Four points. That is all that separates Tommi Hallman from Robin Larsson ahead of the RallyX Americas season finale at Trois-Rivières. Having arrived in the top category in June with only a handful of laps behind the wheel of the 1,000-horsepower Hypercar, the Finn finds himself, just three races later, in contention for the first title in the championship’s history.
It is a position the SET Promotion driver could hardly have taken for granted when he arrived at Crandon. Making his series debut, Hallman not only had to get to grips with a new car but also faced rivals with several seasons of experience behind the wheel.
His preparation had been kept to an absolute minimum.
“We arrived at Crandon for the season opener with practically no preparation and no real testing beforehand. Before the first qualifying Heat, I had completed a total of eight laps, while my main rivals already had several seasons of experience with these cars.”
That deficit did not prevent the Kuopio driver from quickly finding his feet. Eighth in the opening race at Crandon, Hallman claimed victory in the second before finishing runner-up at Eldora. Those results leave him heading into the final round of the season on 87 points, just four behind Robin Larsson.
The Swede has an impressive record with this type of machinery. A World Rallycross Championship event winner, Larsson has also claimed the Nitrocross title twice with the cars now used in RallyX Americas.
The threat behind the leading pair is just as real. Kevin Eriksson sits third on 84 points, three behind Hallman, while Oliver Eriksson follows on 82. 2019 World Rallycross Champion Timmy Hansen, currently sixth with 70 points, is also part of an eight-driver field that may be small in numbers but is packed with proven talent.
For Hallman, who will celebrate his 26th birthday on Thursday, the stakes now extend far beyond another strong individual result.
“You have to try to make the most of opportunities like this. You do not get the chance to fight for a title in the top category very often. Winning a championship or taking a medal in the overall standings obviously carries much more weight than simply competing in a few individual events and getting good results there.”
The strength of the field leaves him under no illusions about the scale of the challenge.
“There could obviously be more drivers entered, but the ones who are here are really big names. It is interesting because usually there have been drivers with quite large differences in performance between them. This time, we are going to have to fight tooth and nail for every position. In a field like this, nothing will be given to you.”
Asphalt presents a new challenge for Hallman
Hallman has already had to learn quickly since joining RallyX Americas, but Trois-Rivières will require another round of adaptation.
The Quebec circuit is well known in world rallycross, having hosted the World RX every season between 2014 and 2019. Hallman, by contrast, has no previous experience of the track and will also have to discover how his Hypercar behaves on a street circuit made up predominantly of asphalt.
The contrast with the opening two rounds will be considerable. Crandon was entirely on dirt, while Eldora featured just one asphalt corner.
“It is a street circuit and most of it is asphalt. I have practically no experience of driving this car on asphalt. At Crandon, the track was entirely dirt, and at Eldora there was only one asphalt corner. So once again I will have to adapt to a new situation and quickly find the right set-up, as well as the little tricks needed to understand how to drive this car on a track where asphalt makes up most of the surface.”
That lack of familiarity stands in contrast to several of his direct rivals.
Timmy Hansen knows Trois-Rivières particularly well, having contested all six World RX editions held at the circuit. The Swede won there in 2016 before finishing second two years later.
That victory came almost exactly ten years before his return to Quebec. At the time, Hallman was only 15 and was taking his first steps in motorsport in Jokkis, the Finnish equivalent of Sweden’s Folkrace.
Robin Larsson also has previous experience at Trois-Rivières, having competed in the World RX rounds there in 2015, 2016 and 2018. Kevin Eriksson raced at the circuit in the World Championship in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Hallman will therefore head into the finale with two clear experience deficits: no previous knowledge of the circuit and very little time in the Hypercar on a predominantly asphalt surface. That will not persuade him to lower his ambitions.
“A podium is the minimum target and, of course, we are going there to fight for the win. It is the same with the championship: a medal is the minimum target, but we are absolutely going to fight seriously for the title. That is why we are going there. Pressure? Opportunities like this do not come along very often, so yes, I put pressure on myself because I feel that I need to deliver a result.”
More time to find the right set-up
The format used at Trois-Rivières could nevertheless make that learning process easier.
After two races were held during the opening weekend at Crandon, Eldora produced a different scenario. Heavy rain forced the cancellation of the second race, while the sole remaining event was completed entirely in a single day.
This time, one race will decide the title, but the action will be spread across two days. The opening two qualifying Heats will take place on Saturday, followed by Q3 and Q4, the Semi-Finals and the Final on Sunday.
For Hallman and SET Promotion, the additional time between sessions should provide more opportunities to analyse data and refine the Hypercar’s set-up throughout the weekend.
“I like this format because the schedule is less compressed. It makes it easier to find the right set-up because there is more time between the starts. You can study the data and take more time to think things through. At Eldora, for example, when the whole event was run in a single day, there was practically no time to do anything between the starts.”