While the fight at the top in the RallyX Nordic presented by Cooper Tires Supercar class couldn’t be much closer with Oliver Solberg and Thomas Bryntesson tied on points with two events remaining, over in Supercar Lites there is one man that could very well be crowned champion in Kouvola this weekend.
Guillaume De Ridder has been the star performer in Lites this season, with three wins from four events so far this year – including two maximum scores – allowing him to pull a sizeable margin over his opposition.
Dovetailing his commitments in RX2 where he is battling Olsbergs MSE team-mate Oliver Eriksson for the championship, De Ridder could give himself a boost this weekend should he score the points he needs to put the RallyX Nordic Supercar Lites title out of his rivals’ reach.
Currently 25 points ahead of JC Raceteknik’s Ben-Philip Gundersen, should De Ridder extend that advantage over the Norwegian to 31 points by the weekend’s conclusion he will be champion. Regardless, the Belgian is trying not to focus too much on the mathematics.
“I am thinking about it but I think I will focus on the races as I have done previously, which has worked well so far,” he said. “I will try to keep the same approach. If I want to win the title I have to win the event and Gundersen can’t be second all the time, so there are too many calculations. Six points to be sure.”
Reflecting on the prospect of claiming the title with an event to go, De Ridder insists despite his three victories it has been a challenge for him.
“It will be my first international title in rallycross, which is cool and it will mean a lot to me. It is a big achievement. It is not easy at all and all the competitors here ensure it is a very high level.”
Following a miscommunication in Nysum that led to De Ridder missing his Joker lap and being excluded during the semi-finals, De Ridder says provisions have been taken to ensure it doesn’t occur again.
“Firstly, I will look at the panel myself. Anything can happen, we can all make mistakes and I can do my bit to help. On top of that we’re adding a second spotter to make sure we don’t miss it again.”
