Three weeks after the season opener in Latvia, the European Rallycross drivers arrived in Nyirád, Hungary, for the second round of the 2026 series – the Euro RX of Hungary. After a long day of highly competitive racing Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST) holds the overnight lead in the RX1 category. In RX3 and RX4, respectively, Julien Meunier (Audi A1) and Filip Melon (Renault Clio Mk5) are on top of the ranking after Day 1.
After the one-two finish for Kristoffersson Motorsport in Rīga, with Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo Mk6) ahead of Ole Christian Veiby (VW Polo Mk6), much of the attention was focused on the team heading into the Nyirád round. In the first free practice session on Saturday morning, Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST) set the fastest time, beating Kristoffersson and Veiby. In the second session Kristoffersson was able to beat Bakkerud, with Veiby once again finishing third. Hungarian driver Andor Trepák (Renault Mégane Mk4) recorded the fourth-fastest time in both sessions to begin the weekend.
When qualifying got underway, Fabien Pailler (Renault Mégane Mk4) was the first driver to set a benchmark time after winning the opening Q1 race. Bakkerud, competing in the third race, significantly improved on the Frenchman’s time and ultimately set the fastest Q1 time. Veiby and Kristoffersson lined up in the penultimate and final races respectively; however, both struggled at the start. Kristoffersson still managed to finish second in his race behind Set Promotion’s Juha Rytkönen (Hyundai i20), who won the final Q1 race and recorded the second-fastest time overall. Kristoffersson eventually finished third in the standings, with Pailler fourth fastest and 2024 European champion Patrick O’Donovan (Peugeot 208), who also competed in the last race, completing the top five.
In Q2 the top five from Q1 was lined up together on the grid for the final race. Prior to that, however, Veiby – due to his Q1 result – was on track in the opening race and set the fastest time, which at that point was also the fastest time of the day. Joni Turpeinen (Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST), who struggled with gearbox issues in Q1, was second fastest. In the final race, Kristoffersson made a strong start from P3 and moved into second place in Turn 1 behind Bakkerud who started from pole. The joker lap strategy ultimately proved decisive. Kristoffersson took the joker on the penultimate lap, while Bakkerud waited until the final lap. The Swede was able to overtake the Norwegian at the joker merge and beat the time set earlier by his teammate Veiby. Bakkerud was third fastest, ahead of both Set Promotion drivers Rytkönen and Turpeinen.
Prior to Q3 a thunderstorm swept across Nyriád, resulting in qualifying being run in fully wet track conditions. Despite the rain, Q3 produced a thrilling final RX1 race of the day, with Bakkerud facing both Kristoffersson Motorsport drivers as well as the two Set Promotion entries. Turpeinen and Rytkönen made the better starts, ahead of Bakkerud, Veiby and Kristoffersson. Once again, the joker lap strategy proved decisive. Both KMS drivers took their joker lap on the opening lap, followed by leader Turpeinen one lap later. He rejoined the main track ahead of the KMS pair. Rytkönen was next to joker and rejoined between the two KMS drivers. With only Bakkerud, then leading, still needing to pass through the joker lap section, he eventually rejoined in third place. Turpeinen won the race and recorded the fastest Q3 time. Veiby was second fastest and Bakkerud third, while Kristoffersson set the fourth-fastest time and Rytkönen the sixth-fastest.
Overall, with one more qualifying session to come on Sunday, Bakkerud tops the ranking and holds the overnight lead. Kristoffersson is second, with Turpeinen and Rytkönen in third and fourth respectively. Patrick O’Donovan completes the top five ahead of Ulrik Linnemann (VW Polo Mk5), who set the second fastest time in Q3.
In Euro RX3, three different drivers set fastest times across Saturday’s qualifying sessions. Markus Røsrud (Škoda Fabia Mk2) was fastest in Q1. In Q2, Rīga winner Julien Meunier set the fastest time while Hungarian driver Levente Kacor (Suzuki Swift) did the same in Q3. In the ranking Meunier holds the overnight lead. Kacor is second, while Rytis Gurklys (Audi A1), who was second fastest in both Q2 and Q3, sits third.
In Euro RX4 Andréa Bénézet (Renault Clio Mk5) said prior to the event that he hoped to confirm his Rīga result on this Hungarian track, which features a proper dirt section. He started the weekend well with setting the fastest RX4 times in both of the free practice sessions. After Q3, however, he sits third overall. Polish driver Filip Melon holds the overnight lead after settings the fastest times in Q1, Q2 and Q3. Latvia’s Ivo Gabrāns (Renault Clio Mk5) is currently second.
Following an early warm-up session on Sunday morning, the event will continue with Q4 for all categories at 10:00 local time, followed by Quarter-Finals (RX1 only), Semi-Finals and the Finals for all categories.
Results
Euro RX1 (ranking after Q3): 1. Andreas Bakkerud (N), 130; 2. Johan Kristoffersson (S), 127; 3. Joni Turpeinen (FIN), 124; 4. Juha Rytkönen (FIN), 121; 5. Patrick O’Donovan (IRL), 114; 6. Ulrik Linnemann (DK), 111; etc.
Euro RX3 (ranking after Q3): 1. Julien Meunier (F), 132; 2. Levente Kacor (H), 126; 3. Rytis Gurklys (LT), 125; 4. Markus Røsrud (N), 117; 5. Sámuel Kovács (H), 116; 6. Václav Tůma (CZ), 112; etc.
Euro RX4 (ranking after Q3): 1. Filip Melon (PL), 150; 2. Ivo Gabrāns (LV), 126; 3. Andréa Bénézet (F), 124; 4. Haotian Deng (CHN), 123; 5. Thomas Quincé (F), 120; 6. Albert Ako Kokk (F), 117; etc.
Euro RX5 (ranking after Q3): 1. Martin Juga (EST), 134; 2. Marku Muru (EST), 130; 3. Ádám Gere (H), 127; 4. Valentin Comte (F), 125; 5. Tim Braumüller (D), 117; 6. Armin Raag (EST), 117; etc.