The French Rallycross Championship staged its sixth round of the 2026 season at Lohéac over the weekend, forming part of a huge celebration marking 50 years of rallycross at the legendary French track.

French drivers shared the weekend with the FIA European Rallycross Championship, while the Supercar field received additional international flavour from drivers representing the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy.

It produced one of the biggest rallycross weekends of the decade, with enormous crowds surrounding the track throughout the weekend and plenty of drama across the French categories.

Supercar

Damien Meunier emerged victorious from the headline Supercar category with his EKS and Audi Sport-built Audi S1.

The car itself carries considerable history, being the same chassis Mattias Ekström drove to the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship title.

Meunier did not win any of the four qualifiers, but remained in contention before delivering when it mattered in the final.

His victory also completed a remarkable weekend for the Meunier family. Shortly after Damien's Supercar success, his brother Julien Meunier won the Euro RX3 final to complete a double home victory at Lohéac.

Jean-Baptiste Dubourg finished second during his second appearance of the season in one of the DA Racing-run Peugeot 208s. Dubourg had already demonstrated his speed by winning Q4.

Reigning French champion Davy Jeanney completed the podium in his ES Motorsport-built Škoda Fabia.

Derek Tohill was the leading 5 Nations BRX driver.

The Irishman finished fourth overall in another DA Racing Peugeot 208, scoring points towards both the French and British championships in the process.

But perhaps the most popular result outside the victory came from Hervé “Knapick” Lemonnier.

The French rallycross legend, who turns 80 this year, has competed at every rallycross event held at Lohéac since the track opened in 1976. Fifty years later, he was still fighting at the front.

Lemonnier brought his own Citroën DS3 home in an extraordinary fifth position, with the crowd erupting in celebration as he left the track following the finish.

David Vincent completed the top six in his G-Fors-built Renault Clio.

DA Racing's Laurent Le Manac'h retired his Citroën DS3 on the final lap, while Jonathan Pailler's final ended almost immediately when his Pailler Competition Peugeot 208 went straight into the sand at the opening corner.

Pailler had shown plenty of speed earlier by winning Q3. Like the Meunier family, the Paillers also enjoyed a successful weekend, with Jonathan's brother Fabien going on to claim a hugely popular Euro RX1 victory.

Further down the classification, Tristan Ovenden was the second-highest 5 Nations Trophy driver in 14th overall with his ex-Kristoffersson Motorsport Volkswagen Polo.

John McCluskey followed in 15th with his Olsbergs MSE-built Honda Civic Coupé, while multiple British champion Julian Godfrey endured a difficult weekend with his Citroën DS3 and finished 20th overall.

The separate Supercar Challenge final for veteran drivers produced a landmark result for Philippe Maloigne.

Maloigne claimed his first victory with the new G-Fors-built Toyota GR Yaris, ahead of Emmanuel Moinel in an ex-Hansen Peugeot 208 and Stéphane De Ganay's Citroën DS3.

Romuald Delaunay had earlier been one of the fastest drivers with his G-Fors-built Renault Clio, dominating both Q1 and Q2.

His weekend ended dramatically in Q4. The field bunched together at turn 1 on the opening lap and Delaunay's Clio was tipped into a gentle roll over, bringing his Lohéac campaign to a premature end.

Super1600

Valentin Lumet came out on top in Super1600 with his Škoda Fabia.

Lumet remained inside the top three throughout qualifying and finished that part of the weekend by winning Q4 before converting his consistency into victory in the final.

Jérémy Lambec finished second in his Audi A1 after winning Q1, while Xavier Allereu completed the podium with another Škoda Fabia.

Allereu had been particularly strong through the middle of qualifying, taking back-to-back victories in Q2 and Q3.

Julien Hardonnière brought the unusual Dacia Sandero home fourth, ahead of Jean-François Blaise's Ford Fiesta and Rudolf Schafer's Peugeot 208.

Kelig Gousebet's final ended on lap four when his Renault Clio went straight into the barrier at turn 2, while Yoann Caillon retired his Citroën C3 on the opening lap.

The weekend had already been overshadowed by a serious accident involving championship leader Jimmy Terpereau on Friday.

Terpereau crashed his Peugeot 208 into a barrier and was transported to hospital by helicopter. Reports from the paddock indicated that he suffered broken ribs.

It creates uncertainty over whether Terpereau will be able to return before the end of the season, particularly as he was still recovering from injuries sustained in an earlier accident.

Division 3

The spectacular V6-powered Division 3 category, featuring spaceframe cars with either four-wheel or rear-wheel drive, was won by French YouTuber “Moustache” in his Ford Fiesta.

He had already established himself as the early benchmark by winning Q1 and Q2 back-to-back before going on to take the final.

Christophe Saunois recovered from a relatively quiet qualifying performance to finish second with his Audi S1, while Lorenzo Delaunay completed the podium in a Peugeot 208.

Cyril Coué finished fourth in his Volkswagen Polo, with Aurélien Crochard's Peugeot 208 the final car to reach the finish.

Championship leader Nicolas Beuclé endured a much more difficult final.

The Mercedes-Benz A45 driver, who had won Q4, was turned sideways at turn 1 and left stranded on the spot.

The same opening-corner incident also ended the races of Ethan Gouriou's Volkswagen Polo and Marin Le Jossec's Renault Clio.

Division 4

Jules Burson took the Division 4 victory with his Renault Clio.

The category follows a similar philosophy to the Super2000 machinery seen elsewhere in European rallycross, and Burson had remained inside the top three throughout qualifying, including victory in Q2.

Steven Drouyer, one of the dominant Division 4 drivers this season, finished second with his older-generation Renault Clio despite not winning a qualifier at Lohéac.

Jean-Philippe Roussillon completed the podium with his Citroën C3 after earlier winning Q1.

Christophe Barbier recovered from midfield qualifying results to bring his Peugeot 208 into fourth, followed by Antoni Masset's Renault Clio, Kylian Rozier's Peugeot 208 and Yann Le Lay in another 208.

Julien Guillard had won Q4 earlier in the weekend but retired his Renault Clio on the fourth lap of the final.

Division 5

Division 5 once again provided close racing between the identical Renault Clio V RX machinery.

Ronan Deslandes took the final victory after also winning Q1.

Gautier Sarhy finished second following his Q4 victory, while Q2 winner Ewan Hudo completed the podium.

Hugo Jouan, who had won Q3, finished fourth ahead of Ilona Bertapelle and Timothée Carrée.

Claudio Capéo took seventh, with Alexandre Hommell completing the final in eighth.

Féminines

Janyce Da Cruz came out on top in the all-female Féminines category, where the field competes with two generations of identical Renault Twingo R1 RX machinery.

Da Cruz won Q4 before going on to claim victory in the final.

Lorine Beauvoir finished second after being fastest in Q3, while Q1 winner Tiphaine Lunel completed the podium.

Chloé Danveau finished fourth ahead of Maéva Caradeux, Calie La Corre and Coralie Borée, with Célia Dréan completing the final in eighth.

The 2026 Danish Rallycross Championship entered its closing stages over the weekend with round 6 at Nørlundsbanen near Ikast, leaving only the championship finale at Nysumbanen on 18/19 September.

One of the more unusual aspects of Danish rallycross is the qualifying format. Rather than separating every category into its own qualifying races, cars from different classes race together before being separated into their respective class results and finals.

It can create combinations rarely seen elsewhere in rallycross. A quick Super1600 car can suddenly find itself sharing a qualifying race with one of the most powerful Supernational machines, adding another dimension to the battle through the four qualifiers.

Supernational

Supernational featured six cars at Nørlund, with half of the field arriving with newly or relatively recently built machinery.

At the front, however, it was once again Emil Hammer who came away victorious.

Hammer took his rear-wheel-drive, turbocharged Škoda Fabia Mk1 to another final victory after also setting the fastest Supernational result in Q2 and Q4.

Peder T. Jensen finished runner-up once again in his Volvo 240. Jensen had been the dominant force during the opening part of the season and demonstrated that pace again by winning Q3.

Third went to one of the weekend's relatively new cars.

Michael Lundholm raced an Opel Ascona carrying a livery inspired by the famous factory rally cars of the past and immediately showed its potential by winning Q1. He eventually completed his first weekend of the year with the car on the podium in third.

Lars Nielsen brought another particularly interesting new build to Nørlund.

His Peugeot 106 is one of the more unusual cars currently competing in Scandinavian Supernational and Nielsen took the small Peugeot to fourth in the final.

Jakob Pedersen's relatively new rear-wheel-drive converted Audi Coupé GT added yet another unconventional machine to the field and finished fifth, while Cilas K. Olesen completed the final in his Peugeot 207.

Super2000

Søren Jensen added another Super2000 victory to his season with the Renault Clio despite not winning any of the four qualifiers.

Instead, the qualifying victories were shared among his rivals.

Janis Peterson took Q2 in his Opel Corsa C before going on to finish second in the final.

Bøje Petersen completed the podium with his Opel Manta after being fastest in Q4.

Mads Larsen was the notable name outside the top three. Larsen, who has also competed in the RallyX North Supercar Lites category, won Q1 and Q3 in his Peugeot 206 but could only convert that speed into fourth in the final.

Rune H. Staudt was the fifth and final finisher in his Renault Clio.

Karsten L. Hansen qualified his Volkswagen Golf Mk3 for the final but did not make the start.

Super1600

Morten E. Pedersen recovered from a difficult beginning to the weekend to claim another Super1600 victory with his Volkswagen Polo.

Pedersen failed to finish Q1, but his response was impressive. He remained inside the top two throughout the rest of qualifying and took victories in both Q2 and Q4 before going on to win the final.

Thomas A. Møller made it a Volkswagen Polo one-two, while Morten K. Nielsen completed the podium with his Honda Civic.

Mikkel Ø. Vineke finished fourth in his Peugeot 207 ahead of Kent Lunddorf's Opel Corsa.

Jamie Rømer had demonstrated her speed earlier by winning Q1 with the Fiat Grande Punto, but she did not make the start of the final.

Rallycross 0-1600

Peugeot dominated the Rallycross 0-1600 final, with the 206 occupying all four of the leading positions.

Brothers Mathias and Morten Knudsen led the way.

Mathias Knudsen completed a strong weekend by winning the final after earlier topping Q1 and Q4.

