Belevskiy dominates Euro RX1 opener at Lousada

A reduced field was expected for the return to action of the Euro RX1 Championship, and while the first event of the 2025 season at Lousada didn’t have the usual quantity in the grid, it showed some quality and put the spotlight on Yury Belevskiy, as the Swiss driver controlled the weekend with his Audi S1 EKS RX.
 
Yury Belevskiy was the class of the field in the Qualifying heats, not only by topping the times from Q1 to Q4, but also by outpacing the field by a comfortable margin, with Nils Volland being the closest driver to Belevskiy in terms of performance.
 
Semifinal 1 was merely a formality, since Volland hit the wall and his Audi S1 EKS RX was too damaged to be in the grid, meaning that only Yury Belevskiy, Martin Enlund and José Oliveira were competing. While Belevskiy was in a class above, Enlund almost left the door open for Oliveira, but with a Joker to do, the Portuguese couldn’t improve from third.
 
The second Semifinal had more at stake with four cars on the grid, but a spin didn’t help Antônio Sousa’s cause, which meant that Liimatainen, Litwinowicz and Laszlo Kiss would advance, and since Sousa was too far behind the top 3, the order wasn’t changed.
 
Everybody in the grid knew that it would need something special in the Final to beat Belevskiy, but perfect positioning before the first corner helped the Swiss in his cause, opening 2 seconds to Liwinowicz immediately. Eventually, Litwinowicz would be more worried with Liimatainen and Enlund getting closer than chasing Belevskiy, because the Swiss wasn’t threatened in any moment, winning the Final with almost six second to the Polish driver.
 
Euro RX1 - Lousada event results
 
Belevskiy has a comfortable lead with 28 points, while Litwinowicz has 20, Liimatainen is third with 19, Enlund has 15 and László Kiss has 14 points. As it is with the World RX, Euro RX1 will return only on 6 July, when the competitors will go north to visit the iconic Höljes.
 
PHOTO: FIA World Rallycross Championship