Marklund beats Linnemann in Euro RX1 event at Mettet

Euro RX1 Championship was back to Mettet, and Anton Marklund made it to the top spot in Belgium by staying consistent in a battle of survival, where weather, a bumpy and slippery and a contact happy field were the things to pay attention.
 
The Heat wins were mostly all over the place, so consistency would play a part when a bumpy track and lots of contact weren’t exactly helping, and Anton Marklund secured two wins and the top qualifying spot by just launching quicker and escape the mess to stay ahead. Yury Belevskiy demonstrated his pace by shadowing Marklund and getting second place, while the rest of the field was quite inconsistent with their results, with Enzo Ide going out of an atrocious Heat 1 to get a Heat 3 win and fifth place in the intermediate stadings.
 
Semifinal 1 had Ide moving a bit and jumping the start, which is a huge let down in a field with Anton Marklund, Sivert Svardal, Patrick O’Donovan, Mikko Ikonen and Támas Kárai. O’Donovan led the way as Marklund was pushed aside to come back in third. O’Donovan stood firm in first until the finish while Marklund managed his way to second and Svardal was safe in third since the leading pack was too far ahead.
 
For the second Semifinal, Ulrik Linnemann led the way after Belevskiy totally botched the first corner with Mate Benyó, meaning that he only had to hold Janis Baumanis in place, which would be smooth sailing if the leaders could stay away from the chasing pack. A hainging left front suspension somehow allowed Linnemann to take victory with Baumanis in second trailing the Dane during the whole race, while Zoltán Koncseg got a surprising third place and his Audi S1 RX probably looked the best as the qualified trio had some sort of issue under the hood.
 
Stewards were frantic as they were sorting out the penalties and the Final grid, and with Patrick O’Donovan and Janis Baumanis being penalized for excessive contact, Hans-Jorran Ostreng and Támas Kárai joined at the back row. Marklund and Linnemann were left fighting in front as Kárai made a rocket start from the back to bulldoze Svardal for third.
 
Linnemann tried hard despite the battered state of his Volkswagen Polo RX but the Ford Fiesta ST RX of Marklund was in better shape along with his driving, which secured victory after the late Joker opened the gap a bit.
 
Euro RX1 - Mettet event results
 
Marklund can pretty much rely on himself to secure another Euro RX1 title, as his 84 points put Baumanis with his 64, Ide with his 63 and O`Donovan with 60 points against the wall, as winning wouldn`t be enough for the contenders to beat the SET Promotion driver on 20 August at Estering.
 
PHOTO: SET Promotion