Morten Knudsen followed his brother home in second after taking his own qualifying victory in Q2.

Emelie Larsen, sister of Super2000 driver Mads Larsen, completed the podium after winning Q3 earlier in the meeting.

Oliver Christiansen made it four Peugeot 206s inside the top four.

Thomas Wisby finished fifth with his Citroën C2, while Andreas Jacobsen completed the final in sixth with his Mini Cooper R50.

Two further drivers, Filip J. Sørensen and Magnus B. Johansen, were disqualified from the meeting. The reason for their exclusions was not immediately clear from the available results.

With Nørlund now complete, only one round remains in the 2026 Danish Rallycross Championship.

The championship will be decided at Nysumbanen in September, bringing the seven-round campaign to its conclusion at one of Denmark's best-known rallycross venues.

All-inkl.com Münnich Motorsport has become the latest team to commit to the inaugural FIA Rallycross World Cup, confirming husband and wife duo René Münnich and Mandie August for the season-ending event in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Both drivers will compete in the RX1 category with two SEAT Ibizas when the World Cup takes place at the converted Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit on 5/6 December.

Münnich brings almost two decades of international rallycross experience to the event, having made his debut in the discipline in 2007.

The German has since become a regular fixture at the highest level of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, with three Euro RX podiums and his breakthrough victory coming at Lohéac in 2021. That victory made Münnich the first German driver to win a round in the championship's top category.

He has also competed intermittently in World RX for around a decade, reaching several finals with his familiar SEAT Ibiza machinery, alongside a successful career in touring car racing.

August has established herself in Euro RX1 after progressing through the German Rallycross Championship and the now defunct series Rallycross Challenge Europe.

Her strongest European result came at Hell in 2023, where she finished fourth and missed a place on the podium by less than a second. She has also scored points in the World RX.

Both Münnich and August have continued competing in Euro RX1 during the 2026 season.

Their confirmation adds another experienced two-car team to the growing Jakarta field, joining previously announced names including Sébastien Loeb and Kevin Hansen, who will compete together for SARGA Motorsport.

The inaugural FIA Rallycross World Cup will mark the sport's first expansion into Southeast Asia and will feature a new format alongside the purpose-built mixed-surface adaptation of Jakarta's Formula E circuit.

For Münnich Motorsport, it now means the 2026 season will continue beyond the conclusion of the Euro RX, with two cars heading to Indonesia to fight for the first FIA RX1 World Cup title.

The Meunier family could hardly have asked for a better conclusion to their home weekend at Lohéac.

Julien Meunier has won the Euro RX3 final, completing a superb weekend with his third victory of the 2026 season and only moments after his brother Damien Meunier took victory in the French Rallycross Championship Supercar final.

It completed an extraordinary double home triumph for the brothers in front of the huge French crowd.

Meunier had already established himself as the driver to beat during the latter stages of the European weekend.

After Audrius Kragas topped the wet opening qualifier, Meunier responded by winning Q2, Q3 and Q4 consecutively before continuing his winning streak in Sunday's semi-final.

One final race remained.

Meunier made no mistake when the lights went out.

The Frenchman took the lead ahead of Kragas and immediately put himself in control of the six-car final.

Behind them, Nicolas Geleyns occupied third ahead of championship leader Rytis Gurklys.

Geleyns appeared to be experiencing some difficulties with his Audi A1 during the second and third laps, and Gurklys found himself trapped behind him.

That battle also brought Tom Le Jossec back into contention.

Le Jossec had taken his joker immediately on the opening lap and was now running directly behind the battling Geleyns and Gurklys, putting himself in an increasingly strong strategic position.

Meunier meanwhile remained in command at the front.

He took his joker from the lead on lap four and had built enough of an advantage to emerge still comfortably ahead.

The attention therefore shifted towards the battle for the final podium position.

Geleyns took his joker on lap five, leaving Gurklys and Le Jossec fighting side-by-side.

The championship leader waited until the final lap before finally taking the alternative route but the earlier delay behind Geleyns had cost him.

Gurklys emerged only fifth, while Le Jossec's early joker strategy had worked perfectly and promoted the Frenchman onto the podium.

None of it threatened Meunier, he crossed the finish to secure his third Euro RX3 victory of the season, completing a weekend in which he had won every competitive session from Q2 onwards.

Kragas finished second with his Škoda Fabia after another strong performance throughout the weekend and the best result so far.

Le Jossec completed the podium in third, putting two French drivers inside the top three at their home event.

Geleyns finished fourth, Gurklys had to settle for fifth and Norwegian driver Markus Røsrud completed the final in sixth.

After a year of frustration, mechanical problems and setbacks, Fabien Pailler has finally done it.

The Frenchman delivered a sensational victory in the Euro RX1 final at Lohéac, controlling the race from the front to win one of the biggest rallycross events ever in front of his home crowd.

It was the perfect conclusion to a remarkable Sunday for Pailler.

After winning Q3 on Saturday evening, he progressed through Sunday's quarter-final before producing one of the moments of the weekend in the semi-final, sweeping around the outside of Johan Kristoffersson and then holding off to win.

Rain had repeatedly changed the conditions throughout the knockout stages, but when six cars finally lined up for the Euro RX1 final, Pailler had one last opportunity to complete the job.

The Prodrive-built Renault Mégane R.S. RX launched into the lead ahead of Andreas Bakkerud, while there was immediate drama behind them.

Juha Rytkönen made contact with Johan Kristoffersson at turn 2, sending the championship leader sideways and costing him crucial ground.

Rokas Baciuška immediately opted for the joker on the opening lap.

At the front, however, Pailler was already beginning to build his advantage. Rather than simply defending from Bakkerud, the Frenchman started pulling away.

Tenths of a second were added to the gap lap after lap throughout the final as Pailler produced exactly the performance he needed under enormous pressure.

Kristoffersson attempted to recover through strategy and took his joker on lap four, emerging in fifth.

Sébastien Loeb waited until the fifth lap before taking the alternative route, but the nine-time World Rally Champion emerged at the back of the field.

That left the leading trio of Pailler, Bakkerud and Rytkönen to take their jokers on the final lap. There would be no late upset.

All three emerged with their positions intact and Pailler crossed the finish first.

And after everything that has happened with this car, few victories this season could mean more.

The Renault Mégane R.S. RX has given Pailler a year filled with problems since he acquired it. His difficulties even continued into Lohéac, where an engine-related change left him carrying a 15-point championship penalty before racing had properly begun.

Yet at his home event, everything finally came together.

Pailler had the speed.

He beat Kristoffersson head-to-head in the semi-final.

Then, when given the opportunity in the final, he simply drove away from the field.

The result also ends a remarkable trend in Euro RX1 this season.

Until Lohéac, every round had been won by either Kristoffersson or Bakkerud.

Pailler is the first driver to break that stranglehold and he did it at home.

Behind him, Bakkerud crossed the finish in second, a result carrying enormous championship consequences.

With Kristoffersson recovering only as far as fourth, Bakkerud has now moved ahead of his rival and takes over the Euro RX1 championship lead by a single point.

Rytkönen completed the Lohéac podium in third with his SET Promotion Hyundai i20.

While Baciuška finished fifth and Loeb completed the six-car final in sixth.

Lohéac's unpredictable weather returned at exactly the right moment to create another dramatic chapter in Sunday's FIA European Rallycross Championship action.

The circuit had enjoyed around three hours of dry conditions since the previous session, but just before the Euro RX3 semi-finals were due to begin, the rain and wind suddenly returned.

Conditions continued to deteriorate before Euro RX1 followed, adding another challenge after an already eventful day which had seen Johan Kristoffersson become top qualifier before the quarter-finals cut the RX1 field from 24 cars to 12.

Now only six places in the final remained.

Euro RX1

The rain increased shortly before the opening Euro RX1 semi-final, and Fabien Pailler immediately gave the huge French crowd something to celebrate.

Pailler produced a fantastic start and swept around the outside of Johan Kristoffersson to take the lead.

Behind them, Nils Volland immediately struggled with the conditions. The German ran wide into the sand at turn 1 before another excursion at turn 3.

Rokas Baciuška and Volland both ran wide at turn 3 on the following lap, demonstrating just how difficult the increasingly slippery track had become.

Kristoffersson was meanwhile applying pressure to Pailler.

The championship leader's pursuit almost went badly wrong on lap three when he made a mistake at turn 4 and ran wide into the gravel.

He recovered and continued chasing the Renault.

Kristoffersson eventually took his joker on lap five, leaving Pailler to respond on the final lap.

The Frenchman entered the alternative route and emerged still ahead, the reaction from the Lohéac crowd said everything.

Pailler held on to take a hugely popular semi-final victory on home soil, with Kristoffersson following him into the final.

Behind them, the fight for the final transfer position went all the way to the finish line.

Baciuška and Patrick O'Donovan arrived virtually side-by-side, with O'Donovan ending up in the sand as they crossed the line.

Baciuška had done enough and secured the third and final place in the final.

Julien Fébreau, Volland and Patrick O'Donovan were eliminated.

Andreas Bakkerud made the best start in semi-final 2 and took the lead ahead of Juha Rytkönen.

Behind them, Oliver O'Donovan and Sébastien Loeb immediately became involved in some classic bump-and-barge rallycross through turns 1 and 3.

João Ribeiro opted for an early joker on lap two in an attempt to cover Loeb and successfully emerged ahead of the Peugeot.

But the biggest incident of the race happened on the same lap.

O'Donovan arrived into the braking zone at the second to last corner and ploughed into Eoin Murray, spinning the Irishman around.

Murray was forced across the grass as he attempted to recover and rejoin the race.

Loeb meanwhile continued his charge.

On the following lap, the nine-time World Rally Champion found his way past Ribeiro at turn 3 and moved into the crucial third position.

Out front, Bakkerud remained in control.

The Norwegian won the semi-final ahead of Rytkönen, while Loeb secured the final transfer position.

O'Donovan, Ribeiro and Murray were eliminated.

This time there was no uncertainty surrounding O'Donovan's penalty, with the Irishman given the black flag following the contact that spun Murray.

The Euro RX1 final is therefore set.

Pailler, Kristoffersson, Baciuška, Bakkerud, Rytkönen and Loeb are the six drivers still standing at Lohéac.

