The Estering double header that ended the RallyX season had a lot of guest entries of high caliber to join the party, and Robin Larsson delivered the show during the whole Saturday (10), in special at the Final where he barely beat Peter Hedström, with less than a tenth separating the winner from the runner-up.
Appearing as a last hour substitute for an injured Stefan Kristensson, Robin Larsson showed that once he is back to a Supercar, the skills that made him a champion in RallyX, Euro RX, Nitrocross and an event winner in World RX are at the max instantly, with few seconds to spare in every one of his three Heat wins that made him the top qualifier.
Below the Swede, Maiko Tamm was back in form after the Nysum slip up, Peter Hedström showed his class with the third place with Martin Enlund and Nysum winner Ulrik Linnemann right below, and title contender Joni Turpeinen settled for sixth as only a single top-5 time was achieved.
More RallyX regulars were found down the table but the most surprising fact was that René Münnich, who is an Euro RX1 winner and is part of the World RX with a new SEAT Ibiza RX, had abysmal results with a top-5 time in Q2, which saw him barely making it to the Semifinals, staying three positions below his team mate and Euro RX1 competitor Mandie August, which for both was far from presentable at their home track.
Semifinal 1 had Larsson leading for a few meters before Linnemann clattered as he was tucking on the inside, only for Hedström to steal both places and go away with the lead as Mats Öhman was following him. Larsson then charged hard to pass Öhman first and the Hedström, holding the Peugeot 208 WRX at the back of his Audi S1 EKS RX to win the race.
Semifinal 2 had more RallyX regulars and a direct contest for the title as Turpeinen had Tamm and Enlund in his field of view, and Turpeinen had the second place gifted to him as Enlund tried the round the outside on Lap 1, only to go extra aggressive on Lap 2 to dispose Turpeinen from second place, and Enlund had a good prospect as he had Tamm in his view and was faster than the Estonian, but the extra pace didn’t put Enlund in front of Tamm at the line, with Turpeinen trailing both from third place.
Enlund wasn’t present in the Final grid, so it was just five cars for the glory, and with all of them jumbled up at Turn 1, Öhman was left behind and Tamm slowed down for a while. The lead battle was Hedström versus Larsson, and the JC Raceteknik driver was faster by a country mile, and Larsson’s aggressive laps paid off as he passed Hedström at the Joker Lap exit, winning it by 0.085 seconds.
RallyX Estering I - Event results
PHOTO: RallyX
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