The RallyX North season will enter its decisive phase at Nysum. Saturday’s opening race at the Danish circuit will mark the first of the championship’s final four rounds, with 120 points still available. That is enough to keep Oliver Eriksson’s closest challengers firmly in contention, even though the Swede now holds a healthy lead at the top of the standings.

With 138 points, four podium finishes and two victories from the opening six rounds, Eriksson has so far shown the consistency required to challenge for another RallyX title. The Älvsbyn double-header strengthened his position. Second in Race 1 and victorious in Race 2, the Olsbergs MSE driver collected 56 of the 60 available points. His advantage over Lukas Andersson consequently increased from 17 to 22 points.

Andersson still managed to limit the damage in northern Sweden. Despite transmission problems during qualifying for Race 1, the JC Raceteknik driver won the weekend’s opening final before taking another podium finish the following day. The 51 points he added to his tally allowed him to retain second place with 116. With four podiums and one RallyX North victory, he remains the leader’s closest rival ahead of the trip to Denmark.

Romet Tsirna’s progress has left Andersson’s second place under increasing threat. In his first season at this level of competition, the Estonian has established himself among the championship’s leading contenders. Third with 111 points, he trails Andersson by just five and is on a run of four consecutive podium finishes. His two top-three results at Älvsbyn earned him 48 points and confirmed his ability to compete with the category’s more experienced drivers.

Tsirna may have lost a little ground to Eriksson, who now leads him by 27 points, but he significantly strengthened his hold on third place. Following Honkajoki, only seven points separated him from Adam Öhman. That gap now stands at 25. The consistency displayed by Eriksson, Andersson and Tsirna has allowed the leading trio to pull clear of the rest ahead of the season’s final two double-headers.

Behind them, the battle remains much tighter. Fourth with 86 points, Adam Öhman holds an advantage of just six over Tobias Daarbak. Having moved from Supercar Lites to FC2, the Dane regained ground at Älvsbyn. His 35-point haul lifted him two places to fifth, and he will arrive at Nysum with an opportunity to continue his progress in front of his home crowd.

Emil Naessen was another major mover at the Swedish event. Despite his Race 2 campaign ending prematurely, he added 30 points to his tally and climbed from 12th to sixth. With 53 points, however, he still trails Daarbak by 27.

Oliver Eriksson will arrive at Nysum leading the championship, but cannot afford simply to manage his advantage. Sixty points will be available over the Danish weekend alone. With Andersson having already shown that he can turn a difficult race into victory, and Tsirna finishing on the podium in each of the last four rounds, the leader will need to maintain the consistency that has allowed him to build his advantage. Nysum will show whether Eriksson can head to the Estering with an even stronger lead or whether his two closest challengers can tighten up the title fight.

Championship standings: 1. Oliver Eriksson, 138 points; 2. Lukas Andersson, 116; 3. Romet Tsirna, 111; 4. Adam Öhman, 86; 5. Tobias Daarbak, 80…