Euro RX3

Euro RX3 had been the first category to encounter the returning rain.

Nicolas Geleyns produced a perfect launch in the opening semi-final and immediately pulled away from Julien Meunier.

Behind them, Tom Le Jossec took his joker on lap two and emerged side-by-side with Václav Tůma.

The pair made contact several times, but Le Jossec managed to retain third position in what proved to be an effective joker strategy.

Tůma took the alternative route himself on the following lap and emerged at the back.

Geleyns remained in control at the front until taking his joker on the final lap and that was Meunier's opportunity.

The Frenchman had produced enough pace to overturn the gap and emerged ahead, taking another victory after his three consecutive qualifying wins.

Geleyns safely progressed in second, with Le Jossec taking the final transfer position.

Libor Teješ, André Sousa and Tůma were eliminated.

The rain then intensified between the two semi-finals.

Championship leader Rytis Gurklys took the lead in semi-final 2 ahead of Audrius Kragas.

Jan Dvořák quickly discovered how slippery the circuit had become when he ran wide at turn 1 and slid into the sand, although he recovered quickly.

Markus Røsrud waited until lap four to take his joker and emerged back in third position, putting himself firmly inside the transfer places.

Gurklys remained ahead until taking his joker on the final lap but Kragas had done enough.

The Lithuanian moved into the lead and won the second semi-final, with Gurklys progressing in second and Røsrud securing third.

Tiago Ferreira, Martin Massé and Dvořák were eliminated.

Marcus Norman has confirmed that he will make the trip to Portugal to compete in Open 2WD at the RallyX Global Final at Montalegre on 24/25 October.

Norman will once again be behind the wheel of his distinctive rotary-powered Mercedes-Benz CLK as he looks to finish the season on a high following an encouraging showing at Älvsbyn in Sweden and Nysum in Denmark.

Norman demonstrated strong pace at both tracks and believes the performance confirmed the potential of the CLK after several seasons disrupted by engine problems and limited seat time.

Those long-running engine issues have now been resolved.

The problem which ultimately ended Norman's Danish event was instead traced to a failed radiator fan fuse. That resulted in a water seal failing and coolant leaking internally, but the engine itself remained healthy.

Norman Motorsport is now going through the entire car and fine-tuning the remaining details ahead of the journey to Montalegre, with the goal of arriving in Portugal with the CLK fully prepared to fight towards the front of the Open 2WD field.

The RallyX Global Final will also mark the end of an era for the car.

Montalegre will be Norman's final event using the CLK's current engine configuration, with Norman Motorsport already preparing to introduce a completely different engine package after the season.

Further details about the new setup are expected to be revealed in the near future.

There has been a significant post-race change following the fourth Euro RX1 quarter-final at Lohéac, with Oliver O'Donovan reinstated and Andrea Bénézet now eliminated from the weekend.

O'Donovan was originally given the black flag following the turn 1 incident involving Joni Turpeinen during QF4.

The decision initially removed the Irishman from third place despite crossing the finish in the final transfer position, promoting Bénézet and putting the Frenchman through to the semi-finals.

That decision has now changed.

O'Donovan's black flag has instead been replaced by a black and white flag, meaning he retains his third-place result and therefore advances to the semi-finals alongside QF4 winner Andreas Bakkerud and João Ribeiro.

The reversal unfortunately means Bénézet is now the driver eliminated, his Lohéac weekend has now nevertheless come to an end, while O'Donovan remains among the 12 drivers fighting for a place in the Euro RX1 final.

The knockout stages have begun at Lohéac and the Euro RX1 quarter-finals quickly became a fight for survival as light rain returned to the famous French track.

Following the completion of Q4, the top 24 drivers from qualifying progressed into four six-car quarter-finals.

From there, the equation became simple, finish inside the top three and advance to the semi-finals. Finish fourth or lower and the weekend is over.

The track had dried considerably during the approximately half-hour break following Q4, initially providing much better conditions than those seen during Sunday morning's final qualifier.

That did not last long.

Rain arrived between the opening two quarter-finals and progressively intensified a bit, leaving drivers trying to survive increasingly slippery conditions on slick tyres before the final race was officially declared wet for a short moment.

There was also an important change before the quarter-finals began.

Andrea Bénézet's black flag from Q4 was subsequently changed to a black and white flag. The revised decision put the Frenchman back inside the top 24 and allowed him to make the cut for the knockout stages and Mats Öhman got left out instead.

It would prove particularly important.

Johan Kristoffersson made the opening quarter-final look considerably easier than it was behind him.

The championship leader launched into first ahead of Patrick O'Donovan.

Behind Kristoffersson, the other five cars became tightly bunched through the opening three corners, immediately giving the KMS Volkswagen driver exactly what his rivals did not want him to have, clear air.

Kristoffersson disappeared into the distance before the opening lap was even complete.

The battle for the remaining semi-final positions was considerably more complicated.

O'Donovan took his joker on the penultimate lap in an attempt to cover KMS driver Ole Christian Veiby.

Veiby was struggling badly with his Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX and appeared to be overdriving the car as he fought to remain in contention.

His difficulties eventually allowed Casper Jansson to move ahead into fourth but Jansson could not break into the crucial top three.

Kristoffersson comfortably won the race, with Patrick O'Donovan and Nils Volland taking the other two semi-final positions.

Jansson finished outside the cut alongside Veiby and Anton Seppä, bringing all three of their Lohéac weekends to an end.

Conditions then changed almost immediately.

During the short break between QF1 and QF2, rain began falling around the circuit.

René Münnich was absent from the second quarter-final after further problems with his newly built SEAT Ibiza.

When the race began, Juha Rytkönen took the lead ahead of Sébastien Loeb, while Eoin Murray suffered a poor start.

Murray responded with an aggressive strategy.

The Irishman took his joker immediately on the opening lap and began using the clear track to recover the ground he had lost at the start and it worked brilliantly.

As the race developed, Murray was already working his way back into the middle of the group.

László Kiss took his joker on lap three, allowing Murray to move into the crucial third position.

Loeb waited until the final lap before taking the alternative route but by then, Murray had done enough.

The Supercar newcomer emerged ahead of the nine-time World Rally Champion and secured second place in only his first Euro RX1 weekend.

Rytkönen remained out front and took a controlled victory.

The Finn therefore progressed alongside Murray and Loeb, while Kiss and Tamás Kárai were eliminated.

By QF3, the rain was becoming an increasingly significant factor.

Fabien Pailler took the lead ahead of Julien Fébreau as the two French drivers immediately occupied the transfer positions.

Then, on the third lap, the rain intensified.

With the cars still running on slick tyres, grip levels rapidly deteriorated and the drivers began sliding slightly around the track.

Pailler managed the changing conditions best and followed his Q3 victory with yet a win.

Fébreau secured second, while Rokas Baciuška claimed the final transfer position.

Martin Enlund, Kevin Hansen and Aleš Fučík were eliminated.

The increasingly difficult weather then resulted in a five-minute delay before QF4.

Race control officially declared the race wet, allowing the cars to reverse and change onto wet-weather tyres but Lohéac had one more complication waiting.

By the time the cars returned to the pre-grid and teams prepared to make the tyre changes, the rain had eased considerably.

The crews waited and watched the conditions before eventually reaching the same conclusion.

Everyone stayed on slicks.

Some teams made smaller setup adjustments to compensate for the slippery surface, but the final quarter-final would still be decided on dry-weather tyres.

Andreas Bakkerud made the best start and took the lead ahead of Joni Turpeinen.

Oliver O'Donovan immediately found trouble, sliding into the sand at turn 1 before quickly managing to escape.

The situation became much more serious on the following lap.

Turpeinen had already developed a front-left puncture when O'Donovan arrived into turn 1 carrying significant speed.

O'Donovan and Bénézet became involved in contact with Turpeinen, sending the Finn sideways and deep into the sand.

This time Turpeinen was not coming back.

His M-Sport Ford Fiesta remained stranded, ending his Lohéac weekend.

Race control reacted quickly to O'Donovan's involvement and gave the Irishman the black flag.

At the front, Bakkerud remained clear of the chaos and controlled the race to take the final quarter-final victory.

João Ribeiro followed him across the line and secured his place in the semi-finals.

O'Donovan originally crossed the finish in third, but his black flag removed him from the result.

That promoted Bénézet into the final transfer position.

Only a short time after initially appearing to have been eliminated by a black flag in Q4, the Frenchman had survived the revised decision, made the quarter-finals and now progressed all the way into the semi-finals.

O'Donovan, José Oliveira and Turpeinen were eliminated.

The qualifying stages of the FIA European Rallycross Championship weekend at Lohéac are complete and Johan Kristoffersson saved his strongest result for the moment it mattered most.

After Juha Rytkönen, Andreas Bakkerud and Fabien Pailler shared the first three Euro RX1 qualifying victories yesterday, Kristoffersson dominated Q4 to become the fourth different winner from four sessions and secure the overall top qualifier position.

Overnight and morning rain had once again changed the conditions at Lohéac. Several damp patches remained around the circuit as Q4 began, creating the possibility that drivers competing in the earlier heats would be disadvantaged if the surface progressively dried.

With qualifying now complete, the attention immediately turns towards the knockout stages.

The top 24 Euro RX1 drivers advance into four quarter-finals, with only the first three from each progressing to the semi-finals. For everyone finishing outside those positions, their Lohéac weekend is over.

Euro RX3 moves directly into its semi-finals later today, with three drivers eliminated following Q4.

Euro RX1

Kevin Hansen was first to establish the benchmark.

The Swede launched into the lead ahead of Oliver O'Donovan, while Patrick O'Donovan made slight contact with his father's Peugeot through turn 3 and sent Oliver momentarily sideways.

Hansen stayed clear of the trouble and controlled the race to become the first driver to put a Q4 time on the board.

Heat 2 began badly for René Münnich, who stalled his SEAT Ibiza on the starting grid before eventually getting underway.

Attila Mózer emerged with the lead ahead of José Oliveira.

Oliveira then ran wide at turn 3, allowing Eoin Murray to take second.

Mózer remained ahead until taking his joker on the final lap, but the strategy dropped him all the way behind the cars that had already completed the alternative route.

Murray therefore inherited the heat victory, although his overall race time was slower than Hansen's benchmark.

Anton Seppä made the strongest start in heat 3 and led Martin Enlund during the opening corners.

