JC Raceteknik driver Robin Larsson wins Euro RX round one in the UK

Swede Robin Larsson won the first round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar at Silverstone and took the lead in the points with JC Raceteknik’s Audi S1 Supercar (May 26).
 
The rallycross track located at the famous Formula 1 circuit was the venue for the first round of the Euro RX Supercar category, just a week after the first round of the RallyX Nordic season at Holjes where Larsson finished on the podium.
 
For JC Raceteknik, the result marks a second ever Euro RX Supercar win in an almost perfect weekend, where from the very first practice session he was the fastest driver. Quickest in three of the four qualifying races, Larsson took top points from qualifying, won his semi-final and defended the race lead well in difficult conditions in the final to take the win.
 
In the single-make RX2 International Series, it was a hard end to the event for Norwegian Ben-Philip Gundersen. The event offered mixed results for the former FIA European Rallycross Champion, but he was competitive in qualifying and was second in the semi-finals to make it into the final. But, in the second start of a red flagged final, Gundersen was pushed into a tyre wall, damaging the car too much to continue. He finished fifth and remains sixth in the championship.
 
Swede William Nilsson showed good pace during the event and won several races. In the semi-finals he looked set for a second place result, but due to having the wrong setup on the car, and a joker lap at the wrong time, he ended up fourth and just missed a place in the final. He has climbed to seventh in the RX2 points.
 
Find full results and championship standings here.

The next round for both series will be the Norwegian event in Hell (June 15), but first next weekend the third round of RallyX Nordic will take place in Denmark.
 
Joel Christoffersson, Team Principal:
“It was nice to have had a comfortable weekend in Supercar. It was the perfect start to Euro RX, Robin controlled it from start-to-finish. I’m very happy with how he drove and the results he got through the weekend so it feels perfect looking to the rest of the season.
In RX2 we struggled a bit yesterday but we worked hard on both the driving and chassis setup and we had some good speed today. In the semi-final I made a mistake as William’s spotter and took him in a little bit too late into the joker, but that’s how it is. We need to learn from that. Ben-Philip did a really good semi-final and made a really good start in the final but then it got red flagged and we got pushed off in the re-start. I feel sad for him because I think he could have had a really good finish.”
 
Supercar: Robin Larsson (SWE) :
“We had good starts in almost every heat and in the finals. I was a little bit worried when the rain came in the semi-finals, because I haven’t done a proper start in the rain, but it worked well. The driving felt really good in the semi-final, but in the final it was so hard to find the right line. It was the first time during the weekend that I was really pushed by [Thomas] Bryntesson. It’s so easy to do mistakes on this track, so I took it really, really easy and just had the communication with the spotter and a look in the rear mirror and it felt really bad. But, it’s a win so it’s really good to walk away from this track, which doesn’t suit me with the racing lines and it being so so slippery, with the victory. It’s a real pleasure to drive this car, you can really push to the limit and it feels like we have so much to find out about the car and my driving. It’s so fun.”
 
RX2: Ben-Philip Gundersen (NOR) :
“The weekend has gone a little up and down for me. In the first start of the final it was good, but then the red flag was shown. At the restart I was quick off the line and kept my position but in the first corner I was put into the tyre wall and the car was too badly damage to continue. That’s very sad because we a good chance for a good result. Generally, we are among the fastest, but still have a step up to Oliver Eriksson who is currently in a class of his own. We have tested some new settings on the car and made some changes during the weekend. Right now we are sixth in the championship, which of course is not where we want to be. It’s important now to pick points in every event. The next race will be in Hell, and it will be fun to compete on Norwegian soil with many Norwegians there for support. I have had bad luck so far this year, so I hope that changes now.”
 
RX2: William Nilsson (SWE) :
“As a team we have taken another step forward, but the last little thing is missing. I got decent results through qualifying despite some tough starting positions. We had good speed and I took a couple of heat victories. Before the semi-finals it rained, so it was difficult to know how quickly it would dry up. We chose to run with full wet-setup. Once in the semi-finals, I got a brilliant start and came out second, but unfortunately the track dried faster than we thought and I dropped to fourth place. Before the next round in Hell we will discuss and analyse everything and work on developing the car even more.”