Pailler has dream weekend with Lohéac RX win

Between the collection of rallycross stars that the FIA European Rallycross Championship reunited at its return to Lohéac, Fabien Pailler made his weekend feel like a dream, recovering a Renault Megane R.S. RX to a competitive state and doing even more, as the Pailler Competition driver won at home by beating Andreas Bakkerud, Johan Kristoffersson, Sébastien Loeb and many more.
 
The Kristoffersson Motorsport Polo KMS 601 RXs were in the front row for the first Quarter Final, but while Johan Kristoffersson escaped with the lead, Patrick O’Donovan passed Ole Christian Veiby and held the Norwegian behind the field. In the desperation to cover the lost time, Veiby went wide twice, which was key to not reach neither O’Donovan not Nils Volland, while Kristoffersson let the race from lights to flag.
 
The second one had Sébastien Loeb, but Juha Rytkönen in the lead, but behind them, Laszló Kiss and Tamás Kárai, Eoin Murray was working a different tactic with an early Joker, throwing his Honda Civic RX ahead of the Hungarians, but Murray even had pace to reach Loeb, overtake him and take second place while Rytkönen won without threats.
 
The third race had a full French front row with Fabien Pailler and Julien Febreau leading Rokas Baciuska and Kevin Hansen. While Pailler went away with the lead, Febreau was busy with Baciuska and Hansen while Martin Enlund was watching from fifth, but Hansen’s decision to use dry tires in a damp track backfired and he was in Baciuska’s strike zone, falling off in the final lap while Pailler won comfortably, Febreau secured second place and Baciuska led the pack of the rest for the third spot.
 
Quarter Final 4 was a wet race for sure, so everybody changed to wet tires before the start. When the race started for real, Andreas Bakkerud led the field while Joni Turpeinen was protecting his position, but Andrea Benezet was having no reservations and pressed Turpeinen, though Oliver O’Donovan did the move and bullied Turpeinen out of the way, so their problems were now behind them as João Ribeiro and José Oliveira had their Jokers done. Ribeiro took the second place behind Bakkerud naturally, and O’Donovan muscled Benezet out of the way to third, was black flagged at the line but then got the penalty rescinded in the end, recovering his place in the Semifinal.
 
Semifinal 1 had Pailler stealing the lead under Kristoffersson’s nose, forcing the Swede to go on all out attack. Patrick O’Donovan was a sitting duck in third, but Fébreau and Baciuska were real threats behind O’Donovan. Pailler had some relief on Lap 3 as Kristoffersson went wide, but the KMS driver recovered the losses in a single lap to go to the Joker on Lap 4, and despite the fear of Kristoffersson beating Pailler on pace after the Joker, the Pailler Competition Megane R.S. RX delivered, holding the first place and keeping Kristoffersson in second, while Baciuska held Fébreau and O’Donovan to go to the Final.
 
Semifinal 2 saw Bakkerud lead and Rytkönen cover him while Ribeiro and Murray were in their own battle, with Loeb dealing with Oliver O’Donovan. Loeb found a way past Ribeiro while Murray was plowed by O’Donovan after the Joker merge. Bakkerud and Rytkönen kept their positions and cruised to the line while Loeb raced to secure third place and the final spot in the event’s Final.
 
In the Final, Pailler took the lead from the inside, Bakkerud stood in second and Rytkönen covered him while Kristoffersson got boxed, with Loeb on his back and Baciuska with the Joker already done. No one was willing to give an opening to the car behind, and this scenario was working wonders  for Pailler, as Loeb was holding Kristoffersson from Lap 5 until the Joker Lap.
 
Pailler left the Joker for the final lap and simply completed the job of a whole weekend as the Renault Megane R.S. RX had pace to spare to guide him to the line.
 
Lohéac RX - Event results
 
The double header set for Lousada on 12 and 13 September will be on fire as Bakkerud took the lead with 158 points but Kristoffersson is only a single point behind. Along with the night racing, a first in Euro RX, the return of current Euro RX champion Yury Belevskiy is confirmed.
 
PHOTO: FIA Rallycross Championships