His advantage disappeared with a major mistake at turn 3. Seppä slid deep into the sand before eventually recovering, leaving Enlund to inherit the lead.

The Rally2-based Ford Fiesta Mk8 driver went on to win the heat, but his time fell approximately two tenths short of Hansen.

Johannes Rafoss meanwhile suffered another difficult session when his car stopped at the final corner, resulting in a DNF.

Combined with his disqualification following the double jump start in Q2 on Saturday, it left Rafoss outside the 24 drivers progressing to the quarter-finals and brought his Lohéac weekend to an end.

Julien Fébreau finally displaced Hansen from the top in heat 4.

João Ribeiro initially took the lead ahead of Fébreau, while Casper Jansson ran wide at turn 3 and dropped behind Andrea Bénézet.

Ribeiro remained ahead until taking his joker on the final lap.

When the Portuguese driver emerged, Fébreau had done enough to move ahead and take the race victory.

More importantly, his time was approximately two seconds faster than Hansen's benchmark.

Bénézet was subsequently giveb the black flag for causing a collision. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, the result also ended his Lohéac campaign after Q4.

Then Johan Kristoffersson got clear air and everyone else paid the price.

Kristoffersson launched into the lead in heat 5 ahead of KMS teammate Ole Christian Veiby.

Sébastien Loeb immediately opted for an early joker in an attempt to make progress through strategy.

Rokas Baciuška ran wide at turn 3 on the second lap, allowing Loeb through. When Tamás Kárai subsequently took his joker, the nine-time World Rally Champion moved into the effective third position.

Baciuška's race deteriorated further when he suffered a front-right puncture but there was nothing complicated about what was happening at the front.

Kristoffersson had clear air and disappeared.

With nobody directly behind to disrupt his rhythm, the championship leader produced a dominant performance and crossed the finish almost five seconds faster than Fébreau's previous benchmark.

Only Andreas Bakkerud's final heat remained.

The Norwegian made the best start and took the lead, while Nils Volland pushed Q1 winner Juha Rytkönen wide at turn 2 to move into second.

Bakkerud controlled the remainder of the race and took the heat victory.

His time was strong enough to slot into second overall in Q4, but he remained almost two seconds away from Kristoffersson.

That confirmed Kristoffersson as the winner of the final qualifier.

Euro RX3

Before Q4 began, there was also an important correction from Saturday evening.

Tamás Végh received a black flag following Q3 for causing a collision, something that was missed in our original Q3 report.

When racing resumed on Sunday morning, championship leader Rytis Gurklys immediately put himself in a strong position.

Gurklys took the lead in heat 1 ahead of Tom Le Jossec and encountered little trouble from there.

The Lithuanian controlled the race to the finish and established the opening Q4 benchmark with his Audi A1.

Heat 2 was considerably less straightforward.

Markus Røsrud missed the start with issues with his Škoda Fabia, while André Sousa emerged in the lead ahead of Václav Tůma.

Jan Dvořák aggressively worked his way past at the final corner of the opening lap to take second before heading into the joker on the following lap.

That dropped him to the back of the group.

Tůma then ran wide at turn 2 on lap three, while Dvořák's problems became considerably more serious.

His Audi developed a massive misfire and sounded as though it was running on only two or three cylinders rather than all four.

Sousa stayed ahead to win the heat, although his time could not beat Gurklys.

That left one final opportunity for somebody to take the Q4 victory.

Once again, it was Julien Meunier.

The Frenchman took the lead in the final heat ahead of Audrius Kragas and produced a completely trouble-free race.

Meunier crossed the finish almost two seconds faster than Gurklys' benchmark.

It completed an impressive turnaround after Kragas topped Q1.

Meunier has now won Q2, Q3 and Q4 consecutively, ending the qualifying stages with three straight victories in front of his home crowd.

The Swedish Rallycross District Championship kicked off its northern double-header on Saturday with round 3 at Piteå, producing plenty of variety across the three classes before the championship makes the short journey to Älvsbyn for round 4 today (Sunday).

With the two events taking place on consecutive days, there is little time to celebrate or recover. Saturday's winners will have an immediate opportunity to repeat their success, while those who missed out in Piteå get another chance to fight back less than 24 hours later.

The smallest field produced the most dominant individual performance as Linus Westman swept Open 2WD, while Stefan Åeng led a particularly unusual Supernational podium. The enormous 2150 field proved considerably less predictable, with none of the first two qualifying winners eventually reaching the final.

Open 2WD

Only four cars contested Open 2WD at Piteå, but there was absolutely no question over who was the driver to beat.

Linus Westman produced a perfect clean sweep aboard his BMW E82.

Westman topped all three qualifying sessions before completing his unbeaten Saturday by converting that pace into victory in the final.

Behind him, Erik Lidman brought his BMW M3 E30 home in second.

Jon Ny completed the podium with his BMW E36, resulting in a complete RallyX North lockout of the top three positions as several familiar names from this season's championship reunited in Piteå.

Norwegian driver John Hanstad completed the four-car final in fourth aboard his Citroën Xsara.

The Open 2WD field grows for Sunday's round 4 at Älvsbyn with local driver Viktor Johansson joining the action in his Mercedes-Benz 190 Evo Hybrid.

Supernational

Supernational victory went across the border to Norway, although Stefan Åeng's choice of machinery made the result stand out even further.

Åeng put his Lexus IS200 on the top step of the podium after being one of the fastest drivers throughout the day.

He had already gone second fastest in Q1 before topping both Q2 and Q3, establishing himself as the favourite heading into the final.

Åeng duly converted that qualifying performance into victory.

Jesper Karlsson finished second aboard his MG ZR 160, meaning two of the more unusual cars found anywhere in Scandinavian rallycross occupied the top two positions.

There was at least some traditional Swedish representation on the podium.

Andreas Gunnarsson finished third with his Volvo 240, ensuring one of Sweden's most recognisable pieces of rallycross machinery took home a trophy from Piteå, despite rolling his 240 in Q2 earlier.

Jon Ny came close to making it two podiums from two classes.

Alongside his Open 2WD campaign, Ny competed in Supernational with a Volkswagen Polo and immediately showed its potential by setting the fastest time in Q1.

He ultimately finished fourth in the final, narrowly missing out on completing a double podium.

Ludwig Stenvall brought his Volvo 240 home fifth, while Anders Nilsson completed the final in sixth with another 240.

The result therefore left an entertaining combination in the six-car final, a Lexus IS200, MG ZR 160 and Volkswagen Polo taking on three of Sweden's traditional Volvo 240 rallycross bricks.

2150

With 37 cars taking part, 2150 was comfortably the largest category of the day and the results demonstrated just how competitive the field was.

Oskar Andersson ultimately emerged victorious with his BMW E36 despite not winning any of the three qualifying sessions.

Andersson delivered when it mattered most and took the final victory ahead of Per Jonsson.

Jonsson put his Opel Ascona second to give the Piteå family plenty to celebrate.

Rasmus Loggert completed the podium with his BMW E30.

Of the six drivers who reached the final, Loggert was the only one to have recorded a qualifying victory earlier in the day after topping Q3.

That statistic alone demonstrated how little separated the enormous field.

Johan Hägg narrowly missed the podium and finished fourth with his BMW E36.

Erik Jonsson took fifth aboard another Opel Ascona, adding further reason for the Jonsson family to celebrate at their home event after Per's second-place finish.

Emil Berggren completed the six-car final in sixth with his BMW E46.

Perhaps the biggest demonstration of the depth of the 2150 field came from the drivers who had topped the opening two qualifiers.

Edwin Hedlund set the pace in Q1 with his Opel Kadett but ultimately finished the event only 12th.

Lucas Lindqvist then topped Q2 with his BMW E36, but he also missed the final and ended Saturday in 8th.

Three qualifying sessions therefore produced three different winners, yet only one of them even reached the final.

Cypriot motorsport legend Dimi Mavropoulos has died at the age of 76 following a boating accident off Cape Greco in Cyprus on Saturday, he was transported to Famagusta General Hospital, where his death was confirmed.

While Mavropoulos became one of the most successful rally drivers Cyprus has produced, his long motorsport career also included a fascinating chapter in rallycross, competing in Britain and at European level during one of the sport's most spectacular eras.

Born in Limassol in 1949, Mavropoulos began competing at a young age before moving to London in 1969, where he was working with his family's fruit export business.

Living in Britain provided Mavropoulos with the opportunity to become involved in the British and European motorsport scene, and rallycross became part of a career that would eventually span more than four decades.

His early appearances included competing with a Ford Escort in the British round of the European Rallycross Championship in 1978.

By the 1980s, however, it was his Audi Quattro that became particularly associated with his rallycross career.

Mavropoulos competed in Division 2 in the FIA European Rallycross Championship with the four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro, during an extraordinary period for the category.

The opposition around him included some of the greatest names from rallycross history, with Martin Schanche, Seppo Niittymäki, Olle Arnesson, Matti Alamäki, Andy Bentza, Walter Mayer and John Welch among those appearing in the championship that season.

The sight of his large Audi Quattro attacking British rallycross tracks also made an impression on spectators at the time.

It was an era in which four-wheel-drive and turbocharged technology was rapidly transforming the top level of rallycross, and Mavropoulos was part of that generation with the Quattro.

His career extended considerably beyond rallycross.

Mavropoulos drove for manufacturers and teams associated with Ford, Mitsubishi and Chrysler/Talbot and competed with machinery ranging from Ford Escorts and Talbot Sunbeam Lotuses to Audi Quattros and later Mitsubishi machinery in rallying.

His achievements at home ultimately made him one of the most significant figures in Cypriot motorsport history.

Mavropoulos won the Cyprus Rally Championship in 1986, 1988 and 1990.

The 1990 season became his masterpiece.

He won all seven rounds of the Cypriot championship that year, including the Rothmans Cyprus International Rally, becoming the first Cypriot winner of the event for several years and defeating international opposition in his Audi Coupé Quattro.

Even after his racing career came to an end, Mavropoulos' connection with cars never disappeared.

His attention increasingly turned towards preserving automotive history, eventually leading to the creation of the Cyprus Historic & Classic Motor Museum in Limassol, which opened in 2014.

