Second in the intermediate classification after qualifying, Kevin Eriksson managed to grab his second victory of the 2023 season at the wheel of the Honda Civic.
Starting from pole position, a puncture in the first lap put an end to Johan Kristoffersson’s hopes. However, the KMS driver seemed to have put it all together by winning all three qualifying heats, but just like race 2 of Nysum, which also ended with a retirement, luck was not on the side of the RallyX 2021 champion.
Third overall, Yury Belevskiy followed the same path as Johan Kristoffersson, suffering a double puncture on the second lap.
Gustav Bergström, who returned to action this weekend in the Hedström Motorsport Hyundai i20, did not miss the opportunity to make a strong impression. Third in the intermediate classification, the FIA World Championship driver came very close to his first career Rallycross victory.
Leading the race after Johan Kristoffersson’s retirement, the Swede missed the opportunity to win by delaying his Joker Lap until the last lap. Kevin Eriksson took advantage of this opportunity to become the first driver of the 2023 season to reach the milestone of two victories, while Bergstrom had to accept the second step of the podium.
Third place went to Viktor Vranckx in his 100% electric ZEROID. The young Belgian driver was consistent in qualifying and scored his first career podium in RallyX, while maintaining his lead in the Pro-Am standings with a ten-point advantage over Estonian driver Maiko Tamm.
In the overall championship standings, Johan Kristoffersson still leads the Supercar class by one point over Kevin Eriksson.
Supercar Lites: Lukas Andersson at the top
Double winner of the Nysum stage at the end of April, Lukas Andersson had to face a difficult start on Saturday during the first race of the weekend in Tierp. Forced to retire in the final, the 15 year old Swede even lost the overall lead to Simon Olofsson.
Nevertheless, the former CrossCar junior champion started his second day of racing at a very different pace. Only sixth in Q1, the JC Raceteknik driver took advantage of his pole position at the start of Q2 to set the absolute best time.
A pole position that he will not let go anymore. Winner of Q3, Lukas Andersson locked up first place in the intermediate classification ahead of Simon Olofsson and Casper Jansson before taking his third success of the year in four races.
Simon Olofsson had to settle for a lowly fifth place after a collision with Martin Ekspjuth, while Martin Enlund recovered from a fourth place qualifying session to take his second podium of the weekend, crossing the finish line in second place just ahead of Isak Sjokvist.
While Lukas Andersson regains the top spot in the overall standings, the situation in the championship is more than intense as the Supercar Lites rookie is only 3 and 13 points ahead of Simon Olofsson and Martin Enlund respectively.
Open 2WD: Marcus Norman back to winning ways
In a day marked by all kinds of twists and turns, Marcus Norman managed to take his first win of the season ahead of championship leader Viktor Johansson and former two-time European Rallycross champion Derek Tohill.
CrossCar: Elias Svensson moves up a gear
Forced to retire the previous day in the final, Elias Svensson got down to business on Sunday. Usually used to a roller coaster ride in qualifying, the Swede did not fall into the same traps as in the first three races of the championship.
Svensson set the fastest time in Q1 and Q3 and won qualifying for the first time this season, beating Ronalds Baldins and the very consistent Sebastian Heum, while championship leader Thomas Eek Murstad joined Rasmus Persson in the top 5.
On a track where pole position plays a key role, Svensson took the benefit of his advantage to sign his first success of the year ahead of Baldins and Murstad. Winner of race 1, Robin Grana confirmed his current form by taking fourth place ahead of Sebastian Heum and Rasmus Persson.
By signing his second podium of the season, Murstad keeps his leader’s seat while Heum and Svensson go up in the hierarchy by taking positions 2 and 3. No luck for Riku Huuhka, however. Still third overall on Sunday morning, a spectacular crash in Q3 and an elimination in the semi-final made him lose two positions.
The same happened to Sebastian Enholm. Although he was co-leader in the overall standings with Murstad before the start of race 2, a ninth place finish in qualifying and an elimination in the semi-final meant that he dropped three places in the overall standings.
CrossCar Junior: Lauri Halonen doesn’t let his chance slip away
After making his mark in Race 1 by winning his second race of the season and extending his advantage over his two closest rivals Lauri Halonen and Joonathan Ylilammi to 13 points, 2022 champion Mikael Utitto was unable to claim a third consecutive victory on Sunday.
Forced to retire in Q2, Uitto ended his qualifying session in third place behind the Halonen/Ylilammi duo, despite two wins from three qualifying heats.
While Lauri Halonen and Joonathan Ylilammi managed to score their fourth consecutive podium of the season by crossing the finish line in positions 1 and 2, Mikael Uitto failed to finish fourth in the final behind Joni Turpeinen.
Turpeinen, who has been a consistent performer since the start of the championship, took advantage of his fourth consecutive final appearance to claim his first podium of the season.
Hampus Hagstrom, who qualified for the final for the first time this year, took fifth place, while Oliver Sollie was forced to retire.
