JK double top in Riga. Kalliokoski win sets up Finnish final fight. Belevskiy’s French awayday.

2 September / The organiser of the Portuguese World RX event reveals the layout of the new Joker Lap section at Montalegre. Removing the addition al track loop from turn one, Montalegre has constructed a new gravel-surfaced joker between turns two and five. The old Joker will now be used as the first corner of the track, extending the lap length a little.

3 September / Round two of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place in Riga, the first day of a double-header weekend for the newly electrified championship. Johan Kristoffersson (VW) eventually comes out on top, but as in round one, the competition was stiff and the new cars quite evenly matched. At the end of the first day Kristoffersson was flanked on the podium by the Hansen brothers, Kevin placing second ahead of Timmy. OC Veiby and Gustav Bergstrom also made it to the main event, the latter having a stellar run and showing great form in only his second start. The accompanying RX2e and Euro RX1 championships each had a traditional single event over two days in Riga.

3 September / The penultimate round of the Finnish Rallicross SM championship took place at Hyvinkaa where Jere Kalliokoski (Ford Fiesta) continued his fight back in the series after missing round two. Setting things up for a titanic battle in the final round at Honkajoki, Kalliokoski bagged his second straight maximum score on a daye when series leader Mika Liimatainen, and round one winner Henri Haapamaki both failed to make it to the final. Rasmus Tuominen (Hyundai) was second on his return to Supercar and first start in this car, while Antti Suutarinen placed third in another strong performance with his Volvo S40. In the SRC (Supernational) class Olli Lahti (Toyota Corolla) took second place and clinched the championship. With two wins and two second places from the first four rounds, Lahti enters the final round as champion-elect. Ville Mikonen (BMW) won the event. There was also a new champion in the Autokross class where Jere Tikka (Toyota MR2) bagged his fourth win in four events at put the crown beyond the reach of his rivals. The new V1600 class continued to be well supported and very competitive, Antti-Miko Solas taking his first win and leading home title favourites Jesse Lammi and Simo Tuunanen who jointly lead the series.

4 September / In round three of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Kevin Hansen again leads the challenge to champion Johan Kristoffersson but again loses out at the last as Kristoffersson takes his third win in as many starts. OC Veiby (VW) came through to take third place, the pack again evenly matched.

In RX2e Viktor Vranckx suffered his first setbacks of the year, also displayed his resilience by battling his way to the final and climbing on to the podium in third place. Isak Sjokvist and Patrick O’Donovan made the most of Vranckx’s struggles and dominated the event, O’Donovan eventually coming out on top to bag his first FIA event victory. Young Latvian Roberts Vitols also starred in the class on his first start in an electric car.

Norwegian Sondre Evjen grabbed his first Euro RX win in a fine battle with championship leader Anton Marklund. The battle lost Janis Baumanis in the progression races when the turbo on his Peugeot 208 failed, much to the disappointment of the partisan home crowd. Enzo Ide was fast throughout and placed third in the final.

4 September / For the first time since 2012 the French Rallycross Championship visited Loheac. 2021 European Champion Andreas Bakkerud was present at the wheel of the ESmotorsport Skoda he raced last year, local French backers aboard for outing while Yury Belevskiy continued his mix and match season outside of the FIA championships and put his name among those to have won Loheac. Bakkerud slapped down in the first heat after a misunderstanding about the local jump start regs that led to his disqualification. His fight back was strong and having made the semi-finals, where he finished second, he then gave Belevskiy a fair run to place second. French champion Samuel Peu (Peugeot 208) was best of the home racers as Fabien Pailler – second qualifier and winner of semi-final two – again ran out of luck and placed eighth with a puncture. David Bouet finally got victory for his new Renault Clio in Super1600, leading home Anthony Paillardon (Audi A1) and Jimmy Terpereau who continues to lead the championship. Local boy Tom Le Jossec won the Junior championship event on home turf, his fourth victory from six events maintaining the championship lead. In his first event of any kind, Mathys Delecour (16) placed ninth under the watchful eye of his father, Francois. Backing up her win at Kerlabo, Amme Chalvin won again in the Coupe Feminine. Nicolas Beaucle took the Division Three after a dominant win with his Merecedes A Class while Tony Bardeau (Honda Civic) picked up the pieces in Division Four where championship favourites Anthony Mauduit (Renault Clio) rolled and Jean-Francois Blaise (Renault Clio) recovered from a poor qualifying run to finish fourth.

4 September / RX Portugal reconvened at Macao Verde Horizonte after a short summer break. Tiago Alexandre was the lone Supercar driver in his Peugeot 208. Super1600 remains the primary class in the championship but eight starters was below par for this event. Mario Barbosa was again the class of the pack in his Citroen Saxo and was joined on the podium by brothers Jorge and Joaquim Machado. Kartcross was the largest single class in the event and the usual suspects were at the sharp end, Alexandre Borges (Semog Bravo) taking the win ahead of Sergio Castro (ASK Evo) and Jorge Gonzaga (LBS RX01). Guilherme Matos (Semog Bravo) topped the Junior Kartcross field while the Junior saloon racers were led home by Duarte Camelo (Peugeot 106). Pedro Rocha (Citroen Saxo) was best of the National 1600 field and Adao Pinto (Opel Astra) won in National two-wheel drive.

4 September / Marek Joura (Mitsubishi Mirage) was the winner when the Austrian, Czech and CEZ championships came together at Melk in Austria. The Czech driver’s first win at this level came at the expense of CEZ favourites Ales Fucik (VW Polo) and defending champion Zbigniew Staniszewski (Ford Fiesta) who placed second and third. Staniszewski was top qualifier and won semi-final one. Fucik won semi two but come the final it was Joura, who had been fastest in Q1, who took the honours. It was another Czech racer, Libor Tejes (Audi A1) who topped the five-car Super1600 field. In the STC classes entry levels were good and top of the +2000 class was UK-based Pole Slawomir Woloch (BMW E92). Roman Castoral (Opel Astra) returned to the top of the -2000 category and Konrad Gryz (Peugeot 106) won the -1600 final. There were separate National 1600 classes for Austrian and Czech drivers, Martin Gradwohl (Citroen Saxo) winning the former while Jiri Sterba (VW Polo) was best of the visiting Czech racers.

This weekend / The season is coming to an end in many countries and this weekend brings the final round of Norway’s NM Rallycross, Grenland the scene for the title deciders. The Latvian-Lithuanian Championship also reaches its final round which will take place at Bikernieki. The Hungarian championship returns to Monorierdo for the second visit of the year to the new venue.

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