For rallycross followers, however, Mavropoulos remains part of a very different period of the sport, an era of spectacular machinery, enormous variety and drivers willing to compete across different disciplines and countries.

From a Ford Escort in European rallycross in the late 1970s to fighting with his Audi Quattro during the increasingly extreme four-wheel-drive era of the 1980s, Mavropoulos left his own mark on rallycross history.

Rest in peace Dimi Mavropoulos.

Saturday's FIA European Rallycross Championship action at Lohéac concluded with Qualifying 3 on Saturday evening and after two sessions of difficult conditions the famous French track had finally dried considerably.

Rain was threatening to return as the session approached but the weather held long enough for both Euro RX1 and Euro RX3 to complete their final qualifying races of the day in largely dry conditions.

The increased grip brought higher speeds and certainly no reduction in the amount of contact and drama.

Fabien Pailler ultimately delivered a popular home victory in Euro RX1, while Julien Meunier ensured France also ended the day on top of Euro RX3.

Joni Turpeinen immediately established a strong benchmark in the opening Euro RX1 heat.

The Finn took the lead with his M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta and controlled the race from there.

Behind him, things became considerably more spectacular on the second lap.

Attila Mózer and Johannes Rafoss made contact through turn 2, sending Rafoss completely sideways at speed. The Norwegian somehow managed to gather the car back up in what became one of the biggest saves of the session.

Turpeinen stayed clear of the drama and took the heat victory, establishing a benchmark that proved surprisingly difficult for the following races to beat.

Heat 2 began with a jump start for Eoin Murray.

The Irishman received a five-second penalty before the field lined up again for the restart.

Mats Öhman produced the best launch on the second attempt and took the lead, with Murray slotting into second.

Öhman remained ahead until the final lap, when he ran wide at turn 2 and opened the door for Murray to take over.

Murray crossed the finish first to record his first Supercar heat race victory, although his raw race time was around four seconds slower than Turpeinen before the five-second penalty was applied.

Anton Seppä muscled his way into the lead at the beginning of heat 3 ahead of João Ribeiro.

Ribeiro took an early joker on the second lap, promoting Tamás Kárai into second.

The complexion of the race changed on lap three when Seppä made a mistake at turn 2, allowing Kárai to move ahead.

There was then more contact between Seppä and Ribeiro on the final lap before Seppä took his joker, with some arguably unnecessary pushing between the pair.

Kárai stayed out of trouble and won the heat, although his time remained almost four seconds away from Turpeinen's benchmark.

The start of heat 4 produced another major squeeze.

All five cars converged after the launch, with Oliver O'Donovan and René Münnich both being spun around at yurn 1.

O'Donovan's difficult race continued when he spun again inside the joker section after suffering a left-rear puncture.

At the front, Andrea Bénézet took the lead ahead of László Kiss.

As the joker strategies began to play out, Casper Jansson moved into the effective second position, but Bénézet remained ahead and secured his first heat race victory in Euro RX1 and once again, however, Turpeinen's benchmark survived.

Then came Fabien Pailler.

The Frenchman immediately took control of heat 5 with his Prodrive-built Renault Mégane R.S. RX.

Behind him, Ole Christian Veiby forced his way past Kevin Hansen at turn 2 to take second. The contact left Hansen with a front-right puncture and the tyre eventually separated completely from the wheel later during the race.

Pailler was meanwhile flying, on the second lap, he produced the fastest individual lap seen throughout the weekend to that point.

There was plenty happening behind him as Veiby ran wide at turn 4, briefly allowing Rokas Baciuška through into second and then Baciuška ran wide himself at the following corner, handing the position straight back to Veiby.

None of it troubled Pailler, the Frenchman won comfortably and finally displaced Turpeinen from the top, setting the fastest race time of the weekend so far.

Andreas Bakkerud launched brilliantly from the start of heat 6 and immediately took control.

Behind him, Patrick O'Donovan and Johan Kristoffersson fought aggressively through the opening two corners.

O'Donovan emerged from the battle with a front-right puncture, allowing Julien Fébreau to move into second.

Juha Rytkönen and Kristoffersson were meanwhile engaged in their own strategic fight.

Rytkönen took the joker on the second lap and emerged in position to firmly shut the door on Kristoffersson, successfully covering the championship leader.

Bakkerud went on to win the final race of the session, but even the Q2 winner could not match Pailler's benchmark.

That confirmed a popular home Q3 victory for Pailler and importantly, the first qualifying-session victory of the 2026 season for the Prodrive-built Renault Mégane R.S. RX.

After a season in which Pailler has endured repeated problems with his newly acquired car, Saturday evening at Lohéac finally provided a glimpse of its full potential.

Euro RX3

Euro RX3 was no calmer.

Tiago Ferreira made a spectacular start to heat 1, attacking the first corner over the kerbs and momentarily getting his car onto two wheels.

Beside him, Sámuel Kovács was pushed sideways by Tamás Végh but somehow retained second.

The action continued almost immediately as Végh made contact with Libor Teješ and sent him spinning.

Jan Dvořák was caught up in the aftermath and came dangerously close to the outside barrier as cars scattered through the opening section.

Ferreira escaped the chaos and went on to win, establishing the first benchmark.

Heat 2 provided another dramatic opening.

André Sousa crossed the field following the start before being turned sideways, sending both himself and Dylan Dufas deep into the outside of turn 1.

Nicolas Geleyns emerged with the lead ahead of Sousa.

Martin Massé encountered technical problems following the opening lap, while Sousa later lost further time with difficulties through the joker on lap three.

Things became considerably worse for Dufas on the final lap.

The Frenchman attacked the koker too aggressively, damaging the suspension after the jump before carrying too much speed across the chicane kerbs and ending up in the outside barrier, his car remained at the scene.

Geleyns won the heat, although his time was around half a second slower than Ferreira's existing benchmark.

The final Euro RX3 race of Saturday produced even more opening-corner drama.

Five cars became tightly packed together at turn 1 as Tom Le Jossec crossed the field following the start.

Both Le Jossec and championship leader Rytis Gurklys ended up deep in the sand.

Julien Meunier escaped at the front ahead of Audrius Kragas.

Markus Røsrud lost the entire front bumper from his Škoda Fabia Mk2 in the opening-corner impact, while Le Jossec managed to escape the sand before retiring later on the opening lap with broken steering.

Meunier stayed clear of the trouble and dominated the race.

His winning time was approximately four seconds faster than Ferreira's benchmark, giving the Frenchman the Q3 victory.

Le Jossec was subsequently shown the black flag for causing the opening-corner collision.

With Pailler taking Euro RX1 and Meunier topping Euro RX3, France ended Saturday evening with victory in both categories.

Three qualifiers have now produced three different Euro RX1 winners, Juha Rytkönen in the wet Q1, Andreas Bakkerud in Q2 and now Pailler on the increasingly dry circuit in Q3.

One qualifying session remains.

Q4 begins at 10:30 local time on Sunday morning before Lohéac moves into the knockout stages and the battle for the biggest prizes of the weekend truly begins.

Qualifying 2 delivered no shortage of drama as the FIA European Rallycross Championship continued at Lohéac on Saturday afternoon.

After the soaking wet conditions of Q1, the track had started to dry before the second qualifier. Damp patches remained around the extremely fast French track, however, producing unpredictable grip and plenty of action.

Before racing began, Mandie August officially withdrew from the remainder of the event after continued engine problems with her SEAT Ibiza.

The opening heat finally saw Nils Andersson make it to the starting grid after missing Q1 and Friday's opening practice session.

But it was Mats Öhman who made the strongest start.

Öhman, who is 95 percent paralysed and controls his Supercar entirely with his hands, took the early lead ahead of João Ribeiro.

The Swede ran wide at turn 3, allowing Ribeiro alongside, but managed to retain the position. The same happened on the following lap as Öhman appeared to struggle with understeer, an even greater challenge considering the physical demands of controlling the entire car through hand controls.

Tamás Kárai eventually inherited the lead after Öhman took his joker, with the Swede rejoining behind Ribeiro.

Kárai went on to win and established the first benchmark of Q2 with his self-built Audi S1.

Kevin Hansen immediately raised that benchmark in the second heat.

The start behind Hansen descended into chaos as the four chasing cars became sandwiched together at the opening corner.

Nils Volland and Attila Mózer were both spun around, while Andrea Bénézet and José Oliveira managed to escape the worst of the incident.

Mózer continued, but Volland was left stranded at the scene.

Hansen stayed clear of the trouble and went on to win with a faster time than Kárai.

Then came Andreas Bakkerud.

The Norwegian produced an almost perfectly timed launch in heat 3, coming incredibly close to the jump-start threshold before taking the lead.

Rokas Baciuška initially followed him, but his Hyundai became nervous through turn 3 and allowed Casper Jansson to move into second.

Baciuška fought back on the second lap.

The Lithuanian made contact with Jansson through the penultimate corner, sending the Swede into a half-spin before taking the position. The incident could potentially attract attention from the stewards for a push-and-pass decision.

Out front, Bakkerud was untouchable.

He won the heat and went approximately three seconds faster than Hansen, establishing what would prove to be an incredibly difficult benchmark to beat.

Heat 4 required no fewer than three starts.

Johannes Rafoss triggered the jump-start system on the first attempt after touching the sensor stick just fractions before the green light. Although the rest of the field launched almost simultaneously, Rafoss was the driver who triggered the system and was handed the five-second penalty.

The restart featured a particularly long hold before the green and Rafoss jumped again.

It appeared to suggest a possible clutch problem rather than an intentional attempt to gain an advantage but a second jump start resulted in his disqualification.

When the race finally got underway at the third attempt, the French Formula 1 TV commentator Julien Fébreau took the lead ahead of Joni Turpeinen.

Turpeinen's challenge quickly unravelled when his Ford Fiesta suffered a left-rear puncture approaching the start of the second lap.

Eoin Murray initially moved into second before Anton Seppä passed the Irishman on the straight on the following lap.

Fébreau went on to win, finishing around 1.1 seconds away from Bakkerud's benchmark.

The O'Donovan family occupied the front of heat 5.

Oliver O'Donovan initially took the lead before son Patrick found his way ahead after Turn 2.

From there, Patrick controlled the race and took a trouble-free victory with his Peugeot 208.

His time was extremely competitive but still around four tenths slower than Bakkerud.

That left one enormous final heat to decide Q2.

