Gronholm and Kristoffersson win Riga double-header. Kalliokoski is Finnish champ.

18 September / The FIA World Rallycross Championship gets its third winner in four events as Niclas Gronholm wins the first of two days of racing Latvia and World RX of Riga. In an evenly matched and very competitive event, Johan Kristiffersson, Mattias Ekstrom – racing one of ALL-INKL.COM Munnich Motorsport’s Seat Ibizas – and Gronholm each set a fastest time in the qualifying heats. Kristoffersson was top qualifier and he and Gronholm won their semi-finals. There was a brush of wheels between the pair at the start of the final, Kristoffersson pitched into a spin and dropping to last while Gronholm went clear on the front of the pack and did not look back. Timmy and Kevin Hansen also went to the podium, the former maintaining his lead in the series.

18 September / Jere Kalliokoski took his fourth win in the five-event Rallicross SM Championship to become the new Finnish Rallycross Champion. Fastest in Q1, Kalliokoski was second qualifier to Henri Haapamaki (Fiesta) who topped Q2 and Q3. Haapamaki was second in semi final one which was won by Rasmus Tuominen (Mitsubishi Lancer E6). Kalliokoski won the second semi and then went ahead in the final to secure the title in the best way. Haapamaki was second and Tuominen third in the final. Olli Lahti (Fiesta) won all three qualifiers in the Supernational class and won his semi-final but slumped to fifth in the final where semi final two winner Joni-Pekka Rajala (Escort Estate) stepped up to take the win. Ville Mikonen (BMW E46) and Christian Jensen (Escort) completed the podium. Rajala won the championship by four points over Mikkonen. Jari Koivistoinen (Ford Escort Mexico) emerged as the winner of the Autokross class. Tuomas Venalainen (Datsun Finn) placed second ahead of the similar car of Rajala who added the Autokross class championship to his Supernational win.

19 September / After four events in which it seemed everything that could go wrong would go wrong, Johan Kristoffersson finally went the whole distance and took his first World RX event win of the year. The 2020 champion was second qualifier in the second event of the double-header weekend in Riga but from there won semi-final two and then took victory in the final ahead of Niclas Gronholm and championship leader Timmy Hansen. Gronholm had set fastest times in the second and third qualifiers, the opening session of the day claimed by Mattias Ekstrom.

The FIA European Rallycross Championship for RX1 was also on the card in Riga, the Euro series running a conventional schedule of one event across the two days. The series had been action packed and dramatic in its first two events and round three was no different. Andreas Bakkerud was fastest in Q1 before Fabien Pailler moved ahead in Q2 to hold the overnight lead. Janis Baumanis then set fastest time in Q4 before round one winner Thomas Bryntesson topped out Q4. Baumanis was top qualifier and won semi-final one, Pailler taking the second semi. Bryntesson spun out of contention in semi two while Bakkerud also ended his day with fourth place in semi one. Baumanis led the final from the start, Pailler and Peter Hedstrom joining him on the podium. Pailler grabbed a slender lead over Bakkerud in the series which concludes at Spa.

19 September / The German Rallycross Championship, DRX, completes a double-header weekend on the Ewald-Pauli-Ring at Schulchtern where Bernd Wilhelm (Ford Focus) made his seasonal debut and promptly claimed the Supercar win on both days, each time leading home champion Dietmar Brandt. There was a maiden success in the over 2000cc Supernational class, after ten years of trying, for Bastian Sichelschmidt (BMW). Having discovered the secret to success, Sichelschmidt then achieved his second win the following day. The under two-litre class was won by Ralph Wilhelm on the first day and by Marko Wittkovski on Sunday.

19 September / The fifth round of the Polish Rallycross Championship is won by Zbigniew Staniszewski who guides his Fiesta to a clear victory in the final having been fastest in all four qualifiers. With the Oponeo team asway on Euro RX duty in Riga, the field was a little reduced. Second place was taken by Maciej Manejkowksi (Fiesta) with Michal Peterlejtner (Skoda Fabia) in third. The Supernational finalw as won by Halk (BMW E36) ahead of Jan Ratajsky (Skoda Fabia) who was also best of the Suepr1600 runners. Third overall, and second to Halk in the over 2000cc section was Gigi whilethe 2000cc class winner was fourth-placed Lukasz Tyszkiewicz (Opel Astra). The BMW-based RWD Cup was won by the 31sis of Mariusz Szczepanski while Michal Wrzosek battled his way to the top step of the podium in the 37-strong Fiat-based SC Cup class.

21 September / Audi announces a new partnership with Ken Block. Ken Block and Audi will be working together exclusively in the field of electric mobility with immediate effect. “Electric mobility is the future. I see the electric car as a leap forward for us as a society in order to create something that can not only reduce emissions and hopefully make the planet a better place. But not only that: it’s also about performance. I love anything that makes me go faster. Electric cars can do that. And as far as sound goes, I have kids who don’t care about that. They think that the sound of electric cars is just as cool as the sound of internal combustion engines,” said Block.

This weekend  /  Nitro RX begins in Utah this weekend while in Europe Rallycross France returns to action at Mayenne, the Estonian series reaches its finale, RX Portugal continues and the 5 Nations British series visits Knockhill in Scotland.

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.

Pics: World RX, Red Bull Content Pool, Rallicross SM, DRX, Audi