The first day of competition at Älvsbyn proved to be a day of rare intensity in all categories, with some completely unprecedented twists and turns.
Open 4WD Pro // Maiko Tamm breaks new ground
Despite qualifying heats dominated by Mats Öhman ahead of Martin Enlund and Maiko Tamm, it was the latter who took victory in Race 1 at Älvsbyn on Saturday.
Maiko Tamm, who won the Pro-Am championship last season, was the fourth different driver in the five races this year to take the top step of the podium ahead of Oliver and Kevin Eriksson, both in the new FC2s.
On Saturday evening, Maiko Tamm became the 17th driver in history to add his name to the list of RallyX championship winners.
Only fifth in the overall standings before this weekend, Maiko Tamm has moved up three places in the championship, which is still dominated by Joni Turpeinen.
However, the Finnish driver’s lead melted away like snow in the sun on Saturday. With a 23-point deficit heading into Älvsbyn, the TT Motorsport driver enters the second day of competition only eight points behind the RallyX leader.
Open 4WD Pro-Am // Joni Turpeinen keeps on going
Despite qualifying four times in a row for a final in the Pro category, Joni Turpeinen was unable to continue his run at Älvsbyn and was eliminated in the semi-finals.
Failing to shine in the Pro class, the 15-year-old Finn did not miss the opportunity to take his revenge in the Pro-Am category, taking his second consecutive win of the season ahead of Mats Öhman and Martin Enlund.
Turpeinen continues to lead the championship in both the Pro and Pro-Am categories, where he holds a four-point lead over a particularly impressive Martin Enlund.
Supercar Lites // The favourites in trouble
While the qualifying heats saw championship leader Lukas Andersson take control of the race by winning the intermediate classification ahead of Simon Olofsson and Tobias Daarbak, who found a way to dominate Casper Jansson, the final stages were a series of stunning twists and turns.
Simon Olofsson, who was looking for big points this weekend after his problems in the Tierp 2 race, was excluded from his semi-final after a collision that ended the chances of Frenchman Julien Meunier, while wheel-to-wheel contact between Casper Jansson and Lukas Andersson on the first corner of the final ultimately ended the ambitions of the two Swedes, who were soon forced to retire.
The surprise of the day came from Norway’s Eirik Hesla Berget. First disqualified from his semi-final after a tough argument with the young Anton Söderhölm, the STS RX driver was finally allowed to compete in the ultimate Top 6 of the first day of racing.
It was a gamble that paid off, as this re-qualification allowed Eirik Berget to take his first career win in the Supercar Lites category. Tobias Daarbak, who led the final until the final lap, had to settle for second place, while Ida Törnhult took her first podium in the RallyX championship.
In the overall standings, Lukas Andersson gained a further four points on Casper Jansson and will go into the second day of racing with a 13-point advantage over the Team OMSE driver.
Meanwhile, Tobias Daarbak’s third podium finish in five races puts him in sole possession of third place in the championship, ahead of Simon Olofsson and Julien Meunier.
Open 2WD // Simon Tiger goes from strength to strength
While Linus Westman made life difficult for the reigning Open 2WD championship leader by ending his run of four consecutive intermediate wins, Simon Tiger took his revenge in the final with his fourth win in five races.
After the best start in the final, Simon Tiger was almost overtaken by Linus Westman halfway through the race, but his attempt to overtake was unsuccessful.
However, Tiger took the opportunity to score his fourth win of the season ahead of Adam Ohman and Rasmus Berggren, with Kenneth Konge finishing P4.
In the overall standings, Simon Tiger now has a 24-point lead over Viktor Johansson, while Rasmus Berggren and Kenneth Konge are neck-and-neck for third place, with just two points separating the two drivers.
CrossCar // Murstad continues to win, successful rescue for Baldins…
If all the categories in the RallyX championship were marked by unexpected twists and turns, CrossCar was no different.
Second in the intermediate standings behind Romet Tsirna, Elias Svensson was unable to escape the semi-final trap due to an engine failure and a fire on the Casmat chassis, which was quickly brought under control by the marshals.
A situation that helped Thomas Eek Murstad. With his second victory in three races, ahead of Joonatan Ylilammi and Ronalds Baldins, the Norwegian continued his run of three consecutive podium finishes and moved to within one point of the overall lead shared by Elias Svensson and Ronalds Baldins.
One thing is for sure, Ronalds Baldins had a very tough Saturday at Älvsbyn. After finishing 12th in the intermediate classification and almost missing out on the semi-final, the Latvian managed to qualify for the final for the fifth time in a row and to finish on the podium for the fourth time in five races contested.
Fourth in the final ahead of Pace Motorsport team-mates Pasi Penttinen and Romet Tsirna, Jimmie Osterberg took advantage of his second qualification for a final in 2024 to move up from 11th to 9th in the standings.
Penttinen, who was 20th overall before Älvsbyn, is now 13th in the championship, while Tsirna remains fifth.
Junior CrossCar // Hampus Hagstrom regains lead from Olliver Sollie
Since the start of the championship, Hampus Hagstrom has not stopped shining. The Swedish driver of the Hedstrom Motorsport team has won the intermediate classification five times in a row since the first round of the 2024 season.
However, these performances have not been enough to dampen the appetite of Olliver Sollie.
Indeed, while Hagstrom won Race 1 at Tierp, Sollie went on to claim the top step of the podium on three successive occasions.
Hampus Hagstrom was delighted to put an end to this run of bad luck on Saturday, winning the final ahead of Carl Svedlund and Pauli Turpeinen to take the championship lead from Olliver Sollie by six points.
While JC Raceteknik driver Carl Svedlund took his first podium of the season and moved up from ninth to sixth in the overall standings, Turpeinen took advantage of Niko Kinnunen’s early retirement in the semi-finals to take third place in the championship.