Sébastien Loeb initially took the lead but was pushed wide during the opening lap, dropping the Peugeot driver to the back of the field.

Ole Christian Veiby emerged ahead with Juha Rytkönen following in second.

Rytkönen took his joker on lap three, promoting Johan Kristoffersson into second and setting up a fascinating conclusion between the two KMS teammates.

Veiby waited until the final lap to joker and when the Norwegian emerged, he found Kristoffersson directly alongside him.

The two Volkswagen Polos made contact before becoming partially hooked together under braking for the penultimate corner. Both ran wide as a consequence, opening the door for Rytkönen to sweep past.

Kristoffersson nevertheless managed to recover and retain the effective advantage, going on to win the last heat of the session but it was not quite enough for an overall fastest time.

After six heats and an extraordinary conclusion, Bakkerud's earlier benchmark survived by just 0.0016 seconds.

The Norwegian therefore takes the Q2 victory ahead of championship rival Kristoffersson by one of the smallest margins imaginable.

Euro RX3

Euro RX3 began with André Sousa taking the lead in the opening heat ahead of Tiago Ferreira.

There was almost a disaster at the penultimate corner on the first lap when Ferreira made contact with Sousa and came close to taking the leader out of the race.

Sousa managed to keep control, but his advantage ultimately disappeared through the joker strategy.

After Sousa took the joker on the final lap, Martin Massé emerged ahead and went on to establish the first benchmark time.

Championship leader Rytis Gurklys responded strongly in heat 2.

Gurklys took the lead ahead of Václav Tůma and controlled the race from there.

Jan Dvořák suffered a front-left puncture after emerging from the joker on the second lap.

Libor Teješ made a much more costly mistake by failing to take the joker at all, resulting in an automatic 30-second penalty.

Gurklys crossed the finish in exactly 2:48.000, going approximately 3.6 seconds faster than Massé.

But there was still more speed to come.

Julien Meunier led the final heat into turn 1 before Q1 winner Audrius Kragas moved ahead at the second corner.

Kragas remained in front until taking his joker on lap three, handing the lead back to Meunier.

The Frenchman then produced an excellent joker sequence of his own.

When Meunier eventually took the alternative route, he emerged ahead of Kragas and maintained the position to the finish.

The performance was enough for Meunier to take the fastest overall time of the session and the qualifying victory.

There was further drama after the race when Sámuel Kovács was given the black flag for track violations.

With two qualifying sessions now complete, Saturday at Lohéac has already produced everything from standing water and punctures to jump starts, penalties and incredibly close finishes.

Qualifying 3 will follow shortly at 17:50 local time.

The first qualifying session of the FIA European Rallycross Championship weekend at Lohéac took place in difficult wet conditions on Saturday morning, with Juha Rytkönen emerging fastest in Euro RX1.

Heavy standing water made the already incredibly fast and short French track particularly challenging, with several drivers struggling for grip and consistency throughout the opening qualifier.

Technical problems also heavily delayed the official livestream. With the broadcast only beginning midway through the Euro RX1 session, this Q1 report is primarily based on the official results together with the action available once coverage eventually began.

For Q2, which is scheduled to begin at 15:30 local time, Sideways Stories will return to its usual more detailed coverage of the individual heats and on-track action.

Rytkönen produced a superb final lap to take the fastest time of Q1 with his SET Promotion Hyundai i20.

The Finn was fighting Sébastien Loeb during the closing stages of their race and timed his attack perfectly.

As Loeb emerged from the joker immediately before the final corner, Rytkönen managed to nudge himself ahead and win the drag towards the finish.

It was not only enough to win the heat, his 2:51.900 race time ultimately proved to be the fastest of the entire Euro RX1 field.

Loeb therefore had to settle for second overall in Q1 with his Peugeot 208, just 0.303 seconds behind Rytkönen.

It nevertheless continued an impressive return to rallycross for the nine-time World Rally Champion, who had already demonstrated his pace by going second fastest in Friday's opening practice session.

Ole Christian Veiby looked capable of challenging for the fastest time with his Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX.

However, some sketchy moments through the deep standing water cost the Norwegian valuable time, leaving him third overall.

Fabien Pailler continued to show strong pace at his home event by putting the Prodrive-built Renault Mégane R.S. RX fourth.

Championship leader Johan Kristoffersson endured a considerably more complicated start to the competitive weekend.

After topping both Friday practice sessions, the Swede found himself caught in traffic during his Q1 race and could only manage the fifth fastest overall time with his Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX.

There was further concern after the finish as Kristoffersson encountered problems with the Polo following his heat and the car subsequently had to be towed away from the track.

Patrick O'Donovan finished sixth with his Peugeot 208, immediately followed by father Oliver O'Donovan in another 208 in seventh.

László Kiss made an impressive start with his newly built Volkswagen Polo.

In the car's first race, Kiss secured the eighth fastest time and immediately placed the Speedbox-built machine inside the top ten.

Martin Enlund was another driver producing a strong result with new machinery as the Swede put his Ford Fiesta Mk8, which is based around a Rally2 platform, ninth overall.

René Münnich completed the top ten with his newly built SEAT Ibiza.

Münnich knows what it takes to succeed at Lohéac, having won the Euro RX round when the championship last visited the circuit in 2021.

There were also two notable absences from Q1.

Mandie August did not start with her SEAT Ibiza as problems with the engine continues. She had already missed Friday's second practice session.

Nils Andersson was another non-starter with Xite Racing's Mini, continuing a difficult beginning to his late Euro RX1 debut after also missing FP1 on Friday.

Euro RX3

Audrius Kragas emerged on top of the opening Euro RX3 qualifier with his Škoda Fabia.

The Lithuanian recorded a 3:00.393 race time to secure the fastest result in the difficult conditions.

Tom Le Jossec continued his strong home weekend with another Fabia, finishing second and only 0.605 seconds behind Kragas.

Remarkably, the same margin separated second and third.

Julien Meunier finished exactly 0.605 seconds behind Le Jossec with his Audi A1, putting him 1.210 seconds away from Kragas' Q1 benchmark.

Norway's Markus Røsrud finished fourth with an older Škoda Fabia Mk2.

Nicolas Geleyns completed the top five with his Audi A1. Geleyns represents Antigua in Euro RX3, although he has more recently also competed under a Belgian licence.

Václav Tůma put another Škoda Fabia sixth overall.

Championship leader Rytis Gurklys had to settle for seventh with his Audi A1, leaving him with ground to recover when qualifying continues later.

Jan Dvořák followed in eighth with another Audi A1.

Sámuel Kovács was ninth with his Škoda Fabia, while Libor Teješ completed the top ten aboard an Audi A1.

That meant Škoda and Audi machinery occupied every position inside the Euro RX3 top ten.

Tamás Végh was among those further down the order after receiving a five-second penalty for jumping the start with his Volkswagen Polo.

The Dutch Rallycross Championship enters the decisive stage of its 2026 season this weekend with the penultimate round taking place at Valkenswaard.

With only two rounds remaining, several drivers arrive with an opportunity to secure their respective championships early, while other categories remain separated by only a handful of points.

The Dutch series will also share the weekend with selected categories from the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy. The British Supercar contingent is absent as it competes at the huge Lohéac event in France, but Super Retro, Retro and several other British entries have made the journey to the Netherlands.

There is plenty of variety throughout the programme, from the headline Supernational categories and screaming naturally aspirated RX3 machinery to Crosscars, buggies, one-make categories and an assortment of historic British rallycross cars.

Supernational Plus

Steve Volders has been unstoppable in Supernational Plus.

The Belgian has won all five rounds held so far with his BMW E30 and arrives at Valkenswaard with a perfect record and 152 points.

That puts Volders in a position where another strong result could be enough to secure the championship before the finale.

Fellow Belgian Ariane Vanlommel is his nearest challenger with 113 points aboard her Volvo 240.

Dries Bosmans makes it an all-Belgian championship top three. The BMW Z3 driver has accumulated 71 points.

Maikel Alewijnse is currently the highest-placed Dutch driver in the standings in 11th overall.

A total of 11 cars are entered for the category this weekend as Volders attempts to complete another step towards an unbeaten championship campaign.

Supernational Minus

The situation is considerably closer in Supernational Minus.

Louis de Haas leads with 122 points aboard his Opel Corsa despite missing the third round at Arendonk.

Whenever De Haas has competed, however, nobody has beaten him. The Dutchman has won all four of his appearances this season.

Mandy Kasse is keeping the championship fight alive with her Ford Fiesta Mk7 and sits only 12 points behind on 110.

Behind them, Johan Kwinten and Belgian driver Zoë Volders are tied on 79 points in the fight for third. Volders is the daughter of Supernational Plus leader Steve Volders, giving the family two significant championship campaigns heading into the closing stages of the season.

With 15 cars entered at Valkenswaard and two rounds remaining, Supernational Minus remains wide open.

RX3

Formerly known as Super1600, RX3 has attracted its largest field of the Dutch season with 11 cars ready to unleash their high-revving, naturally aspirated front-wheel-drive machinery.

Yves Teelen arrives with a commanding championship advantage.

The Belgian has won four of the five rounds with his Peugeot 208 and leads with 148 points, putting him in a strong position to potentially secure the title this weekend.

Ben Lenaerts is second with 92 points.

The battle behind the leading Belgian pair is much closer.

Home driver Chris van Hulst currently occupies third with 71 points aboard his Peugeot 206.

Davy Van Den Branden is only four points behind on 67 with his Citroën DS3, while Willem Veltman sits another single point further back on 66 with his Citroën C2.

That leaves just five points covering third through fifth before the penultimate round.

BMW RX Cup

The BMW RX Cup also reaches a season-high entry at Valkenswaard with five cars.

Rume Antonissen leads the standings with 136 points after taking three victories from the opening five rounds.

But Rigo Verstreepen is only five points behind.

Verstreepen has claimed the other two victories this season, meaning every BMW RX Cup round has so far been won by one of the two championship leaders.

Sjouke Nobels occupies third with 91 points, while Yorben Verstreepen sits fourth on 76.

Stefan Willig completes the entry and will make his first appearance of the season.

National 1800

National 1800 brings another strong field with ten cars entered.

Germany's Finn Bröhl leads the championship with 136 points aboard his Opel Corsa after winning three rounds this season.

