- Höljes RX pace-setters boast glittering career résumés
- Eight major titles between nine Swedish podium stars
- Stage set for IndyCar heavyweights to test their mettle
Just one glance at the above photograph showing the nine RallyX on Ice podium-finishers from Höljes in Sweden last weekend tells you all you need to know about the calibre of the hugely popular winter series – six of them are major international or national rallycross champions, and a seventh a multiple race-winner at the pinnacle of the sport.
Let’s start with Kevin Eriksson – winner in the headlining Supercar Lites category on home soil five days ago. The Swede was RX Lites Champion in 2014, while his younger brother Oliver – who finished third at Höljes – lifted the GRC Lites laurels the following year.
Moving onto the supporting RX Academy on Ice, winner Jesse Kallio was the 2014 Finnish Rallycross Champion, with compatriot Joni Wiman – runner-up last weekend – progressing from GRC Lites Champion in 2014 to GRC Champion outright 12 months later.
In Speedcar Xtreme, finally – for potent 312kg, 150bhp crosskarts – the rostrum was monopolised by a trio of big names. 2016 FIA European Rallycross Champion and 2015 RX Lites Champion Kevin Hansen mounted the top step, with 2015 Finnish Rallycross Champion Niclas Grönholm sealing the runner-up spoils. Although not a champion in his own right in the discipline, third-placed Timmy Hansen finished second overall in the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2015 and is five times a race-winner at the highest level.
Similarly in the field at Höljes were reigning RX2 International Series and GRC Lites Champion Cyril Raymond – a podium-finisher in the Supercar Lites class in the Östersund curtain-raiser – 2014 FIA European Rallycross Champion Robin Larsson, 2017 MSA British Rallycross Champion Nathan Heathcote, 2016 French Rallycross Champion Firmin Caddedu and 2015 GRC Lites championship runner-up Austin Cindric.
And that’s not even to mention the upcoming appearance of defending Verizon IndyCar Series Champion Josef Newgarden and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves at Ål and Gol respectively…
“I think the standard of drivers that we have attracted to compete in RallyX on Ice underscores that this is unquestionably the place to be for a pre-season winter warm-up,” affirmed Olsbergs MSE CEO Andreas Eriksson, the man behind the initiative. “It is, quite simply, a hotbed of promising young talent in the sport, and the fact that seven of the nine podium-finishers at Höljes had already achieved significant success in other series augurs extremely well for the summer season ahead.
“In the meantime, of course, we still have the Norwegian events to go at Ål and Gol, and it will be fascinating to see how our two IndyCar heavyweights fare against some of the most exciting rallycross drivers of the current generation. It’s going to be unmissable!”
Interested journalists and photographers seeking media accreditation for RallyX on Ice events should contact RallyX on Ice Media Officer Russell Atkins (russell.atkins@mpacreative.com / +44 (0) 7725 223288).
All four rounds of RallyX on Ice will be livestreamed by the world’s biggest digital motorsport platform, motorsport.com via its Motorsport TV online channel.
2018 RallyX on Ice Calendar
February 3 Östersund, Sweden
February 10 Höljes, Sweden
February 25 Ål, Norway
March 3 Gol, Norway
