Double FIA World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson took a clean sweep of victories in the Supercar class of the RallyX Nordic of Arvika event at Westombanan as he also claimed the gold medal in the Swedish Rallycross Championship.
Kristoffersson, who hadn’t raced at Arvika since 2014, won all four qualifying sessions, his semi-final and then also the final, although did have to fight hard against Oliver Eriksson to take the win.
“I said all along that you need to be extremely sharp if you want to achieve a clean sweep. Oliver [Eriksson] was really on it in the final,” Kristoffersson said.
“I had a little bit too much wheelspin at the start and he pulled a great move up the inside of me and over the jump. After that, we had a fun battle for a couple of laps – it was only a shame it was cut short as I was looking forward to continuing the fight. Still, I’m very happy that we were able to put on such an exciting show for all the fans following via the livestream.”
Eriksson, who claimed the Swedish Rallycross Championship silver medal and currently sits as runner-up in the championship, showed no mercy after performing a round the outside move on Kristoffersson in the final at the jump between turn two and three.
Eriksson stormed into an early lead and was chased hard by Kristoffersson until he picked up a double puncture after clipping a barrier. After the Volkswagen Polo driver passed him for the lead, Eriksson held onto second until the last lap where he eventually let Linus Westman past, meaning the Swede had to settle for third.
Multiple Swedish Rallycross Champion Peter Hedström returned to RallyX Nordic this weekend, with the Hedströms Motorsport team manager close to passing Eriksson on the last lapbut he had to settle for fourth in the class.
Jamaican´s Fraser McConnell, who completed one of the performances of the weekend behind the wheels of a Supercar, made his second final appearance in three outtings. He had some bad luck at turn two of the opening lap of the final however after being spun around and he was dropped out of contention as a result.
A similar story could also be told for the third Olsbergs MSE driver in the final, the Supercar newcomer Anders Michalak. After making it to the final for the first time this season, his appearance was cut short after being forced to retire due to a gearbox issue.
In Supercar Lites, it was Henrik Krogstad who took the win in fine style. Wining everything bar one qualifying heat, Krogstad lead from start to finish in the final.
His dominance was helped after rival Simon Olofsson hit a wall at the exit of the joker lap, ensuring Krogstad was able to take the win. This also enabled him to take the Swedish Rallycross Championship gold medal ahead of Olofsson who took the silver medal.
‘Flying Finn’ Jesse Kallio claimed second in the final and currently leads the RallyX Nordic championship as a result. A close battle sees the top three separated by just a few points, with Krogstad ahead of Olsbergs MSE team mate Östlund in third.
Newcomer to the series Gustav Johansson made his first final appearance in three outtings and ended up finishing fourth, while the Swedish Rallycross Champion bronze medal went to Mats Oskarsson, despite having to retire from the final due to a puncture.
“This feels so good – it’s the best racing weekend I’ve ever had! Right from the start of Q1, I was properly in the zone and had a lot of fun – there wasn’t a single lap all weekend that I didn’t enjoy. ” Krogstad said on his win.
“It’s an emotional result. It’s my first win since returning from a year away and #YellowSquad’s first win in Supercar Lites, and everybody involved fully deserves this success for all the hard work that has gone into the project – that hard work is now paying off.”
In the Crosscar/Crosskart class it was Patrik Hallberg, who was another driver to dominate the whole weekend. He did spin in Q4 but went on to recover in fine form, taking the win in both the semi-final and then the final.
Isak Reiersen crossed the line in second while Oskar Andersson, who fought hard to pass Reiersen, had to settle for third place.
In the new for 2020 Crosscar Junior class it was 13-year-old Alex Gustafsson who took the win, with the top three being completed by Raoul Dahlqvist and Rasmus Persson. The battle for the Crosscar championships will go down to the double-header at Nysum in Denmark between 4-6 September
“It’s unbelievable – this feels great, especially after Höljes, where we should definitely have come away with a much better result, a delighted Krogstad added on his win.
“I got an amazing start in the final and pushed flat-out, which enabled me to build up a bit of a gap and then I could just focus on bringing it home. To be so fast at two completely different types of track is really encouraging going forward.”
While runner-up Gustafsson added: “I dropped back a bit at the start of the final, after which I had a big battle with Raoul (Dahlqvist). I pulled off what I thought was a good move on him into the last corner, but he came straight back at me again!”
“My joker then wasn’t great, so I was a bit surprised to emerge in front after Raoul jokered too. I’ve been driving at Westombanan since I was six-years-old, so I know the track pretty well and it really is such a special feeling to win at ‘home’.”
The Swedish Rallycross Championship also ran their final round of the revised 2020 season at Arvika, and the classes saw some brilliant door-to-door action throughout the weekend, also filled with plenty of drama.
In the RM2150 class, the championship’s gold medal was claimed by Björn `Putte` Alvarsson, after a hard fought battle with August Krokström. Third place went to Anton Eriksson-Theurus, who claimed the bronze medal.
The Junior SM class saw a bizarre end to the final after Filip Martinsson rolled over the finish-line, although still won the series gold medal over Klara Andersson. She was denied after being passed by Oscar Hillner in the very last corner of the season before the finish line. Alexander Jeppsson who won the final, took the bronze medal in the championship.
A similar story could be told in the 2400 class, where it was a battle between Per Berglund and Simon Cleason to take the gold medal. As Berglund finished in second place behind Cleason in the final, the gold medal went in Beglund´s favour after a strong start to the season, while a quite shocked Cleason had to settle for his silver medal and second in the championship. Rasmus Carlsson third place finish in the final was enough for him to take the bronze medal.
Finally in the Supernational class, the gold medal was claimed before the final by Per-Erik Blomqvist, who was denied a final appearance after a spin the semi-final. Andreas Isrealsson claimed the silver medal while Micke Nilsson took the bronze medal, despite having his car destroyed by a hard hit into a barrier in the semi-final.
The next event of the 2020 RallyX Nordic series will take place outside of Sweden for the one and only time this year at the world-famous Nysum track in Denmark, with the rounds 4&5 double-header set to be held between 4-6 September.
