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Euro RX round-up from Latvia

The final round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship took place alongside the brand new FIA World Rallycross Championship event at Riga in Latvia last weekend, where outgoing Euro RX title holder Tommy Rustad claimed victory ahead of 2016 champion Kevin Hansen.

Rustad's Albatec Racing team mate Jerome Grosset-Janin started on pole position for the final, but it was second row starter Peter Hedstrom who made the best start in the run to turn one. However, in the first corner concertina, the Volkswagen Polo driver was sent into a half spin, which also delayed Tamas Pal Kiss. Rustad took the lead ahead of Grosset-Janin and Kiss, while behind contact between Tord Linnerud and Hansen at turn three sent the champion's Peugeot into a spin.

Linnerud took his joker on lap one, Hansen moving up to fifth before taking his joker on lap two, returning to the man circuit seven seconds behind leader Rustad. Hansen passed Hedstrom when the Swede took his joker on lap three, but remained fourth behind Grosset-Janin when the Frenchman took his joker on lap four. The Albatec driver made a mistake on the loose section on lap five, allowing Hansen to climb to fourth, while Rustad and Kiss took their joker laps. At the start of the final lap, Kiss ran wide at the exit of the second corner, gifting Hansen the opportunity to climb to second, which almost became victory when Rustad made a mistake in the penultimate corner and hit the wall on the outside of the circuit. The Norwegian held on to win, with Hansen second and Kiss third. Grosset-Janin's fourth place was enough to lift him to second in the championship, ahead of Linnerud.

The Latvian event hosted the final round of the RX Lites Cup, where Cyril Raymond was crowned as champion despite not making it into the final due to contact in the semi-final, as title-rival Thomas Bryntesson was forced out in the semi-finals by clutch failure. Raymond will race an OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta Supercar at the next World RX round in German as his prize. Sondre Evjen claimed his first RX Lites victory in Latvia. America's Conner Martell finished second and Kenya's Tejas Hirani completed the podium.

Competitors in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for TouringCar raced in the penultimate round for the rear-wheel drive category in Latvia, where Fredrik Magnussen claimed victory from Magda Andersson and Philip Gehrman, setting up a four-way fight for the title heading to the final round in Germany in less than two weeks time.

Coverage of the Euro RX Supercar and TouringCar categories can be seen on the OTT highlights programme on the FIA World Rallycross Championship YouTube channel from 6pm GMT today.

Zdroj: fiaworldrallycross.com