After days of more and more teasing, Nitro Rallycross finally started its 2022-2023 season with the first international event at a modified Lydden Hill Circuit, and with the FC1-Xs delivering more of a show than it was expected, Robin Larsson confirmed his favorite status by winning the first event, leaving behind his rear wing his Monster Energy RX Cartel team mate and current Euro RX1 champion Andreas Bakkerud.
Initially, only Kris Meeke would play the super sub role to Jenson Button in the second XITE Racing car, but an injured Kevin Eriksson had to sit out of the second Olsbergs MSE car and the Swedish team made an emergency call to Niclas Grönholm, a known face from Andreas Eriksson as he was his driver in World RX, and Grönholm would benefit from some electric rallycross experience ahead of his upcoming RX1e debut.
The first Group E heat ever had Kris Meeke leading from the go to avoid the Turn 1 brawl that left only Andreas Bakkerud on pursuit. Bakkerud passed Meeke with a rough move on Turn 1, but the Britsh driver was thrown off the track, Meeke was deemed the winner while Bakkerud had a 3 second penalty on his total time that only threw him down to second, meaning that he was still qualified to the final.
Robin Larsson led the way on Heat 2 while Pastrana went from the back to second place making use of the Talladega turn to keep Larsson honest. Larsson never held back despite the pressure and kept the first place with him, and this kept going to the finish line.
Semifinal 1 was more like bracket battles with 1-on-1 format, and Oliver Eriksson didn’t ease up on Conner Martell, and once the gap was there, Eriksson never let it go and never left Martell close down. The remaining three cars were on Semifinal 2, with Fraser McConnell shutting the door into Niclas Grönholm’s face, but with a Joker to go for the Jamaican, Grönholm could have had the win handed to him, and despite McConnell doing the best line possible in the Final Lap Joker, it wasn’t enough to hold Grönholm.
2 of the 4 in the LCQ would go to the Final, and Martell went hard for the lead over McConnell, but Martell wasn’t exactly free from problems, as his FC1-X backed out on Lap 2. With Bennett hitting the track markers and Ole Christian Veiby spinning, McConnell had the first place all for himself, while Bennett saw his second place being handed to Veiby due to excessively aggressive pushing.
Robin Larsson was pole and favorite of the Final while Kris Meeke was the dark horse alongside him in the front row, with basically rallycross aces behind of them looking for room to pounce, and at the start, Pastrana and Meeke tried to be too optimistic but ended crashing out each other along with Veiby, leaving open way for the RX Cartel duo to control the field with Larsson in front and Bakkerud in second.
Larsson was even more secure in front as Bakkerud was held back after his Joker by a crabbing McConnell holding Eriksson, who eventually got the lines wrong and opened the way for Grönholm to fight and pass McConnell. With Grönholm pretty much focused on the defensive, the RX Cartel duo had enough space to just bring it home and secure an 1-2 finish with Larsson in front.
NRX of England - Event results
Larsson naturally holds the lead with 58 points, with Bakkerud following immediately with 49 and Grönholm having 42 points, although with the World RX opener at Nürburgring and the second Nitro RX round at Strängnäs, in Sweden, happening on the same weekend, the Finn would eventually be an absence. With the RallyX Nordic season ending a week earlier in the same place where Nitro RX will be, Veiby may appear for another go, while Kris Meeke will certainly extend his duty as super sub for Jenson Button.
PHOTO: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
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