Supercar pace and RX2 podiums for JC Raceteknik in Holjes
Front-running Swedish rallycross team JC Raceteknik claimed a double podium finish in the fourth round of the RX2 International Series at Holjes in Sweden, while in the third round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, the squad ran at the front of the 33-car field throughout its home event (July 2).
Competing in only his fourth ever Supercar Lites event, Belgian driver Guillaume De-Ridder was third fastest in Q1 and finished sixth in the Intermediate Classification. He produced a mature drive in semi-final two to qualify for the second row of the final.
In the final, the former rally driver battled for the lead of the race with championship leaders Cyril Raymond and Dan Rooke in the opening laps, and led for two corners at the end of lap two, only to make a small mistake and get passed by Rooke. The Belgian driver was however delighted with second position and moves up to third in the points.
De-Ridder was joined on the podium by team mate William Nilsson, who continued his impressive 2017 form with a consistently strong performance throughout the ‘Magic Weekend’, his home round of the Championship having made his RX2 debut at the circuit last season.
Marcus Hoglund made his fourth ever Supercar Lites start and his second at the circuit closest to his home and qualified for the semi-finals, but was involved in contact while fighting for a place in the final and retired. Sondre Evjen had a difficult weekend, despite setting fast lap times he didn’t make it into the top 12, in part due to damage sustained in Q3 to his rear suspension.
In the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar, Thomas Bryntesson once again starred, setting fastest time in Q1 against far more experienced drivers. Second fastest in Q2 and Q3, and sixth in Q4 meant Bryntesson qualified top in the Intermediate Classification, but was hit by poor luck when the Ford Focus Supercar’s engine stalled on the start-line for the semi-final. As hard as he tried, he was unable to recover the lost time.
Ola Froshaug achieved his goal of qualifying for the semi-finals in the competitive field, and despite heavy damage from contact in semi-final two he finished second to make it into the final for the first time. In the final, even with a broken driveshaft the experienced Supernational driver finished fourth.
The next round of the RX2 International Series takes place at Trois-Rivieres in Canada (August 5 – 6) and the next round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar will be held at Loheac in France (September 1 – 3).
Joel Christoffersson, Team Principal :
“Overall it’s been a good weekend for us. We were fast all weekend with Thomas in Supercar until the semi-final. The semi-final didn’t go like we planned, Thomas stalled the engine at the start, I think we have some problem but we haven’t found it yet. He had amazing pace like always so it’s quite frustrating that we didn’t get a place in the final. Ole had a rough semi-final, but made it into the final. He ended up fourth and we are so happy for him.
It was a good weekend in RX2 too. It was a special one, things were going up and down every time and it was a shame that Sondre didn’t quite make it into the semi-finals. Guillaume did a very good job, he was racing was really well and finally made it onto the podium in his first year. William did a really good weekend again – strong, consistent and superb. Marcus drove well too and it’s a shame he retired in the semi-final.”
Euro RX Supercar: Thomas Bryntesson (NOR) :
"The whole team deserved a better result than this. Although it has been a really good first season for me so far in Euro RX, I feel that everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. But, looking at the bigger picture, the weekend was good to get to the front of the semi-final. The event started well on Friday and Saturday, I had a steady run and winning heat races in Supercar in front of this audience and with all of the supporters here was awesome.”
Euro RX Supercar: Ola Froshaug (NOR) :
“I'm very happy, the semi-final was the goal so to get to the final is awesome. Of the 33 drivers, I was in the top four, which is absolutely magic for me. My next race will be RallyX Nordic in Denmark and there I will try to fight for the final.”
RX2: Sondre Evjen (NOR) :
“I had good speed this weekend but made some bad starts. In Q1 and Q2 I got into the joker first so that was good, but there was a lot of traffic in Q1. In Q3 I got hit in the right-rear wheel and it was pointing maybe 40 degrees in the wrong direction, so it was really difficult to drive fast. Then, in Q4 I made a bad start and got stuck behind another car in the joker and got held up. It’s really disappointing, I wanted to be in the semi-finals, the final and fight for victory here. I know I’ve got the pace for that, so it’s a bad feeling. I’m excited about going to Canada, that will be a new experience for me.”
RX2: William Nilsson (SWE) :
"I'm really happy. There were a lot of competitors here and it was definitely the toughest event of my career. I've been really fast all weekend and even if my goal in the final is to fight for victory, a podium is really nice.”
RX2: Guillaume De-Ridder (BEL) :
“This is unbelievable, I’m still on a bit of a cloud and don’t really have to words to explain. It’s an amazing result for us, I wasn’t expecting this after the qualifying races because we were struggling a bit with the setup and the pace. Finally, we found a solution this morning during warm-up and it went pretty well. We had a bit of luck that (Cyril) Raymond had an issue in the final, but that’s part of the game so we have to take it. I led for one corner in the final so that was pretty amazing, but I made a really small mistake and left a small gap, and Dan (Rooke) went for it. He was clean, so well done to him for that, but next time I won’t leave the gap.”
RX2: Marcus Hoglund (SWE) :
"The support from the home crowd was awesome. With so many sponsors and friends in the audience, it’s amazing to stand on the inside of the track and hear them cheer for a heat race win. Breaking down in the semi-final was a big shame, I wanted to go to the final. But, I’m not finishing in Supercar Lites yet, I will be back!”
FIA European Rallycross Championship, Holjes, Sweden Result:
1 Anton Marklund (SWE)
2 Peter Hedstrom (SWE)
3 Rene Munnich (GER)
4 Ola Froshaug (NOR)
5 Alexander Hvaal (NOR)
6 Mats Ohman (SWE)
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7 Thomas Bryntesson (NOR)
FIA European Rallycross Championship Points:
1 Anton Marklund (SWE) 81
2 Robin Larsson (SWE) 62
3 Tommy Rustad (NOR) 52
= Thomas Bryntesson (NOR) 52
5 Alexander Hvaal (NOR) 50
6 Peter Hedstrom (SWE) 43
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10 Ola Froshaug (NOR) 29
RX2 International Series, Holjes, Sweden Result:
1 Dan Rooke (GBR)
2 Guillaume De-Ridder (BEL)
3 William Nilsson (SWE)
4 Andreas Backman (SWE)
5 Stein-Fredrik Akre (SWE)
6 Cyril Raymond (FRA)
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9 Marcus Hoglund (SWE)
14 Sondre Evjen (NOR)
RX2 International Series standings:
1 Cyril Raymond (FRA) 108
2 Dan Rooke (GBR) 102
3 Guillaume De-Ridder (BEL) 68
4 William Nilsson (SWE) 63
5 Tanner Whitten (USA) 60
6 Glenn Haug (NOR) 59
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8 Sondre Evjen (NOR) 45
15 Marcus Hoglund (SWE) 18
