Münnich wins Euro RX1 round at Lohéac

René Münnich finally saw the development of his rallycross skills pay off dividends at the Lohéac round of the FIA Euro RX1 Championship, with the German winning for the first time in a supercar, going between a mix of prowess behind the wheel of his AllInkl.com Münnich SEAT and some luck dealing with the opponents.

Despite the impressive presentations from Fabien Pailler and Jean Baptiste Dubourg, Andreas Bakkerud had control of Q1 with quite a margin to the opposition. Although Bakkerud did another great run in Q2 to hold the DA Racing Peugeots, the top time was from Janis Baumanis, meaning this was the so much awaited 1-2 for the ESMotorsport Skodas.

A Dubourg 1-2 in Q3 led by Jean Baptiste Dubourg was the perfect reply to show they are in the game, and with too much happening between the top drivers in the last race, including a crash for Jean Baptiste Dubourg, Fabien Pailler dominated the Q4, going up to second to see Bakkerud become the top qualifier, while Andrea Dubourg was third and JB Dubourg tumbled down to sixth.

In Semifinal 1, the ESMotorsport Skodas had the right side of the start line for them to work a tactic if needed, but Romuald Delaunay wasn’t eager to let their plans go smoothly and took first position from the outside, what made Bakkerud and Janis Baumanis go to the Joker on the halfway point.

Delaunay went to the Joker a lap later, what nullified his effort as Bakkerud and Baumanis were in front of him again, but with Andrea Dubourg still with the Joker to go, an opening to third place could appear, but the DA Racing driver did a swift job, enough to get in front of Delaunay and keep third place despite contact with Baumanis, and while hell broke loose behind, Bakkerud went straight to the win.

The crash in Q4 ruled out JB Dubourg due to his injuries, so Emmanuel Anne was promoted to the Semifinal 2, that started with René Münnich getting away with the lead right in front of Fabien Pailler’s nose, and with third place in hand, Támas Kárai opted to sit behind Pailler instead of attack the Pailler Competition Peugeot.

With Marcin Gagacki and Mandie August stopped on track, nearly half of the track was neutralized, which kept positions as they were in the Final Lap, with Münnich winning and Pailler and Kárai also advancing to the Final.

In the Final, Bakkerud covers any possibility of Münnich to go round the outside while Kárai and Baumanis go to the Joker as early as possible. Fabien Pailler and Andrea Dubourg were the next, leaving only the top two to Joker, and while Münnich’s undercut failed, it was compensated as Bakkerud hit problems and stopped momentarily, allowing the AllInkl.com Münnich SEAT to go away with the first win of the season for the German all-rounder.

Euro RX1 Lohéac - Event results

With Lohéac’s results and Thomas Bryntesson’s absence, Bakkerud is the new leader with 43 points against 41 of Münnich, 39 of Andrea Dubourg, 36 of Fabien Pailler and 35 of JB Dubourg. The Euro RX1 competitors return to action on 19 September as Riga holds the next round, with Ales Fucik, Peter Hedström, Anders Michalak and Thomas Bryntesson returning, while Andri Õun, Luigi and Edijs Oss joining in, with the latter two bringing another pair of Skoda Fabias to join the pair from ESMotorsport.

PHOTO: Red Bull Content Pool/Jeanus Ree