Respectively fourth and third overall in the CrossCar and CrossCar Junior categories prior to this seventh round of the season, Elias Svensson and Mikael Uitto made the most of the Grenland stopover to revive their hopes of the 2023 title.
Svensson sets the tone ahead of Holjes
Elias Svensson’s speed had already been widely noticed last season in Holjes, but he didn’t hesitate to send a strong message to his rivals when the RallyX championship came through Norway.
With three victories in qualifying, Elias Svensson was simply irresistible on the Grenland Motorsenter track. Winner of the intermediate classification ahead of his direct rivals Thomas Eek Murstad and Sebastian Enholm, the Swedish driver had no trouble in securing his sixth qualification for a final in seven races contested, and his second victory of the 2023 season.
As the tension for the championship increased, the other favourites did not disappoint. Thomas Eek Murstad and Sebastian Enholm were unable to make Elias Svensson doubt his ability, but were able to demonstrate their consistency by taking the second and third steps of the podium respectively.
While Sebastian Enholm remains class leader ahead of the final round of the championship in Holjes, the class’s strongest contenders are preparing for the final showdown of the 2023 season in a tight spot, with the Speedcar driver now just two and five points clear of the Eek Murstad/Svensson duo.
While Riku Huuhka managed to secure his third qualification for a final race this season, the Finn had to be content with sixth place, trailing behind Norwegian championship regular Markus Gimle Enger.
Jimmie Osterberg, however, was the highlight of the weekend. Out of the Top 10 in Q1, the LifeLive driver came very close to missing out on the finals, finishing 18th in the intermediate classification. But this was not enough to prevent the Swede from making a stunning comeback. In addition to his third consecutive qualification for a final, Jimmie Osterberg rounded off his weekend with an unexpected fourth place.
Junior CrossCar: Mikael Uitto smiles again
After a particularly difficult stage in Kouvola, with two consecutive eliminations in the semi-finals, Mikael Uitto enjoyed a one-way weekend at the Grenland Motorsenter.
Winner of all four qualifying heats, the 15-year-old Finnish driver was quite simply on another planet in Norway. With his third win of the 2023 season, Uitto closed the gap on the overall championship standings and is now just four points behind Joonatan Ylilammi in first place.
Slowed by a few mechanical problems in qualifying, Ylilammi was able to turn around a momentum that wasn’t looking so good for him. Fourth in the intermediate classification before the start of Q4, a second fastest time in the final qualifying session enabled him to claim second place in the Junior class ahead of the finals.
Although he failed to win, Ylilammi took advantage of the final to take second place on the podium ahead of Lauri Halonen. A performance which still makes him the only driver in the Junior championship to have secured seven podiums in as many events contested this season.
Behind the impressive Finnish front runners, some others confirmed their progression. This is particularly true of Sweden’s Hampus Hagstrom. Having already qualified for a final in Race 2 at Tierp, the son of the former multiple winner of the Holjes round of the Division 2 Group N European Rallycross Championship (3 consecutive victories between 2005 and 2007 – editor’s note) was at it again.
Third in the intermediate standings, he just missed out on his first podium finish by taking fourth place in the final ahead of the very consistent Olliver Tveitten-Sollie, while Pontus Oskarsson finished last. Indeed, Tveitten-Sollie secured his fifth final qualification of the 2023 season in Grenland, consolidating his fourth place in the overall standings ahead of Viktor Kristensson.
Last but not least, another Swede, Pontus Oskarsson, stepped up to the top. Only 17th in the championship prior to Grenland, Oskarsson proved that he’s got what it takes. Able to set the second fastest time in Q2, his 12th-place finish in the intermediate classification established at the end of qualifying did not prevent him from signing his second consecutive qualification for a final after the one he achieved in Race 2 at Kouvola last May.