Neel Lepelaars sits second on 117 points with another Corsa and comes into the weekend with recent winning experience at the Eurocircuit, having taken victory when the championship last visited Valkenswaard.

Damian van Lieshout remains close behind with 109 points after taking his victory at Arendonk earlier in the summer.

One particularly interesting entry comes from Bart Bel.

Bel has combined his work maintaining the Valkenswaard circuit with a busy season behind the wheel, including appearances with his Ford Focus Supercar in RallyX and Euro RX1.

This weekend provides a very different challenge.

Sitting fifth in the National 1800 standings with 45 points, Bel will debut a newly acquired Peugeot 106 as he returns to the domestic category.

Crosscar Senior

Crosscar Senior provides the biggest field of the entire weekend with 24 entries.

Home driver Nick Kooremans leads the championship after three victories and has accumulated 125 points.

Defending champion Pim Vlassak is second with 97 points.

Interestingly, Vlassak remains firmly in contention despite not having won a round so far this season.

Gino van der Auwera sits third with 66 points, while the battle behind him remains close.

Jari van Hoof has 61 points after winning the second round, while French driver Kevin Letroye completes the championship top five on 55 following his victory in round 4.

The large Valkenswaard entry means there will be little margin for error as the Crosscar title fight moves towards its conclusion.

The Dutch field is also expected to be joined by five drivers from the British championship.

Will Ovenden, James Black and Teddie MacPherson bring Mygale XC04 machinery, while Sven Hofkens and Bradley Turner are entered with LifeLive TN11s. Bringing the total number to 29 if they all race together.

Crosscar Junior

Only six crosscars are entered in Crosscar Junior, but championship leader Pim Klaassen has an opportunity to make this a particularly important weekend.

Klaassen has won four rounds and leads with 144 points.

Jarno van Glabbeek is the only driver to have beaten him this season, taking victory in round 2 and remains second with 109 points.

Belgium's Lois Ramakers occupies third with 72 points, although the championship podium position is far from secure.

Danny van Groningen is only six points behind on 66.

The Buggy Classes

Belgian driver Björn Versluys leads Superbuggy with 80 points after winning two of the opening three rounds.

Glenn Sente, also from Belgium, took victory in the third round and sits second with 54 points.

Home driver René van Roy is only two points further back on 52, leaving the fight behind Versluys particularly close.

Belgium's Yenz Leysen leads the older Minibuggy division with 142 points.

Leysen has taken three victories this season, while Jules Damsin has won the remaining two rounds and sits second with 92 points.

Those two drivers have therefore shared every victory between them heading into Valkenswaard.

Martin Boesmans in the younger Minibuggy division, has produced one of the most dominant campaigns anywhere in the Dutch championship.

The Belgian has won all five rounds and arrives at the penultimate event with 152 points.

That perfect winning record puts Boesmans in a position to secure the championship this weekend if results go his way.

One Make Support Classes

Fourteen identical Ford RST-based buggy-style machines will contest the RST Junior Cup this weekend.

Jip Jacobs has taken control of the championship with four consecutive victories and leads on 147 points.

Belgian Daan Vanhacht is second with 102 points and remains the only other winner this season after taking the season opener in March.

Another Belgian, Kobe Melis, sits third with 92 points.

The championship top three appear increasingly secure, but only ten points separate Vanhacht and Melis in the fight for second.

Few categories on the programme are more instantly recognisable than 2CV Cross.

Ten cars are entered, all based on lightly modified versions of the iconic Citroën 2CV.

No current championship standings are available for the category, but the ten-car field adds another very different form of rallycross machinery to an already diverse Valkenswaard weekend.

5 Nations BRX

The visiting British Super Retro category brings seven cars and several familiar names from rallycross history.

Rallycross legend Pat Doran will compete with a Ford Escort Mk2, joined by Allan Tapscott in another Mk2 and Dan Swayland brings the earlier Ford Escort Mk1.

Gary Simpson will compete with his BMW M3 E30, carrying a livery inspired by the late Bengt Ekström.

Stuart Emery's Volvo 242 provides another tribute to rallycross history with its Petter Solberg-inspired appearance.

Vincent Bristow is entered with his BMW E36, while Hannah Stewart completes the seven-car field aboard her Talbot Sunbeam.

Four British Retro cars are also making the trip.

Tony Lynch brings his Toyota MR2, while Jon Wood will compete with a Ford Escort Mk3 carrying a livery inspired by John Welch.

Peter Christmas is entered with a Toyota Corolla.

Perhaps the most unusual car of the four belongs to Paul Buckmaster, who will compete with his rear-wheel-drive converted Vauxhall Nova.

Philip Seath is the only British Swift Sport driver currently entered for the weekend with his Suzuki Swift.

With no other British Swift Sport drivers listed, exactly how the entry will be integrated into the Dutch programme remains unclear.

The same situation applies to William Hands, who is the sole British Junior entry with another Suzuki Swift.

Whether the two British Suzuki drivers will compete alongside compatible Dutch categories or under another combined format remains to be seen.

While the British Supercars fight at Lohéac, the remainder of the 5 Nations representation adds another international element to an already packed weekend at Valkenswaard.

More importantly for the Dutch championship contenders, the opportunities are beginning to run out.

Steve Volders, Yves Teelen, Pim Klaassen and Martin Boesmans are among those who could potentially leave the penultimate round with their championships secured.

For everyone else, Valkenswaard represents one of the final opportunities to ensure the title fight continues into the 2026 finale.

A busy weekend of rallycross awaits in northern Sweden as the District Championship continues with two rounds on consecutive days.

Round 3 takes place in Piteå on Saturday before teams and drivers pack up and make the short turnaround for round 4 at Älvsbyn on Sunday.

Three categories headline the weekend, with Open 2WD, Supernational and 2150 all bringing an interesting mixture of machinery to the two events.

The biggest field can be found in 2150, where 37 cars are entered for Piteå, while Open 2WD brings together several drivers familiar from this season's RallyX North campaign.

Open 2WD

Four cars will contest Open 2WD in Piteå before the field grows to five for Sunday's event in Älvsbyn.

Erik Lidman brings his BMW M3 E30, while Jon Ny is entered with a BMW E36 and Linus Westman continues with his BMW E87.

Adding some Norwegian representation is John Hanstad with his Citroën Xsara.

The entry becomes particularly interesting when the championship moves to Älvsbyn on Sunday.

Local driver Viktor Johansson will join the field with his distinctive Mercedes-Benz 190 Evo Hybrid.

Johansson enjoyed an impressive RallyX North campaign this season and eventually finished second in the championship.

His arrival means four drivers who were among the front runners in RallyX North, Johansson, Lidman, Ny and Westman, will meet again in Älvsbyn.

It provides Sunday's Open 2WD contest with an interesting rematch, this time as part of the District Championship and on Johansson's home ground again.

Supernational

Supernational brings a considerably larger field with 16 drivers entered for Saturday in Piteå before another two join at Älvsbyn.

Volvo machinery forms a significant part of the entry.

Andreas Nilsson, Andreas Gunnarsson and Ludwig Stenvall are all entered with Volvo 240s, while Åge Nymo, John Hanstad and Rasmus Lindgren will compete with Volvo S40s.

Nymo and Hanstad also add further Norwegian representation to the field.

BMW is another popular choice.

Björn Nordsvan and John Ekersund will race BMW E30s, while Julia Lundkvist and Niklas Mörtsell are entered with the newer BMW E87.

But there are also several considerably more unusual cars on the entry list.

Jesper Karlsson brings his distinctive MG ZR 160, while Joakim Vikström will compete with a Volvo PV.

Norwegians Kenneth Lyngås is entered with an Opel Corsa, Rikke Hanstad brings an Opel Ascona and Stefan Åeng will compete with a Lexus IS200.

Jon Ny is also entered in Supernational alongside his Open 2WD programme.

No car is currently specified for Ny on the entry list, although it is possible that he will compete with the Volkswagen Polo.

Two more cars are set to join when the championship moves to Älvsbyn.

Oliver Stenvall and Ossian Stenvall will both enter the Supernational field with Ford Escort Mk3s, increasing the class to 18 entries for Sunday's fourth round.

2150

By far the biggest category of the weekend is 2150.

An enormous 37 cars are entered for Saturday's competition in Piteå, with the field featuring the familiar mix of rear-wheel-drive Volvo, BMW and Opel machinery that has made the category so popular.

Five Opel Asconas are entered for Björn Nordsvan, Jesper Skogh, Erik Jonsson, Per Jonsson and Gustav Sikström.

But even that number is comfortably beaten by the Volvo 240 contingent.

Hampus Andersson, Andreas Lundgren, Johan Karlsson, Anton Thingvall, Anton Söderlund, Jörgen Boström, David Hammarstedt, Emil Lundin, Mikko Sipola and Alfons Holmqvist will all compete with Volvo 240s.

Opel Kadett machinery is represented by Edwin Hedlund, Johnny Fjellström, Magnus Hedlund and Robert Nyström.

BMW also has a major presence across several generations.

Mikael Lindgren, Kevin Wallstål, Christer Hellberg and Emil Berggren are entered with BMW E46s.

Oskar Andersson, Henrik Petersson, Arnold Bodlund, Lucas Lindqvist, Robin Sällström, Niklas Söderlund and Johan Hägg will compete with BMW E36s.

Jonas Bodlund, Rasmus Loggert and Emelie Hjertberg bring BMW E30s, while Robin Hallnor and Jill Lundkvist complete the BMW contingent with a pair of E87s.

Two cars stand out from the otherwise BMW, Volvo and Opel-dominated field.

Magnus Jonsson will compete with his Saab 99, while Rasmus Grönlund brings a Toyota Corolla.

The 2150 entry will decrease by one car for Sunday's fourth round in Älvsbyn, although there will also be a change to the line-up as Åke Nygren joins with another Volvo 240.

With 37 cars in 2150, a strong Supernational field and several RallyX North protagonists reunited in Open 2WD, Piteå provides a packed start to the District Championship double-header.

There will also be little opportunity to relax afterwards.

Once Saturday's finals are complete, attention immediately shifts to Älvsbyn for round 4 on Sunday where another full day of northern Swedish rallycross awaits.

French Rallycross Championship Super1600 leader Jimmy Terpereau has been airlifted to hospital following a serious accident during Friday's action at Lohéac.

