Espen Isaksætre reignited the title fight by winning the opening race of the weekend at Nysum. Claiming his second victory of the season, the Norwegian cut nine points from Carl Svedlund’s championship lead, reducing the gap at the top of the provisional standings from 14 points to just five.

Already victorious in the opening race at Älvsbyn, Isaksætre added a second win to his tally after a day that was far from straightforward. After winning Q1, the Norwegian could only manage 17th and fifth in the next two qualifying sessions. Nevertheless, he secured 13 points from qualifying after finishing fourth in the intermediate standings.

“Of course I’m very happy. We were quick right from the start of the event. I made a mistake in Q2, and then something happened in the first corner of Q3 that damaged the right-hand suspension. I immediately felt that the car wasn’t working properly anymore.”

After winning his semi-final, Isaksætre made the perfect start to the final, seized the lead and went on to take victory in a time of 3:48.769. With six points collected in the semi-final and a further eight in the final, he finished the day with 27 of the 30 points available.

“I got a really good start in the final and the pace was very strong. I felt like I was in the right rhythm throughout the race. Overall, it’s been a really good day. Now we have to stay focused because there’s still Sunday’s race to deal with.”

The day before, Isaksætre had admitted he was not entirely satisfied with the balance of his car around the Danish circuit. Changes to the setup allowed him to regain the confidence he had been looking for behind the wheel and gave him the pace needed to fight for victory.

“We learned a lot here last year. We made a few changes to the setup compared with what we had been running at this circuit before, and I think that really helped us. Depending on the conditions, sometimes you need a little more grip and sometimes a little less. It’s always about finding the right compromise and the right balance. Today we found it, and I’m really pleased with that.”

Behind him, the fight remained wide open all the way to the chequered flag. Vetle Try claimed his third runner-up finish of the season, crossing the line just 0.652 seconds behind the winner. Riku Huuhka completed the podium ahead of Dennis Vik and Carl Svedlund.

Making his first championship appearance of the season, Vik immediately made his mark. After qualifying third and winning his semi-final, he finished the day with 23 points, the second-highest total behind Isaksætre.

Thomas Eek Murstad, meanwhile, dominated qualifying. After finishing second in Q1 before winning both Q2 and Q3, the Norwegian topped the intermediate standings and collected the maximum 16 qualifying points.

His day, however, unravelled in the semi-final. Running third behind Isaksætre and Huuhka, Murstad missed out on a place in the final by just 2.281 seconds. Even so, his qualifying performances still earned him 20 points—two more than Svedlund despite not reaching the final.

Only sixth after qualifying, the championship leader limited the damage by finishing second in his semi-final before taking fifth in the final. With 18 points, his lowest tally of the season, Svedlund nevertheless maintained his perfect record of reaching the final in all seven races contested so far.

Svedlund continues to lead the provisional championship standings with 161 points, but his advantage over Isaksætre has now been reduced to just five. Murstad moves into sole possession of third place on 143 points, one point ahead of Huuhka.

After seven races, the top four drivers are now separated by just 19 points. Looking ahead to the second race of the weekend, however, Isaksætre knows nothing can be taken for granted on Sunday.

“Of course we’ll try to do the same again tomorrow. We’ll make a few adjustments to the car tonight, analyse all the videos and try to find a little more speed. You can see that everyone is improving and the level keeps rising every time we go out on track. We’ll have to be even quicker tomorrow. It’s a new day, though, and I’m more aware than ever that anything can happen.”