Oliver Solberg showed on his return to rallycross that he never lost the ability to tame a 600 hp supercar, winning on track the second round of the FIA Euro RX1 Championship at Höljes, but ultimately the stewards had the final decision as he was disqualified for a technical infringement, which handed the win to the fellow Hyundai i20 RX driver and championship leader Anton Marklund.
Ever changing conditions in ever changing weather meant ever changing heat orders, and with some of them having a lot of argy bargy due to being basically anticipated finals, the top competitors were threw all over the place, with Anton Marklund being the top qualifier thanks to a masterclass run in Heat 3, while a returning Oliver Solberg held Johan Kristoffersson for second place.
Progression race 1 had Marklund keeping his cool in a damp track to hold the lead over Enzo Ide, as a combination of patience and pace prevailed in the greasy track, with Tamás Kárai being third after a Hungarian battle with Atila Mozer.
Race 2 had a momentary happy start for Ole Christian Veiby, only for the wet track to betray him and hand the lead to fellow WRC competitor Solberg, who took the treacherous condition to his advantage, especially as Veiby was stuck behind Sivert Svardal.
The third race had not only a rocket start from Kristoffersson, but also a walkover for the Volkswagen Team BAUHAUS driver as he left the rest of the field to settle their differences for the remaining two spots, with Jean Baptiste Dubourg getting second place after a long battle and Ollie O’Donovan putting the new Proton Iriz RX in the Semifinals by beating Tom-Andre Saetnan’s Volkswagen Scirocco RX.
Race 4 had Andreas Bakkerud in control and Janis Baumanis following him for the whole five laps, with both being with Semifinal spots and the difference between them not offering opportunities to go physical, and Linus Östlund had the third place thanks to problems for Ulrik Linnemann and Stefan Kristensson.
The final race of the Progression had Frank Valle being optimistic and capitalizing on it to the lead, leaving Marcin Gagacki to deal with Sondre Evjen. Gagacki turned fortunes around when Valle had a suspension problem. Evjen led the way to his victory with Anders Michalak in second, and once the Joker was completed, Gagacki held Öberg for third place in the final lap.
Semifinal 1 had Marklund leading Bakkerud while O’Donovan was fighting for dear life in third. Bakkerud had the pace to make a move, but with the Norwegian and Marklund being on the Final spots, common sense prevailed while O’Donovan was falling more and more into Anders Michalak’s hands. When Marklund had a right front puncture, Bakkerud took the clear room and got away with first place and Marklund barely held second place with right front on the rim.
Semifinal 2 was on Solberg’s hands from the go signal despite the best attempts from Evjen to close down and fight the Hedströms Motorsport driver, and with Evjen caught napping on the Joker, Dubourg jumped to second and defending with all his might from Evjen despite a puncture, in which the Frenchman succeeded.
The third Semifinal was the strongest one overall, and Kristoffersson going away before Turn 1 to avoid carnage paid dividends, countering the early Jokers from the rest of the grid on pace alone, which left him comfortable to get victory while Baumanis got second place, but it wasn’t enough to beat Dubourg’s time.
The Final was valid for the Euro RX1, but a grid with Solberg, Kristoffersson, Bakkerud, Marklund and Dubourg would be a World RX one some years ago given the achievements and experience of the five combined. Once the green lights were on, Solberg outpaced Kristoffersson on the launch, with the Hyundai i20s going standard route while the rest went to the Joker.
Things got really rough when Solberg got out of his Joker, but once Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen Polo RX stopped in the Joker and Marklund did his Joker Lap, it was open way for Solberg to go away and win in his return to rallycross, while Marklund took second place when Bakkerud parked with a collapsed suspension on his Audi S1 EKS RX, which also left the door open for a surprise third place for Dubourg.
After the Final, the technical inspection revealed that the underfloor protection on Solberg’s Hyundai was overweight, which would have offered an advantage in the center of gravity, although the final conclusion of the investigation is that the overweight piece never offered an advantage during the whole event despite being out of the mandated limit. Solberg was then disqualified for the infringement and Marklund was promoted to first place, with Dubourg becoming second, and Bakkerud completed the podium despite retiring from the Final.
FIA Euro RX1 - Höljes RX results
After two events, Marklund still holds a solid lead with 40 points over 22 from Baumanis, 19 from Ide and 18 from Dubourg. Bakkerud, Kristoffersson and Solberg sit in eighth, ninth and tenth in the standings, but only Bakkerud is confirmed to return for at least another event, as Solberg goes back to WRC and Kristoffersson focuses on World RX, while Bakkerud will later turn his attentions to Nitro RX.
The Hell RX is the next Euro RX1 event, to be held on 13-14 August.
PHOTO: Red Bull Content Pool
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