Trailing Maiko Tamm by 19 points before the Nysum round, Ulrik Linnemann will arrive in Buxtehude this weekend for the RallyX season finale with an 11-point lead over the Ford Fiesta driver.
The former Euro RX frontrunner could hardly have imagined a better end-of-season scenario. While many saw Maiko Tamm cruising towards the crown, the Estonian endured the most difficult weekend of his 2025 campaign, scoring just 25 points across the two races in Nysum.
It was an opportunity Linnemann seized with both hands, clawing back a remarkable 30 points on his direct rival in just 48 hours—a reminder that absolutely anything can happen in the RallyX championship.
After finishing third in the final of a rain-soaked Race 1, the Dane struck back just hours later, taking a dominant win in Race 2 and the maximum 30 points on offer.
“The conditions changed constantly during the first day of competition, and on a circuit I know like the back of my hand, that should have worked in my favour,” Ulrik admitted.
“But starting from pole in the final turned out not to be the best option. All day long, as usual, a lot of rubber was laid down on the front row during qualifying, and when the rain came, it quickly became a disaster.”
“When I dropped the clutch, nothing happened. I thought I’d broken a driveshaft, but in reality the wheelspin was so extreme it let my rivals get ahead. Then, on the second lap, I lost my wipers completely and had zero visibility. I had to look out of the side windows just to find my bearings. Thankfully, I know this track by heart. In the end, others made mistakes and I managed to salvage third place. Even though it was ‘only’ third, scoring the most points in Race 1 kept me right on target.”
Despite that frustration, Linnemann bounced back the very next day in the best possible way—by winning on home soil.
“It was frustrating at the time, but I choose to focus on the positives. On Saturday morning, I was 19 points behind Tamm; now I’m only 10 back,” he said on Sunday morning, just before the start of Race 2.
“Clearly, we’re quicker than him here, so the goal is to stay ahead and score as many points as possible to take the fight all the way to Estering.”
A few hours later, Linnemann executed that plan to perfection—snatching the championship lead and celebrating his second win of the 2025 season.
“If I could win the title at Estering, it would be incredible. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. But for now, I need to stay focused, take it one round at a time, enjoy myself and give everything I have. This win is particularly special—not only does it put me at the top of the standings heading into Germany, but it would also be hugely symbolic to take the title two years after destroying my car on this very same circuit.”