For the second time in his RallyX career, Viktor Johansson ended his season as champion, sealing the 2025 title last weekend at the Estering circuit. It was a fitting reward for the driver from Älvsbyn.
Even with Simon Tiger opting to end his campaign back in June, Johansson still had to dig deep to clinch a second RallyX crown.
Despite taking three victories and six podiums since the Riga round, the Mercedes 190 driver found it immensely difficult to shake off the challenge of 2024 Pro Am champion Lucas Gabrielsson. After nine rounds of the RallyX season, Johansson finally edged out his Finnish rival by just eight points.
“It’s an incredible feeling. Honestly, I think this title means even more than the one I won in 2022. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet, but the level of competition this year has been phenomenal. It’s a shame not all the drivers contested the full season, but whether it was in Portugal, the Netherlands, Alvsbyn, or here in Germany, there were always plenty of fast cars and top-level opponents. Over the course of the season, I proved I could be faster than most of them, and that feels really rewarding.”
Looking back, Johansson stressed how much the work carried out during the winter months helped him raise his game in 2025.
“After my 2022 title, followed by two runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2024, we analyzed every season in detail. We really did our homework. This winter, we put everything in place — the car, the setup, my driving — and we arrived this year with a very strong package. It’s satisfying to see that we moved in the right direction on every front. It’s truly been an enjoyable season.”
While Johansson is relishing his achievement, he insists he won’t ease off.
“For now, I’m not entirely sure how I’ll approach the off-season. I’ll probably take a few weeks to analyze the year and identify the areas where I can still improve. It’s not always easy to pinpoint weaknesses when things are going well. But if I had to say, my Saturdays were generally weaker than my Sundays this year. The final round at Buxtehude was the first time I managed to deliver my best Saturday performance of the season. That’s something I’ll need to look into. I don’t know yet whether it’s mental or just down to bad luck, but we’ll analyze it with the clear goal of coming back even stronger next year.”
His duel with Gabrielsson kept the Open 2WD category alive right up to the final weekend, and Johansson admitted he took real satisfaction from overcoming the Toyota Starlet driver’s challenge.
“For me, the turning point of the season came in Denmark at the start of August. In Race 1, I lost the advantage I had in the championship standings, and by the start of the second day, we were tied on points. Lucas dominated the Race 2 qualifiers, but even starting behind him in the semi-final, I managed to beat him and secure pole for the final. From that moment, I knew we were on the right path and that we could go all the way to the title.”
Looking ahead, Johansson sees defending his crown as a huge source of motivation.
“Next season will definitely be even tougher. You can’t rest on your laurels and expect things to be as smooth as this year. We have to keep working, see where we can improve, because the others won’t be sleeping this winter. They’ll come back stronger with the goal of beating me. We’ll need to push hard during the off-season too and make sure we do everything right in the workshop to stay at the top.”