Tommi Hallman continues his impressive run of form here at Lydden Hill Race Circuit, topping the leaderboard in the RX2e class of the 2023 FIA World Rallycross Championship. He narrowly missed out on a clean sweep, coming second in heat 4 after a great battle with championship leader Nils Andersson.
Heat 3
Robert Vitols recovered from a DNF in heat 2 to take his heat race win in heat 3. Catie Munnings, racing for #YellowSquad, recovered from a first corner incident to fight back for second. The battle for the overall lead is still between Nils Andersson, reigning champion Viktor Vranckx, and newcomer Hallman. Hallman and Andersson were battling for the lead of their heat race, with Hallman having just enough pace to ensure Andersson came out of his joker lap behind him. Vranckx tough weekend continued when a front left puncture put him out of contention for a heat race win. Hallman and Andersson took the top two positions in heat 3.
Heat 4
Vranckx fought back in the final round of heats, pushing hard and taking victory in his final race. However, his unfortunate weekend continues, as he was given a 12 second penalty by the stewards after contact with Pablo Suárez at turn 1. He still has work to do to take the top spot, as his time was 5 seconds slower than the ultimate fastest heat time. Munnings continued her impressive form, once again recovering from a difficult start to fight back to third in her race.
But it was in the final race that the most action took place. Hallman was shuffled back into fourth position after the first run through Talladega. He elected to go for his joker lap straight away on lap 2, giving him some clear air to push and close the gap to Andersson, who had taken a commanding lead. Hallman pushed as hard as he could, almost losing it on multiple occasions and drifting spectacularly around the Talladega drift. Andersson jokered on the penultimate lap, coming out just ahead of Hallman, and the due pushed each other hard to the line. Hallman finished second, 0.8 seconds behind Andersson.
Vitols’ weekend may well be over, however, following damage to his steering on the last lap of his race. He pulled off to the side of the track just before the jump with his front right wheel bend at a very strange angle.
The semi-finals and final will follow between 2 and 4pm GMT.
