Timmy Hansen’s Nitro. Peu in Mayenne. Tikkerbar is Estonian champ. Egle takes Latvian title.

25 September  /  The first event of the Nitro Rallycross season takes place at Utah Motorsports Campus where Timmy Hansen repeated his success in the 2018 standalone Nitro event to take the victory. Travis Pastrana (Subaru) started on pole for the final but ran wide in the first corner, half-spinning and allowing fellow front row starter Hansen to seize the lead. From there Hansen was more-or-less unchallenged and eventually took a clear win as others fell by the wayside. Oliver Eriksson (Fiesta) was close to the leader in the early laps but was a non-finisher, as were Andreas Bakkerud (Subaru) and Tanner Foust (Audi). In his first event with a Hyundai i20, Steve Arpin landed second place ahead of Kevin Hansen.

The event included a double-header for NRX Next (Supercar Lites/RX2 cars) with Casper Jansson taking the victory on Friday and George Megennis winning for #YellowSquad on Saturday. Martin Enlund was second on both days, his Enlund’s Motorsport also running Jansson who placed third on Saturday to complete a solid weekend.

25 September  /  The Estonian Rallikross Championship reaches it conclusion at Kulbilohu near Elva with Mart Tikkerbar collecting the championship title. Arvo Kask (Mitsubishi Lancer) took victory in the final round, but second place for Tikkerbar (Mitsubishi Lancer) was more than enough to remain ahead of Seido Nommkjula (Peugeot 207) in the title race. Kask made his move to Supercar having already secured the Super1600 crown and in his absence it was Andre Kurg (Skoda Fabia) who took the event win. The TouringCar series had a close finish, Kristaps Grunte (BMW 120) taking the win ahead of title rival Siim Sundema (Ford Fiesta). Only the dropped score separated the two and gave Sundema the title. Marko Muru (Honda Civic0 took the Junior 1600 championship, Martin Juga (A1M) bec ame the Junior Crosskart Champion and Sten Oja (Speedcar Wonder) won the final round of the championship to collect the Crosskart Championship crown.

26 September  /  Samuel Peu bagged his first victory of the Rallycross France season as the series began its sprint through the last three events of the year at Mayenne. Yury Belevskiy (Audi S1) was top qualifier, but dropped out in the semi-finals in which Peu and series leader Romauld Delaunay (Citroen DS3) each took a win. Delaunay then hit the wall in the joker lap, ending his run in the final while Peu (Peugeot 208) went on to win and take the series lead. Laurent Bouliou (Peugeot 208) placed second and is third in the series. 

Jimmy Terpereau (Citroen C2) increased his lead in the Super1600 Championship with his fourth consecutive event win, leading home Jeremy Lambec (Skoda Fabia) and Belgian Clement Picard (Renault Clio). Nils Volland (Audi A10 placed sixth in his first French event. Baptiste Panissie claimed his first win the Clio-based Junior series, leading home Edgar Maloigne and Tom Le Jossec. David Bouet was eighth  but retains the series lead, seven points up on Arthur Le Boudouil (fourth at Mayenne). Alizee Pottier was best of the 17 drivers in the Coupe Feminine. Amelie Moliexe and Sophie Joram completed the podium in the Renault Twingo one-make series. Benoit Morel (Ford Fiesta) was best of the Division Three field and Tony Bardeau (Honda Civic)  took the Division Four win.

26 September  /  The Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy added it’s third nation as Knockhill in Scotland hosted a double-header for British RX. Latvian racer Roberts Vitols (Citroen C4) claimed the Saturday win in round four of the championship ahead of Ollie O’Donovan (Ford Fiesta) and Tristan Ovenden (Citroen DS3). The following day Irishman Derek Tohill (Fiesta) took the win. O’Donovan placed second on the track but dropped to sixth place after receiving a five-second track limits penalty. That elevated Vitols to second place with Julian Godfrey clambering onto the podium in third place. Godfrey had gone out of round four with engine failure in his Fiesta but then switched to Mark Donelly’s Citroen after the latter withdrew following a day of technical issues including a fire.
Max Langmaid and Will Ovenden were first and second on both days of the weekend in the Junior Championship, Caitlin May placing third on Saturday and Finley Scott stepping onto the podium in Sunday. Jason Bleasdale (Vauxhall VX220) took a brace of Supernational wins, Max Weatherley won twice in the Swift Sport Championship and Tommi Caldwell was best of the RX150 entry on both Saturday and Sunday. The BMW Mini wins were shared by Dave Bellerby and Tom Constantine, Vince Bristow (BMW E36) and Barry Stewart (Porsche 911) took a Super Retro win each, Simon Hart best of the 1600cc Retro runners each day.

26 September  /  The final round of the Latvian Rallycross Championship takes place at the Sporta Komplekks 333 where Ronalds Baldins takes the Supercar event win but Edvards Egle (Mitusbishi Lancer) places thirds and does enough to collect the championship crown. Ivo Gabrans wins both the event and the title in Super2000 while  in Super1600 third place is sufficient for Arnis Odins (Peugeot) to put his name to the title as Janis Lideris wins trhe day.

27 September  /  Klara Andersson is announced as  a starter in the FIA RX2e Championship at Spa-Francorchamps. The Swedish racer won her home Junior championship this year and has previously tested a Projekt E car, so electric is not a completely new experience for her. She is the younger sister of former FIA European Championship racer Magda.

28 September  /  Lydden Hill has confirmed that the penultimate event in the British Rallycross Championship will include night racing at Lydden on 6 and 7 November. Tickets are now on sale for the event which will start in daylight and run into darkness on Saturday, concluding with daylight racing on Sunday.

28 September  /  Filip Thoren becomes the second graduate of the Swedish Junior series to book a place in RX2e for Spa-Francorchamps. The 19-year-old former kart racer placed eighth in the series this year.

29 September  /  Xite Energy Extreme E racer Christine GZ will race an RX2e car in Belgium. The Indian-born, Italian-Canary driver tested the RX2e car early in the year but has not yet raced it.

This weekend  /  It’s a quiet weekend in Europe, but the second Nitro RX event takes place at ERX Motor Park in Minneapolis on Saturday and Sunday.

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: Nitro RX, Est RX, Rallycross France, 5 Nations BRX, Rallycross LV, RX2e, Lydden Hill