win the final. Third place was taken by Marcos Ligato (Chevrolet).
16 May / The delayed CEZ and Polish Championships begin at Slomczyn where Hungarian racer “Luigi” bags his second win in as many weekends, following up on his win in the Hungarian Championship. Armed with a Peugeot 208 Supercar, Luigi is second in all four qualifiers as defending champion Zbigniew Staniszewski (Fiesta) sets the pace with a clean sweep of heat wins. Marcin Wicik (Focus) and Maciej Manejowski (Fiesta) take the semi-final wins before Luigi grabbed victory in the final. the Super1600 field is slim and presents home racer Radoslaw Raczkowski (Skoda Fabia) with a win. The SuperTouringCar (STC) class is split into three as usual, the 1600cc win taken by Michal Skelnar (Honda), while in the 2000cc section Robert Dabrowski (Renault Clio) takes a notable win over Roman Castoral (Opel Astra). The over 2000cc section has just four runners, the best of which is Pawel Melon (BMW M3 E46).
17 May / After the last minute postponement of the second round of the Portuguese Rallycross Championship because of an upsurge in COVID-19 in the Montalegre region, organisers of the RX Portugal series announced a rescheduled calendar. Round two will remain at Montalegre, but will now run on 11-13 June. Round three at Sever-do-Vouga will now move to the first reserve date held by the championship and take place on 2-4 July.
18 May / Rallycross France publishes details of the livestreaming service it has put in place for the 2021 Championnat et de la Coupe de France de Rallycross. The pay-per view stream will provide over 15 hours of coverage and feature all classes in the championship. It is priced at €15 per event or €79 for the full year. Revenue from the stream will be shared by the event organisers who will have either restricted spectators numbers or have to race behind closed doors this year. The championship will continue to offer highlights for free.
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update PRT
This weekend / Finland’s Rallicross SM remains one of the most hotly contested national championships and begins this weekend at Honkajoki. The CEZ and Hungarian championships come together on the RabocsiRing at Mariapocs.
For our full guide of where to watch rallycross this year see the link below. This is updated regularly but remember to check with event organisers before travelling, even if events are on there may be restrictions on public access.