Still chasing his maiden victory in the CrossCar Junior category, Sebastian Isaksætre could hardly have imagined a better outcome at Nysum. The Norwegian delivered a flawless weekend, scoring a perfect 30 points to secure his first career win and climb from fifth to third in the championship standings. While Iivari Männistö remains firmly in control at the top of the table, the seventh round has reshuffled the order behind the Finnish leader.
The day had not started perfectly for the Norwegian, however. After winning the opening qualifying heat, he could only manage the seventh-fastest time in Q2 before immediately bouncing back with a second-place finish in Q3. That proved enough to top the qualifying standings with 132 points and head into the knockout stages in the strongest possible position.
Isaksætre then confirmed his dominance. After winning his semi-final, he went on to claim victory in the final ahead of Pim Klaassen and Alex Anttila.
Having collected all 30 points available, the young Norwegian was understandably delighted after the opening race of the weekend.
“Yes, it was a perfect day. The gap in the championship is probably still a little too large to realistically catch the leader. Our main objective now is to fight for second place in the standings, and we’ll see how the rest of the season unfolds.”
The victory carried added significance for Isaksætre, who had seen several opportunities slip away earlier this season.
“This result is hugely important for my confidence. The day started really well and, overall, everything went according to plan. We only had a slight tap from behind in Q2, but it wasn’t anything serious.”
Behind Isaksætre, Pim Klaassen produced arguably the comeback drive of the day. After qualifying only fifteenth, the Dutchman fought his way to second in his semi-final before finishing runner-up in the final.
Making his first appearance in the Speedcar Wonder chassis, Alex Anttila qualified third, won his semi-final and went on to finish third in the final. The Finn leaves Nysum with 24 points, the second-highest tally of the seventh round.
That result moves him ahead of Peetu Matalamäki in the championship and into second place overall, 40 points behind Iivari Männistö.
For the first time this season, Männistö endured a difficult day.
The championship leader was only 14th after Q1 before responding impressively with second place in Q2 and victory in Q3. That recovery earned him second place in the intermediate standings, but his momentum came to an abrupt halt with elimination in the semi-finals.
Despite that setback, the Finn still collected 19 valuable points to limit the damage. After recording five victories and one second-place finish in the opening six rounds of the season, Männistö remains at the top of the championship on 191 points.