The Circuit Jules Tacheny de Mettet in Belgium played host to round four of The 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, with round two of The 2017 FIA European Rallycross Championship for TouringCars as part of the support package over the same weekend.
The Euro RX TouringCars category is for 2 litre Normally Aspirated rear-wheel drive cars only and it often draws a quality field of drivers from Scandinavia and Europe.
At the first round of this years Championship, held in Spain at the Barcelona Grand Prix Circuit, it was Philip Gehrman who took the win and was leading the series as it headed to Belgium.
Philip Gehrman led the Drivers Championship ahead of Belgium. Credit: Steve White / Fueltopia
Qualifying saw the wins spread evenly between both Lars-Øivind Ehrenberg and Ben-Philip Gundersen, as both drivers took two wins each, however it would be Gundersen who would be Top Qualifier going into the Semi-Finals. Gundersen would miss out on the final as both Ehrenberg and Anders-Nymoen Braten took the Semi-Final wins between them.
The grid for the TouringCar Final saw Ehrenberg on pole position with Braten alongside him. The Middle row was occupied by Gehrman and local driver Steve Volders with Steinar Stokke in the Mazda RX8 and Mandy Kasse in her Ford Fiesta completing the lineup.
Lars-Øivind Ehrenberg led the way in Qualifying to take pole for the TouringCar Final. Credit: Steve White / Fueltopia
Enerberg led the race from the front but an early joker lap gave Braten the opportunity to hunt the leader down, however he just lost out on victory in a race to the finish line. Ehrenberg would go on to win the final by just 0.194s from Braten whilst Gehrman was third to ake his second podium of the year.
Stokke came over the line in fourth place in the Mazda whilst Volders, who is in his first year of Euro RX TouringCars after dominating the SuperNational classes of both the Belgian Rallycross Championship and Rallycross Challenge Europe finished in fifth place. Mandy Kasse guided her Ford Fiesta home to sixth place.
Anders-Nymoen Braten just missed out on the TouringCar win in Belgium. Credit: Steve White / Fueltopia
In the TouringCars Drivers Championship, both Philip Gehrman and Lars-Øivind Ehrenberg are tied for the lead on fourty-eight points whilst Anders-Nymoen Braten is one point behind in third place. The series now moves to the Spiritual home of Rallycross at Lydden Hill in the UK for round three which takes place on May 26 – 28.
