Swedish team JC Raceteknik were looking to start the 2018 FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars off to a good point in Spain, however challenging conditions meant their impressive efforts would have different outcomes for both of their drivers.
2017 RallyX Nordic Champion Thomas Bryntesson suffered a difficult weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where after the first day he was in fifth place overall behind team-mate Ola Froshaug.
Ola Froshaug just missed out on a place in the Euro RX Supercar Final in Spain. Credit: Tony Welam / McKlein
On Sunday, the conditions were much drier and this saw more competitive times set by the Euro RX field, however Bryntesson suffered with a damaged front subframe in Q3 and this also led to issues that saw the young Swedish driver out in Q4.
Froshaug managed to have a better time of it by going third fastest in Q3, with this effort being enough to keep in inside the top twelve for the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, he missed on on the Final by finishing in fourth place during Semi-Final One behind Reinis Nitiss, Ulrik Linnemann and Philip Gehrman.
Despite missing out on the Final, the former RallyX Nordic SuperNational driver lies in seventh place overall after the first round, only three points behind fellow RallyX Nordic Series competitor Peter Hedstrom.
Thomas Bryntesson had a difficult start to his Euro RX campaign in Spain. Credit: Tony Welam / McKlein
Bryntesson reflected on what was a difficult opening round of the 2018 FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars for him.
“It’s been a crazy event for me, one of the worst in my whole career. Firstly, I didn’t find the speed, then the car broke down in two heats and breaking down twice makes it impossible to fight for a good end result,” explained Bryntesson.
“Unfortunately I scored no points in Barcelona, so in order to have a chance of fighting for the title I need to have a brilliant result in the next four races. It will be tough to be on the top of the podium this year, but I will push to get as good a final result as possible.”
Ola Froshaug is looking forward to more competitive races for the rest of the season. Credit: Tony Welam / McKlein
Froshaug in contrast, expressed his happiness about the pace he was able to find last weekend in Spain.
“I’m really pleased with the pace I had this. The starts have all gone really well and I’ve been up to speed on the track and I can say that the development we did on the cars over the winter has worked perfectly for me,” said Froshaug.
“I have a good feeling for the coming races and have high ambitions for this year now – anything can happen yet.”
