The favourites for the Tierp event came out on top with three convincing wins for Johan Kristoffersson in Open 4WD, Lukas Andersson in Supercar Lites and reigning Open 2WD champion Simon Tiger.
Game, set and match for Johan Kristoffersson
Unveiled in the Tierp paddock on Thursday evening, the two new KMS VW Polo cars had their work cut out for them. While Tommy Kristoffersson made it “loud and clear” that the main objective of the weekend was to gain some useful kilometres, his two drivers were more concerned with securing an “easy” one-two finish for him.
With the FC2s in full development and a host of young talent having arrived in the Supercar arena during the off-season, the VW Polo KMS and its Kristoffersson/Veiby duo, with their obvious wealth of experience, certainly had a good head start.
For his part, the six-time World Champion served a classic menu. Appetizer, main course, dessert, cigar and bill. Untouchable from the start of the first free practice session until the final, which he won ahead of team-mate Ole-Christian Veiby, the Swede gave a performance of which only he knows the secret. Meanwhile, OCV kept pace with JK1.
Third-placed Filip Martinsson caused a surprise. A key figure in the Swedish national championship thanks to a string of titles in no less than three different categories, the driver from the Göteborg region struck hard from the outset at the wheel of his ex-Andreas Carlsson Renault Clio.
Above all, this final highlighted the emergence of the new generation. Fourth place went to Supercar Lites graduate Martin Enlund ahead of the sensation of the weekend, Joni Turpeinen.
The 15-year-old Finn showed some outstanding skills in what was only his first official race in the category. With Jens Hvaal in a fine sixth place, the RallyX championship continues to prove its ability to produce top-class talent.
Supercar Lites: Lukas Andersson knows the formula
Last year, the former CrossCar Junior driver upset the odds by winning the first two races of the 2023 season at the age of just 15.
The JC Raceteknik driver did not fail to recall his success with a fourth career victory ahead of Casper Jansson and two-time defending champion Simon Olofsson.
Of course, Casper Jansson was not to be outdone, setting the fastest time on three occasions from Q1 to Q3, but Lukas Andersson was more effective in the final.
At the end of this first day of racing, Casper Jansson and Lukas Andersson are tied in the overall championship standings with 27 points each, while Simon Olofsson is just two points behind the two co-leaders.
Behind them, the category’s rookies have made their mark. From Marceau Launay (4th) to Tobias Daarbak (5th) and Julien Meunier (6th), the newcomers did the job.. While the French drivers share fourth place in the overall standings with 19 points each, the Danish driver is just four points behind in fifth place.
Simon Tiger takes care of business…
While the Open 2WD category promises to attract many more competitors in the coming weeks, this Tierp race was not filled to capacity.
However, as always, Simon Tiger made the most of this first event of the 2024 season to take maximum points. Unbeaten in Friday’s rally sprint, the two-time RallyX champion finished ahead of the trio of Viktor Johansson, Kenneth Konge and Rasmus Berggren, who all share third place in the overall standings with 18 points each.
On Sunday, however, the event will be completely different with a return to the rallycross format. Erik Lidman (5th) and Tomi Rakkolainen (6th) will try to upset the hierarchy established during the first day of racing.
