Larsson dominates in RallyX Nordic debut at Riga

RallyX Nordic left the Scandinavian lands and went to Latvia last weekend, enjoying a good run before the World RX round comes up, and Robin Larsson left the Bikernieki track with the brightest smile, as his dominant performance was rewarded with a win there.

Although Jere Kalliokoski topped the table in Q1, Robin Larsson proved that this was an exception, with the JC Raceteknik driver outpacing the opposition from Q2 to Q4, becoming the top qualifier. Add to this that the Olsbergs MSE pair of Hondas was struggling to adapt to the Bikernieki track, and with Oliver Eriksson and Ulrik Linnemann having their problems in Q1 and Q2, they woke to fight quite late.

Semifinal 1 started with Oliver Eriksson winning the race to turn 1 and having the advantage over Robin Larsson while the rest of the field was watching the battle from a close range.

Larsson had the pace to overtake Eriksson, but not the room to do so, with the Olbergs MSE driver making sure his Honda Civic RX left no space for the JC Raceteknik driver, though clean air after the Joker proved to be crucial for Larsson to push and take the lead, which in fact decided the race in his favor. Larsson was had only Hondas in his back wing, with Eriksson taking second and Ulrik Linnemann coming home third.

In semifinal 2 Jere Kalliokoski made sure from the start that he was superior, opening a significant gap to Mats Öhman and Mikko Ikonen, and although Öhman was following Kalliokoski, he wasn’t able to close in and attack the Finnish driver, who cruised alone to victory. Behind them, Ikonen was the third placed driver and secured the last spot to the final.

RallyX Nordic - Riga Semifinal results

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Being in the front row was a great help for Larsson in the final, even though Kalliokoski tried his best to make things difficult for the Swedish driver and his Audi S1 RX, with Eriksson taking a close look at both of them.

Larsson was in control all the time, not only leaving no room but also leaving no opportunity for his opponents to close the gap, winning in a comfortable fashion. Kalliokoski got second place mostly due to some moments of over aggressive driving from Eriksson, as his Honda slid much more than needed, meaning that the Olsbergs MSE driver had to settle for the final podium place.

RallyX Nordic Riga - Final results

Eriksson has 95 points and still leads the standings, though Kalliokoski with 92 and Larsson with 90 points cannot be ignored and will make the title race a pretty tight one.

July will have room for another round in RallyX Nordic, going back to the north to visit the Finnskogbanen in Norway.

PHOTO - Robin Larsson