The accident occurred during a session when Terpereau's car heavily struck the central safety barrier at the French track.

The incident immediately brought the session to a halt as medical and rescue crews attended the scene.

According to French local media reports, the racing was stopped for approximately 45 minutes while Terpereau was initially taken to the track's medical centre.

An emergency helicopter subsequently arrived at Lohéac, requiring another interruption to the track activity, before Terpereau was transported to hospital in Rennes.

Further details regarding the circumstances of the accident and the condition of Terpereau remain limited at the time of writing.

Terpereau arrived at Lohéac as the championship leader in the French Rallycross Championship's Super1600 category.

The Frenchman has been one of the leading drivers throughout the 2026 campaign and won the previous round at Kerlabo with an Audi A1, strengthening his position at the top of the standings.

However, his Lohéac weekend involved a change of machinery.

Terpereau returned to the Peugeot 208 with which he started the season at Lessay rather than continuing with the Audi A1 he had recently raced.

Friday's accident has now brought his weekend to an abrupt end and caused a lengthy interruption to the opening day of competition at Lohéac.

The event is one of the biggest rallycross meetings of the decade, combining the French Rallycross Championship with the FIA European Rallycross Championship and British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy as Lohéac celebrates 50 years of rallycross.

Sideways Stories sends its best wishes to Jimmy Terpereau.

This story will be updated when further confirmed information becomes available.

Johan Kristoffersson remains the driver to beat at Lohéac after once again setting the fastest time as Friday's FIA European Rallycross Championship action concluded with Free Practice 2.

After topping the opening session earlier in the day, the championship leader repeated the achievement during Friday evening's second practice, although this time the margin could hardly have been smaller.

Kristoffersson lowered the benchmark considerably from the opening practice session, recording a fastest lap of 36.444 seconds with his Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX.

But Fabien Pailler came remarkably close to putting a French driver on top.

Pailler produced an impressive lap with his Prodrive-built Renault Mégane R.S. RX to finish only 0.017 seconds behind Kristoffersson.

It provided a much more positive conclusion to a difficult opening day for Pailler, who started the Lohéac weekend with a 15-point championship deduction following a fourth engine seal change of the season.

Ole Christian Veiby put the second KMS Polo third fastest, giving Kristoffersson Motorsport two cars inside the leading three positions.

Juha Rytkönen continued a strong Friday for SET Promotion by improving from seventh in FP1 to fourth with his Hyundai i20.

Patrick O'Donovan once again demonstrated his pace around Lohéac.

After setting the fourth fastest time in the opening session, O'Donovan completed FP2 in fifth with his Peugeot 208, making him one of only a handful of drivers to finish inside the top five in both Friday sessions.

Rokas Baciuška followed in sixth with another SET Promotion-built Hyundai i20.

Sébastien Loeb slipped further down the order after his impressive second-fastest time in FP1. The nine-time World Rally Champion ended the evening session seventh with his 2017-spec Peugeot 208.

Championship contender Andreas Bakkerud was eighth fastest with his M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta.

Bakkerud enters Lohéac second in the Euro RX1 standings and just seven points behind Kristoffersson, making Saturday's competitive sessions particularly important after the championship leader controlled both Friday practices.

Joni Turpeinen put another M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta ninth.

Oliver O'Donovan completed the top ten with his Peugeot 208, joining son Patrick among the leading ten drivers at the end of Friday.

With two practice sessions now complete, Kristoffersson has provided an early warning to the rest of the field. He has been fastest in both, but the tiny margin separating him from Pailler in FP2 suggests there is plenty of competition waiting when the qualifying begins.

For the second consecutive session, a French driver set the pace in Euro RX3.

This time it was Julien Meunier who moved to the top.

Meunier recorded a 38.510-second lap with his Audi A1 after finishing third fastest during the opening practice session.

Audrius Kragas emerged as his closest challenger with the Škoda Fabia, finishing 0.465 seconds behind the Frenchman.

Tom Le Jossec completed the top three with another Fabia.

Le Jossec had topped FP1 earlier on Friday morning but was unable to repeat that result in the evening session.

With Le Jossec and Meunier taking one fastest time each, the French drivers have controlled both Euro RX3 practice sessions on home soil.

The Norwegian Rallycross Championship heads to Grenland Motorsportsenter in Skien this weekend for the fourth and penultimate round of the 2026 season.

NMK Grenland last hosted a Norwegian Rallycross Championship round in 2023 and the championship now returns following several years of continued development at the motorsport complex.

The 1.102-kilometre circuit consists of approximately 60 percent asphalt and 40 percent gravel and will provide two days of rallycross action. Practice and the opening three qualifying sessions take place on Saturday, followed by the final qualifying session and finals on Sunday.

For the four Supernasjonal categories, every remaining point is becoming increasingly valuable. All five rounds count towards the final championship standings, with only the Gardermoen finale on 12/13 September remaining after Grenland.

But there will also be another attraction this weekend as Norway's Supercar category returns for its second appearance of the season.

Supercar

Supercar opened its 2026 campaign at Hell earlier this year and returns at Grenland with a fascinating eight-car entry featuring several generations of four-wheel-drive rallycross machinery.

Hans-Jøran Østreng arrives as the championship leader following his victory in the season opener.

Østreng competes with the Hyundai i20 originally built by Frode Holte and will attempt to make it two victories from two starts this weekend.

One of the biggest names joining him is Thomas Eek Murstad.

Murstad returns directly from Canada after competing in RallyX Americas at Trois-Rivières last weekend, where he finished second in the Supercar final. He will now be back behind the wheel of his own FC2 at Grenland.

At the opposite end of the technological timeline is one of the most spectacular cars still competing in modern rallycross.

Morten Lerdahl continues to race the former Jan Arthur Iversen Ford RS200 Evolution.

The Group B monster represents a completely different generation from Murstad's FC2. The RS200 was successfully campaigned on European rallycross tracks during the early 1990s and remains one of the most iconic types of machinery from the sport's Group B era.

Kjetil Larsen brings another significant piece of rallycross history with his Marklund Motorsport-built Volkswagen Polo.

Larsen already appeared internationally this season when he contested the FIA European Rallycross Championship opener in Riga with the car and will now return to competition at Grenland.

Kim Roar Johansen is entered with another familiar Scandinavian Supercar, driving the former Mats Lysen Renault Clio.

Marius Kastad will meanwhile compete with Kenneth Kristiansen's former Škoda Fabia Mk1.

Completing the field are Lars Erik Haug and Nils Christian Haug, both competing with Supercar Lites machinery.

The two cars will be significantly down on power compared with the purpose-built Supercars surrounding them, but their inclusion adds yet another generation and interpretation of four-wheel-drive rallycross machinery to an unusually varied field.

Supernasjonal +2400

Thomas Bryntesson has been untouchable in Supernasjonal +2400 so far this season.

The defending champion has not only won all three rounds, he has taken the maximum available 33 points at every one of them.

That gives the NMK Trøgstad driver a perfect 99 points heading into Grenland.

Emil Sivesind remains his closest challenger with 74 points in his Audi, leaving a 25-point difference between the leading pair.

Petter Fuglestveit sits third with 62 points aboard his Ford Puma rented from Andreas Bakkerud.

There are still 66 points available across Grenland and the Gardermoen finale, meaning the championship is far from mathematically decided. But another maximum score from Bryntesson would put the defending champion in an extremely strong position.

Supernasjonal 2400

Marius Solberg Hansen leads Supernasjonal 2400 after an impressively consistent opening three rounds.

Last year's bronze medallist has taken two victories and one runner-up finish with his BMW, accumulating 91 points in the process.

Experienced Volvo S40 driver Kenneth Hansen is second on 65 points.

The battle immediately behind him is much closer, with Espen Kolstadbråten sitting third on 61 points with his Ford Fiesta.

Only four points therefore separate Hansen and Kolstadbråten in the fight behind the championship leader as the series arrives at its penultimate round.

Supernasjonal 2000

Ole Henry Steinsholt will be one of the drivers carrying particularly high expectations into the weekend.

The NMK Grenland driver returns to his home track as the championship leader after winning all three rounds held so far this season with his Ford Fiesta.

Three consecutive victories have given Steinsholt 93 points.

Torjus Svenneby is second with 63 points, leaving the home favourite with a considerable 30-point advantage.

Markus Skomedal occupies third with 47 points aboard another Ford Fiesta.

Steinsholt therefore has the opportunity to take a major step towards the Norwegian title in front of his home crowd.

Supernasjonal 1600

The closest championship fight among the Supernasjonal leaders can be found in the category for cars up to 1600cc.

Sindre Haug leads with 89 points aboard his Volkswagen Polo after taking two victories and one runner-up finish from the opening three rounds.

But Timian Hansen remains firmly in contention.

Hansen won the previous round at Vikedal with his Citroën and arrives at Grenland second on 77 points, just 12 behind Haug.

Emilie Haukeland is also still within reach of the leading pair.

The Citroën DS3 driver occupies third with 67 points and will look to close the gap before the championship reaches Gardermoen.

Rallycross Historisk

Norway's historic rallycross category has developed into a popular part of the national programme and continues its Norwegian Cup campaign at Grenland.

Ole Sæther currently leads the standings with 96 points aboard his Volkswagen 1303.

Kjetil Stien sits second with 67 points in another Volkswagen 1303.

The fight behind him remains close, with Kristian Haugård only four points further back on 63 with his Ford Escort.

Rallycross Junior

The Norwegian Cup for Rallycross Junior also continues at Grenland, with the category open to drivers between 16 and 21 years old.

There will be particular interest in championship leader Henrik T. Håkonsen, who represents the host club NMK Grenland.

Håkonsen has accumulated 86 points with his Honda Civic and will therefore enter his home event at the top of the standings.

Mats Aasbjørg is his closest challenger with 73 points aboard an Opel Corsa.

Leander Lindland occupies third with 24 points in another Honda Civic.

With Grenland complete, only Gardermoen will remain on the 2026 Norwegian Championship calendar.

For the Supernasjonal championship contenders, that makes this weekend one of the most important opportunities of the season to build an advantage before the finale.

For the Supercar drivers, meanwhile, Grenland provides something rather different, a rare field where a modern FC2 can line up at the same event as cars representing several decades of rallycross development.