After turning heads last season with a standout victory at Kouvola and four podium finishes in his debut year at the Open 4WD/Supercar level, Filip Martinsson is ready to get back in the game. The Swedish driver will launch his 2025 RallyX North campaign this Friday on the Riga circuit.
Behind the wheel of a Renault Clio 3 that few would have bet on, the three-time Swedish Rallycross champion defied expectations last year. It’s a level of performance he now hopes to confirm over the coming weeks.

Forced to sit out the Montalegre and Valkenswaard rounds and watch from his TV screen, Martinsson returns to action with determination as he begins his second consecutive RallyX program.

“Of course, we would have loved to be on the grid for the first two events of the year, but our budget simply didn’t allow for that kind of travel,” Martinsson explains.

“That’s why we decided to focus exclusively on the Northern championship this season, with a clear goal of competing in every round. We spent the winter rebuilding the car and only finished it in the past few days at our workshop — all while keeping an eye on RallyX from a distance.”

With three different winners in the opening four races of the 2025 season, Martinsson expects the next few weeks to be intense and highly competitive.

“I think we’re coming into this championship fairly well prepared. We managed to get in some testing at Höljes before heading to Riga, and the feeling was good. So I’m hopeful we can mix it up with the top contenders.”

“I expect a tough season, but we saw at the end of last year that we were already in the fight, keeping pace with drivers like Ulrik Linnemann and Peter Hedström. In fact, during the Swedish championship final at the end of August in Arvika, we were even faster than Peter and his Peugeot 208 in terms of pure speed.”

“We know that when reliability is on our side, we have the potential to fight for the top spots. So I’m hoping to turn those expectations into results this year. We’ve made a few changes to the car, and if everything works as planned, I’m confident we can challenge the front-runners.”