Kevin Eriksson may not have been rewarded for his efforts at Valkenswaard in late April despite showing front-running pace, but the OMSE driver is already looking forward to the anticipated battle between Niclas Grönholm and Timmy Hansen at Tierp Arena this weekend.
A clear reminder that speed alone is not always enough in rallycross, Eriksson certainly pushed hard against the stopwatch in the Netherlands, but luck was not exactly on his side.
After topping the first two free practice sessions in Race 1, the Swede had to settle for fourth in the intermediate standings before finishing sixth in the final. The following day, after setting the fastest time in warm-up and securing second place after qualifying, his run came to an end in the semi-finals.
Despite leaving the Dutch weekend without a standout result, Eriksson preferred to focus on the feeling he rediscovered behind the wheel of his Supercar and on the strength of the RallyX field.
“Overall, the feeling was pretty positive. In the second race, I really felt I was capable of fighting for the win. In the first race, we clearly had the pace over one lap, but a few mistakes, including several contacts with the track markers, proved very costly and put us in difficult situations. In the end, it just didn’t come together.”
“On Sunday, I was especially motivated. Right from practice, we managed to set a very strong lap time, six or seven tenths clear of the second-fastest driver. Q1 went perfectly, but the starts in Q2 and Q3 were much more complicated and Oliver [Eriksson] immediately took advantage.”
While Eriksson appeared to have the pace required to reach another final, a series of setbacks ultimately brought his weekend to a premature end in the semi-finals.
“In the semi-final, the feeling was still very good, but I started to lose a little power on the final lap, probably linked to the ALS. Then I misjudged my approach into the hairpin. I almost lost the car completely, but still managed to catch it. When I tried to get going again, Lukas Andersson hit the front-right corner and that was it. In the end, it all came down to tiny margins.”
Beyond the sporting frustration, the Swede mainly took away the sheer enjoyment he found in a championship whose depth has continued to grow since the start of the season.
“Despite everything, I really enjoyed Valkenswaard. It had been a very long time since I had that much fun behind the wheel of a race car. My family, my children and my partner were there, so I really wanted to win, especially that day. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
Eriksson is also particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of seeing an even stronger field at Tierp this weekend, with Timmy Hansen joining Niclas Grönholm on the grid.
“It was also really nice to be back on track with Niclas Grönholm after all this time. With Timmy Hansen coming in for the Tierp event, it should make for a very interesting contest. We saw at Valkenswaard that the level was already extremely high and the gaps were very small. I know it will be the same this weekend at Tierp.”
Although he will not be racing himself this weekend, Eriksson will remain heavily involved in the organisation of the event at Tierp Arena.
“As far as the Tierp event is concerned, it’s a huge one for us and I have a lot of other responsibilities to handle at the same time. It’s our own event, with several disciplines running alongside RallyX, including the Swedish Drift Championship and a Folkrace event.”
“Personally, I would obviously have loved to be behind the wheel, but I’ll have plenty to keep me busy while Timmy Hansen takes over my car. Still, I won’t hide the fact that the desire is strong and it’s more than likely that I could return later in the season once things calm down a little. For now, I’m really looking forward to the duel between Grönholm and Hansen against the other frontrunners in the RallyX Championship.”