RallyX 2022 begins with a bang at Höljes as Kristoffersson takes double Supercar win

The opening weekend of the RallyX 2022 season delivered thrilling action across the two first rounds of the campaign at the legendary Höljes Circuit in Sweden, and it was reigning RallyX Supercar Champion Johan Kristoffersson who claimed back-to-back wins.

Kristoffersson didn’t have things all his own way though at Höljes and it was a tough fight for the podium places through all of the Rally X categories.

GRX driver Niclas Grönholm set the pace early in qualifying in the Supercar class in round one, but it was JC Raceteknik’s Sondre Evjen who claimed pole for the final, after Kristoffersson beat Grönholm in the semi-finals. Kristoffersson took the lead of the final at the first corner, followed by Evjen, as EKS’ Mattias Ekström hit the wall on the outside of the circuit at turn two.

SET Promotion’s Anton Marklund took his joker on lap one and closed down Kristoffersson, Marklund taking the lead on the final lap when his compatriot took his joker, but a hard landing for Marklund’s Hyundai i20 on the biggest jump of the final lap meant broken steering, and Kristoffersson took the win. Marklund finished second, with Evjen third.

In the Supercar final in round two, Kristoffersson led from the front and held off a strong challenge from Ekström to take his second win of the weekend. EKS’ Enzo Ide climbed from row three on the grid to be third on lap one, and took his joker on lap two to defend his position from TBRX’s Thomas Bryntesson and Yellow Squad’s Yury Belevskiy behind. Ide maintained his position, and finished third behind his EKS team mate Ekström. Gronhölm retired from the final on the opening lap with technical problems.

In the Supercar Lites class, Eriksson brothers Kevin and Oliver returned to the category, and took a win each across the two rounds. Kevin Eriksson twice qualified on pole position for the final and took the early lead on Saturday. He lost out to Simon Olofsson on the final lap after taking his joker, but when Olofsson made a mistake in the final corner, Eriksson pounced to take the win, leading home Olofsson and Martin Enlund to complete the podium.

On Sunday in round two, it was Oliver Eriksson from the second row of the final who made the best launch to squeeze between his brother and Enlund in the run to the first corner, and seize the lead. The younger of the two brothers pushed hard throughout the race to extend his advantage, and maintained his led after taking his joker on lap four. Martin Enlund finished second with Kevin Eriksson third. Ole Henry Steinsholt starred on his debut RallyX Lites weekend with fourth in the final in round two.

In Crosscar, the opening final of the season was won by Norwegian Thomas Eek Murstad, ahead of Finnish driver Pasi Penttinen and Swede Patrick Hallberg. Having been disqualified from the round one final, Elias Svensson fought back to win the final in round two on Sunday, in front of Oskar Andersson and Hallberg. Murstad leads the standings.

Finnish driver Lauri Halonen claimed a maiden victory in the Crosscar Junior category in round one, and leads the points heading to his home circuit at Kouvola in Finland for the next instalment of RallyX. Lukas Andersson finished second in round one, while Karl Peder Nordstrand was third. Mikael Uitto made it a successful weekend for the Finns by winning the round two final, with Andersson and Joakim Lund Olander completing the podium.

Jonas Dalseth Jacobsen and his Volkswagen Polo dominated in the Open 2WD class, claiming a pair of clean sweeps to storm into the championship lead. It was an all Norwegian affair at the front of the field, with Simen Engsvik finishing second in round one with his Volkswagen Polo, and Markus Johannessen driving his Volvo 240 to third. The pair swapped places in the finishing-order in round two.

 

Make sure to watch ALL of the action for FREE on the RallyX YouTube Channel.

The next two rounds of RallyX take place at Kouvola, Finland [May 28 – 29]. Keep an eye on the RallyX channels in the coming days for news of the entry list.