Young talent generally appears faster in rallycross, and it isn’t just because of recent cases like Joni Turpeinen. Oliver Eriksson was one of those hugely prospects that became a regular force in the discipline, but he was outpaced in the Sunday event of the RallyX weekend at Valkenswaard by a hungry Lukas Andersson, who outsmarted and outpaced everybody when it mattered the most for his first win in the season, in only his second appearance in a FirstCorner FC2 car.
Those at the front in Qualifying has much more consistent runs than on Saturday, with Oliver Eriksson winning two of the three heats and topping the table, while Kevin Eriksson won the other one and got the second spot. With issues affecting almost everybody in the field at some point, Romet Tsirna got a surprising third position, ahead of Lukas Andersson and Tobias Daarbak.
Casper Jansson appeared only in sixth with a very difficult Qualifying, while mechanical problems hit Niclas Grönholm really hard, to a point where he retired from Q2 and did not start in Q3, being the last qualified driver as Bart Bel didn’t take part in any of the heats.
The first FC2 Semifinal turned in favor of Oliver Eriksson from the start as Tsirna tumbled down the order, starting to recover before the end of the first lap. Eriksson was taking it more easily due to the gap to Mervin Klaasen and Tobias Daarbak, leaving the two to deal with Tsirna for the qualifying spots, but the situation didn’t change until the finish line.
In Semifinal 2, Kevin Eriksson started well but had Andersson hot on his rear wing, while Emil Naessen was outpacing Casper Jansson after both went to the Joker. Despite the confirmed spot in the Final, Eriksson fumbled just before the Joker merge in the final lap, opening the door for Andersson to win the race while Naessen took second place over the limping FC2 of Eriksson, who didn’t even make the transfer as Casper Jansson stopped on track, went back into motion and completed the race in third, 51 seconds behind Andersson.
In the Final, Andersson outpaced Eriksson while Klaasen tried to be brave from the outside and failed, but still took fourth place until Naessen lost a tire, promoting Klaasen to third until the Joker Lap, when Daarbak became vulnerable as Jansson and Klaasen were right behind him with their Jokers done. Andersson went on to control the race from the fourth lap and won the race, leaving Eriksson to deal with the rest of the field and barely protect his second place, while Jansson denied Klaasen of the final podium spot.
In the Open 4WD Am Final, Romet Tsirna barely outpaced Mervin Klaasen in their particular battle for the win, that could have had Adam Öhman if not for a 3 second penalty due to track limits.
RallyX South - Valkenswaard II results
Oliver Eriksson leads the standings with 57 points against 50 of Lukas Andersson, with Casper Jansson and Kevin Eriksson appearing far behind in third with 37 points each, while Niclas Grönholm is the fifth with 35 points.
The next event of the calendar will be at the Tierp Arena, in Sweden, on 16 and 17 May, which already has Timmy Hansen confirmed to drive an FC2.
PHOTO: RallyX
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