The RallyX On Ice winter championship crossed borders and arrived at Ål, in Norway, for the third round of the season, and while the local heroes really tried hard to win, a Swede got it again as Robin Larsson was the third different winner this year with a master class performance.
This event marked also the rallycross debut of IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, who enjoyed the experience as he basically tried to get the hang of what he described as a totallly different experience from the American open wheel racers.
The initial fight between Sondre Evjen and Conner Martell opened the way for Kevin Eriksson to get second place from the American driver. Evjen then opened the gap while Eriksson continued the pursuit, while Jonathan Walfridsson and Jarni Kalliomäki kept Martell honest until the point where Kalliomäki passed to third, while Evjen and Eriksson
The semifinal 2 had Pelle Willen holding Vasily Gryazin to keep the lead, and a smooth driving was what held Willen in first, while Gryazin had Alexander Westlund all over him. It took almost the whole race for Westlund to find a way past Gryazin, and with open way ahead, Westlund tried to catch Willen but it was too late, though Willen and Westlund passed to the final.
In the third semifinal we had Josef Newgarden as a rallycross rookie against the cream of the crop from Euro RX and RX2, and Oliver Eriksson won the initial dash for first against Robin Larsson while Cyril Raymond put his bet on an early Joker Lap. Raymond then had a series of problems and eventually stopped and left the race. The race then was focused in the duel between Eriksson and Larsson, but the distance between the two and the almost even pace of them gave no room for a fight and the race ended like this.
A mistake from Sondre Evjen in the Final gave way for Robin Larsson to go past and lead, and reminding the World RX days, Larsson defended the lead from Kevin Eriksson,. Smooth and precise driving paid dividends as Larsson just opened the gap to not be threatened in any way by his opponents, seeing the checkered first with a huge margin.
The Eriksson brothers appear as favorite candidates for the title ahead of the final event at Gol, Norway, as Oliver leads with 100 points against 93 of Kevin, and Sondre Evjen is the other immediate candidate with 92 points. The season finale will be on March 3rd, and will be the rallycross debut for Penske driver Hélio Castroneves, who recently left IndyCar to join the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.
PHOTO: Robin Larsson
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