Hell becomes heaven when rallycross is there, and the Lånkebanen saw its hero on fire and winning, with Andreas Bakkerud ending his momentary two event program in the FIA Euro RX1 Championship with the first place in the return of Norway to international rallycross after missing two years.
This specific round counted with many names that competed earlier in the year in RallyX Nordic, such as Tom André Saetnam, Frank Valle and David Nordgaard, which along with the usual suspects made an 18 car grid for the delight of the spectators.
Anton Marklund might have scaled down the pace during the Qualifying, but his Hyundai i20 RX was in top form through all three heats, even with Andreas Bakkerud and Fraser McConnell being immediate threats, while Enzo Ide had the pace but got stuck into argy bargy in some of the races.
Two major disappointments in the Qualifying were Mandie August, who faced a mix of incidents and lack of pace, and Ulrik Linnemann, whose Olsbergs Fiesta ST RX was totally unreliable, suffering with suspension problems due to collisions and with mechanical issues that forced him to park his car. They also didn’t get salvation in the Progression, with no surprises either in the winners or in the qualified drivers, as Anton Marklund, Andreas Bakkerud, Fraser McConnell and Enzo Ide were the winners.
Semifinal 1 had Marklund nearly getting swallowed by the field but eventually getting away with the lead, while Sondre Evjen got second place after Enzo Ide having some paint trade with Anders Michalak, which the race fot both. With massive gaps separating everybody, Marklund kept first place and Evjen was second, with Attila Mózer bringing his semi-battered car to third place.
The second one had Bakkerud leading Janis Baumanis while Marcin Gagacki was keeping Frank Valle at bay. While the top two kept at it in clean fashion, a spin from Gagacki allowed Valle to pass, but with Bakkerud bringing Baumanis along, they were simply so far away for Valle to react.
Semifinal 3 had McConnell beating Tamás Kárai in an even start, leaving the Hungarian as prey for Sivert Svardal and Linus Östlund. Kárai made it barely enough to hold Svardal, but he was simply too focused on the defensive to close down on McConnell, who ended in first with a comfortable gap.
The semifinal results meant that Evjen and Baumanis were the best second placed finishers to advance to the Final, joining the three race winners.
The Final had the best guys in the business, and after a four-wide entry into Turn 1, Bakkerud took the lead, Marklund had a puncture and McConnell faced mechanical issues. With Baumanis right behind, Evjen didn’t have the security to go ahead and fight with Bakkerud, meaning that the EKS driver had the win all for himself in spectacular fashion, with Evjen making it a Norwegian 1-2.
Anton Marklund still leads despite his issues in the Final, having 52 points against 35 of Baumanis, and Bakkerud probably bows out of the competition with 33 points, since his program only covered Höljes and Hell, with his focus going back to Nitro RX as no hint of a new deal with EKS came to surface.
The Euro RX1 returns to action at the Bikernieku Trase in Riga, Latvia, as the fourth round will be held on 4 September.
PHOTO: Andreas Bakkerud
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