It was a 1-2 finish for Monster Energy RX Cartel again in Nitro Rallycross in the last chapter of the European phase of the championship, held at Strängnäs, in Sweden, but this time it was Andreas Bakkerud commanding the show in front of the Swedish crowd and beating the home favorites.
It was an special occasion as Strängnäs was totally reformed to host rallycross events again, and the grid was counting with four of the most recent champions of the international rallycross scene - current Nitro RX champion Travis Pastrana was facing off the 2021 Euro RX champion Bakkerud, the recently crowned RallyX Nordic champion Niclas Grönholm and the 2021 and four time World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson, and a recovered Robin Larsson, who escaped from a serious accident at his workshop, was the other champion of the grid, as he has both the European and Nordic titles.
Heat 1 had RX Cartel cars locking the front row, but Andreas Bakkerud put Robin Larsson off the line by trying to rearrange his own line, which opened the door for Kris Meeke to lead the chasing pack. Without Larsson and Travis Pastrana on his back, Bakkerud to deal less drivers but he wasn’t allowed to go at leisure pace, leaving Meeke behind to lead the pair of qualified cars.
On the second Heat race, Oliver Eriksson held the lead for only one corner, as Johan Kristoffersson found the way to first place on the inside in the second corner, having the tough job of keeping Eriksson out of his tail. Kristoffersson’s personal battle with Eriksson offered the opportunity to Niclas Grönholm to close down and pass, but he had it taken from him in the Final Lap once all Joker Laps were done. Due to track limit violations, Kristoffersson was handed a post-race 3 second penalty, meaning that the Olsbergs MSE cars were the ones in the Final.
Semifinal 1 started with Fraser McConnell being pushed out of the lead by Grönholm, and Grönholm being moved out by Larsson. While Larsson was secure in front, Vermont Sportscar was crumbling down with Travis Pastrana having a puncture and Conner Martell spinning and crashing from second place, which allowed McConnell to go back to second, although nowhere near Larsson.
Kristoffersson had Ole Christian Veiby on his back and the XITE Racing cars on his side, and these were the ones giving initial trouble, with Oliver Bennett going rough on Kristoffersson with no success. Kristoffersson was on the chase on Meeke but his left rear tire blew up and left him out, and with Bennett’s too damaged to continue, Veiby had clean way to get second place and send the other two to the Last Chance Qualifier.
The LCQ was the last chance to secure a place in the Final, and Kristoffersson moved out Martell and Grönholm for the first place, and while Kristoffersson had some room to breathe, Grönholm had Martell all over him before the Final Lap. The four-time World RX champion secured his way to victory without opposition, while Martell had to beat Pastrana by a really tight margin as Grönholm was plagued by a puncture.
No one had a team mate to rely in the Final grid, so it would be pretty much elbows out from the go, and Bakkerud held his lead over Eriksson, Larsson and Kristoffersson, who came from a totally different line on the outside. With Eriksson stopping with problems, it would be Kristoffersson versus the RX Cartel guys ahead of him. McConnell tried to pass Kristoffersson, but just got bullied out of the way, but he couldn’t do much but holding the guys behind him, because the RX Cartel drivers had enough cushion to secure another 1-2, this time with Bakkerud on top.
Nitro RX - Strängnäs event results
The championship returns to the United States to start the North American phase on 1-2 October, set for the ERX Motor Park at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
PHOTO: JC Raceteknik
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