The RallyX Nordic weekend at Kouvola had everything to see the win go to local hero Jere Kalliokoski, but Robin Larsson overcame his early lack of pace to dominate the final part of the event and crown the win with style.
This was quite an interesting event as the Rallicross-SM, the Finnish rallycross championship, joined in as mixed grids saw drivers from both competitions bang wheels and doors, though the Finnish competitors didn’t score Nordic points due to use a softer tyre compound, with the other way around being valid too.
Qualifying was quite even with multiple cars being able to win heats, but Jere Kalliokoski proved to have the advantage with wins in Q2, Q3 and Q4, overcoming Robin Larsson and Oliver Eriksson. Surprisingly the fourth best qualified was Joni-Pekka Rajala with a great show from the Vaaranmaa Racing Mitsubishi Mirage RX.
Semifinal 1 saw an even start, and while Ulrik Linnemann and Jere Kalliokoski were trading paint, Joni-Pekka Rajala too first place when a small gap appeared. Linnemann had his problems to stay in good pace, considering that Philip Gehrman was threatening his third position.
Kalliokoski had Rajala right in front, but opted to settle for second considering Linnemann was behind the pair, and with this Rajala consolidated his victory over Kalliokoski and Linnemann.
Semifinal 2 had Robin Larsson in front on the grid, and the Swede opened a gap immediately while Stene Johansen made a lightning start to second, though an early Joker saw him being pressured by Mats Öhman, which gave some time to breathe for Juha Rytkönen.
Larsson crossed the line in dominant fashion, while a battered Rytkönen managed to finish second and Johansen won the battle with Mats Öhman for third place.
Semifinal 3 had Oliver Eriksson going away in front while chaos in the pack promoted Ari Perkiomäki to second and Toni Kuhanen to third. While Eriksson had the win with ease, Kuhanen had just to wait Perkiomäki’s joker lap to go to second as they swapped positions in the final lap.
The Final was filled with strong contenders for the win, and Larsson kept the lead while Kalliokoski and Kuhanen were in pursuit mode after him. With Kuhanen doing an early Joker, Kalliokoski was the left alone to go after Larsson, though the pace wasn’t there to attack the JC Raceteknik driver.
As much as Kalliokoski tried, no effort seemed enough to take victory away from Larsson, who even found more pace to make him more at ease in his position. Oliver Eriksson still salvaged a third place from what was a disastrous start, staying ahead of the
RallyX Nordic Kouvola - Final results
Oliver Eriksson still manages to stay on top with 149 points, but Robin Larsson with 145 points and Jere Kalliokoski with 137 are more than immediate contenders for the title.
The three-way battle for the championship will be held in the final round at the Tierp Arena, in Sweden, on September 22nd.
PHOTO - JC Raceteknik
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