Kouvola is where the fun is at, and in a high level field, Kevin Eriksson prevailed against the home opposition in the first event of the RallyX Nordic double header in Finnish lands, showing again how good his Olsbergs MSE Honda Civic RX can be.
This weekend at Kouvola is special because while the Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS Polos and other competitors aren’t around, Finnish competitors from the Rallicross-SM jumped into RallyX Nordic in a huge group, led by an in form Jere Kalliokoski that barely missed the top qualified position to Kevin Eriksson as the Olsbergs MSE was in fine form after losing the Q1 to Kalliokoski.
The bunch of good surprises included Peter Hedström finding good runs in his Hyundai i20 RX to be third in Qualifying while Maiko Tamm also showed more speed than in any of the previous RallyX Nordic rounds, followed by a Viktor Vranckx on point, that despite counting with the limitations of his RX2e machine, left behind guys like Oliver Eriksson and Juha Rytkönen.
Yury Belevskiy was a particular case as he barely made it since he became the target of the field in Q2 and Q3, with his Audi S1 EKS RX being spun and damaged in both occasions.
The so much awaited Mercedes A45 AMG RX that Kalliokoski Motorsport developed at home made its nordic debut, but Jonne Ollikainen had a series of difficulties that prevented him from being competitive enough to be in the Semifinals.
Semifinal 1 had Kevin Eriksson enjoying the advantage of being on the inside line while Hedström’s Hyundai gave up. Rytkönen and Vranckx were on the chase of the Honda Civic RX, but eventually the Belgian was left behind. With the Joker to do, Eriksson knew he would be vulnerable, so he used the car as a wall in the final corner to prevent Rytkönen to take the win.
In Semifinal 2, Kalliokoski kept the lead but Oliver Eriksson came from the outside to beat Tamm for second place and chase the Finn in front. Kalliokoski and Eriksson were safe in their positions, but Tamm still had to defend himself from Yury Belevskiy with a Joker to do, and unfortunately for him, the door was totally open for the Volland Racing driver to come and steal the third place.
In the Am Final, Tamm and Vranckx were in the front row, so any of them would be able tot take the lead. After two false starts, Mats Öhman used the outside to outpace Tamm, and the two quickly isolated themselves from Edijss Oss and the rest of the field.
Instead of staying stuck behind Öhman, Tamm did the Joker on Lap 2, with the reply coming a lap later to keep the status quo, and despite the massive pressure from Tamm, Öhman kept it in great fashion and ran straight to the win.
The Final was stacked with talent as five of the six drivers raced in at least one World RX round and the FIA RX2e champion was at the back, and Kalliokoski fought bravely but couldn’t avoid getting sandwiched by the Olsbergs MSE Hondas, but on Lap 3 Kalliokoski had enough of it and did the Joker to find some clean air.
The Olsbergs MSE duo had to play the tactics right to avoid being totally outpaced by Kalliokoski, but this thought was dropped out and both cars came to the Joker on the Final Lap, with Kevin Eriksson holding Kalliokoski for the win while Oliver Eriksson fell behind them and also behind Rytkönen and Belevskiy.
RallyX Nordic - Kouvola I results (Pro) (Am)
PHOTO: RallyX Nordic
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