The first RallyX Nordic visit to the OuluZone in Finland had the usual with a win for Johan Kristoffersson, but he had to do an unusual recovery after early problems in the qualifying, keeping it clean and fast while the paint trade was high between the rest of the field.
This OuluZone round, held near the Arctic Polar Circle, had an interesting number of Finnish drivers joining in, as World RX driver Jere Kalliokoski was followed by 2019 Rallicross-SM champion Juha Rytkönen and Jari Tuuri, while Henri Haapamäki was actually continuing the program from Höljes, when the STARD Fiesta ERX was authorized to participate in the Open 4WD class. Topping the list was the second outing in the season for Niclas Grönholm with his GRX Hyundai i20 RX.
Niclas Grönholm was fastest on Q1, practically unchallenged as Johan Kristoffersson got problems, Fraser McConnell had a bad race and Juha Rytkönen got penalized for track limits. Kristoffersson restored the order in Q2, and despite some problems in Q3, the Volkswagen BAUHAUS driver kept the top to finish the Qualifying with only Niclas Grönholms in front, while Jere Kalliokoski completed the top-3 and Fraser McConnell finished the session in eighth place, certainly hurting his championship aspirations.
RallyX Nordic - OuluZone I Intermediate results
Semifinal 1 had the strongest guys in front in Grönholm and Kalliokoski, but Andreas Carlsson stole the spotlight and the second place, only to be passed by Kalliokoski at the end of the first lap and lose contact with the leaders due to oversteer.
Grönholm and Kalliokoski were in comfortable positions to go to the Final, but Carlsson still had to defend himself from Phillip Gehrmann and Anders Michalak, and Michalak’s choice of an early Joker paid off in the final lap, putting him in third while Grönholm and Kalliokoski confirmed the first two positions.
RallyX Nordic - OuluZone I Semifinal 1 results
Semifinal 2 had Kristoffersson in full defensive mode at the start, with Sondre Evjen, Henri Haapamäki and Fraser McConnell all over him. While the top 3 was saving the Joker for later, the bottom 3 did it early, and both McConnell and Rytkönen outpaced Evjen and Enzo Ide at the final lap. While Kristoffersson won it on pace, McConnell saw his second place go to Rytönen and the third place go to Evjen due to track limit violation.
RallyX Nordic - OuluZone I Semifinal 2 results
Final race of the day starte with Grönholm beating a good start from Kristoffersson and trying to escape from the Swede’s Volkswagen Polo GTi RX, but Kristoffersson didn’t need to force anything, thanks to a front left puncture in Grönholm’s Hyundai i20 RX.
Kalliokoski was expected to challenge Kristoffersson but got a right front puncture, cutting off his chances and offering the second place to Sondre Evjen while Rytkönen was on the chase. While Kristoffersson cruised to the victory, Rytkönen got the second place by force, passing Evjen on the outside, with not even contact with Evjen and the Turn 3 bollards taking away his result.
RallyX Nordic - OuluZone I Final results
After the first OuluZone event, Kristoffersson opens the lead again with 121 points, but now Evjen presents himself as the runner-up with 100 points against the 98 from McConnell.
PHOTO: Kristoffersson Motorsport
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