The travel to Finland was good for Juha Rytkönen’s debut in a FirstCorner FC2, as he won with authority the RallyX North event on Saturday at Honkajoki, while Oliver Eriksson finally let the bad luck behind and went for a tidy run to the win on Sunday.
While Oliver Eriksson won the first heat and had the best FC2 in Qualifying, he was only second in the overall table, because Joni-Pekka Rajala won the other two heats and he was the top qualifier with his Mitsubishi Mirage RX, despite being tied on intermediate points with Eriksson. Juha Rytkönen was the third best in his first Qualifying phase with an FC2, showing his prowess immediatelly but being a bit far from Rajala and Eriksson. The other home drivers couldn’t appear as much as Rajala and Rytkönen, as Pasi Penttinen fought hard but he was ninth, while Ari-Pekka Niemi couldn’t even align at the grid in any of the three heats.
With Rajala ruled out of the Pro Final, Eriksson was in the top spot of the grid and opened a gap immediately to Lukas Andersson, with Romet Tsirna behind them to look at what they would do, but in the second lap, Eriksson lost balance and went off track, leaving only Andersson and Tsirna fighting for the lead. Andersson had a sluggish Joker and this opened the door for Rytkönen to take the position, and in the final lap, Rytkönen completed the job to win after putting his FC2 in the right places to beat Tsirna at the Joker exit.
While not present in the Pro Final due to the regulations, Joni-Pekka Rajala dominated the Am Final.
RallyX North - Honkajoki I results
The Qualifying on Sunday had everything to give a headache to Reinis Nitiss in the stewards room, as contact galore affected most of the field, for good or for bad, which put Oliver Eriksson on top of a phase that was supposed to have Juha Rytkönen in first, if not for a suspension break due to contact in Q3. Tobias Daarbak emerged in third as he managed to get through all races in one piece, with Adam Öhman in fourth and Joni-Pekka Rajala only in fifth after a Q2 black flag for intentional contact.
In the Pro Final, Eriksson had the top of the grid and got away with it while chased by Rytkönen, and behind them a multi-car melee took out Adam Öhman and slowed down massively the rest of the field. Eriksson left the Joker for the penultimate lap, and with Rytkönen going wide while he was keeping a tidy line every lap, there was no opposition for Oliver Eriksson in his quest to victory.
A tight contest in the Am Final gave the win to Romet Tsirna after Öhman, Rajala and Daarbak got too busy battling with each other.
RallyX North - Honkajoki II results
The standings show Eriksson on top with 58 points while Andersson takes the second place with 55. The absence of Niclas Grönholm and Casper Jansson threw them to third and fourth with 49 and 48 points, respectively, while Tsirna tied on points with Jansson, which threw Timmy Hansen to sixth with 44 points while Öhman has 41 in seventh.
RallyX North moves back to Sweden as Älvsbyn will host the third double header of the season on 6 and 7 June.
PHOTOS: RallyX
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