Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo RX1e) won the second round of the 2025 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Höljes in Sweden today (July 6). Niclas Grönholm (PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e) and Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208 RX1e) finished second and third in the World RX final that was ran under torrential rain. In the European championships wins at Höljes were respectively for Yuri Belevskiy (Audi S1) in Euro RX1 and for Rytis Gurklis (Audi S1) in Euro RX3.
Johan Kristoffersson continued his domination from Saturday into Sunday with setting fastest times in Q3 and Q4. Juha Rytkönen (Hyundai i20) in the ICE Hyundai signed twice for a second fastest time on Sunday and qualified third behind Niclas Grönholm and ahead of Timmy Hansen. This lead to a first semi-final with a front row occupied by an electrical vehicle (Kristoffersson) and an ICE car (Rytkönen). Kristoffersson won the start from Rytkönen and from there the positions didn’t change during the race. Both qualified for the final together with third place finisher Kevin Hansen (Peugeot 208 RX1e).
The second semi-final had four cars with Niclas Grönholm and Timmy Hansen on the front row and Klara Andersson (PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e) and Patrick O’Donovan (Peugeot 208) on the second row. Andersson passed through the joker lap section in the opening lap with all others doing the same in the final lap. However, it did not pay off for her as she came in fourth and was out for the final. Grönholm won the semi-final ahead of Timmy Hansen and O’Donovan.
In the World RX final, that went underway under heavy rain with standing water on the track, Kristoffersson won the start from Grönholm with Rytkönen and the Hansen brothers passing straight through the joker lap section. Patrick O’Donovan ran in third until the third lap when, dealing with a puncture, the Hansen brothers passed him. For Grönholm and afterwards Kristoffersson the gaps in between were comfortable to pass through the joker lap section and keep their positions. Kevin Hansen was then forced to retire from the final during the last lap and therefore Timmy Hansen came in third and was allowed to climb the last step of the podium.
In the standings after two rounds Niclas Grönholm stays on top with 50 points, six points clear on Johan Kristoffersson (44 points) in second.
in Euro RX1 overnight’s leader Mika Liimatainen (Hyundai i20) drove to a third and second fastest time in respectively Q3 and Q4 and remained on top of the ranking. Fastest on Sunday was Lukas Andersson (Ford Fiesta Mk7), who was debuting Supercar racing this weekend in the former Anton Marklund European championship car. He was quicker than Martin Enlund (Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST) in Q3 and Liimatainen in Q4 and qualified second before the semi-finals. Enlund qualified third ahead of Joni Turpeinen (Ford Fiesta Mk7). In the first semi-final with Liimatianen and Enlund on the front row it was second row starter Peter Hedström (Peugeot 208) who had the better start. He lead the semi-final from start to finish and made it into the final together with Liimatianen and Damian Litwinowicz (Audi S1) leaving Enlund, who came in fourth, out for the final. In the other semi-final youngsters Lukas Andersson and Joni Turpeinen ran one and two after the first turn with Yuri Belevskiy, who only qualified as twelfth, in third from the last start row. Turpeinen was leading it in the final lap from Andersson, who had an issue with the suspension, and was almost overtaken on the line by Belevskiy.
The Euro RX1 final saw Joni Turpeinen and Peter Hedström lined up beside each other on the front row. Liimatainen together with Lukas Andersson were on the second row while the grid was completed by both Audi drivers Damian Litwinowicz and Yuri Belevskiy. When the green light was shown Turpeinen went into the lead ahead of second row starter Andersson with Liimatainen and Belevskiy passing through the joker lap section and the latter overtaking the Finn. Then a mistake from Turpeinen allowed Andersson to go into the lead in the second lap (out of six) and the two battled it out in the pouring rain. Belevskiy in the mean time made his way up in the final and with Turpeinen and Litwinowicz passing through the joker lap section he ran second with the race leader still to pass through the joker lap section. In the penultimate lap, Belevskiy, who as mentioned earlier qualified only as twelfth, went into the lead and won the Euro RX1 category, his second win after being victorious in the opening round of the 2025 season in Portugal. Lukas Andersson finished second in his debut Supercar race ahead of Mika Liimatainen. In the standings after two events, Belevskiy (53 points) is now leading it with 14 points on Liimatainen (39 points).
In Euro RX3 Marcus Røsrud (Škoda Fabia Mk2) was on top of the ranking after the first day with two times a fastest time. Today he added another fastest time to it in Q3 and was third in Q4 to be the top qualifier. In Q4 the Norwegian got beaten by Rytis Gurklys was second in the ranking. João Ribeiro (Audi A1), winner of the opening round, qualified third this weekend with Sámuel Kovács (Škoda Fabia Mk3) being fourth. In the first semi-final Røsrud and Ribeiro went head to head towards the first corner making the first named passing through the joker lap section in the opening lap. In no time he closed the gap again with the other drivers mainly because Ribeiro was slowing the pack down with a puncture. Røsrud came in first ahead of Nicolas Geleyns (Audi A1) and Tiago Ferreira (Peugeot 208). However, the Norwegian was then black flagged for an incident earlier in the race with André Sousa (Audi A1) – causing a collision – and as such set back to last place in the first semi-final. The second semi-final saw also several incidents but after all a clear win of Rytis Gurklys. Second and third on the finish line were Libor Teješ (Audi A1) and Dominik Senegacik (Škoda Fabia Mk3).
After the black flag for Røsrud the final had Gurklys and Geleyns on the front row and Libor Teješ and Tiago Ferreira on the second row. Gurklys won the start with Senegacik going in second followed by Geleyns while Ferreira went straight into the joker lap section. Geleyns then climbed to second and Ferreira to four and the lap after to three. The positions of the first two didn’t change anymore but Senegacik claimed the last podium spot by passing Ferreira by the beginning of the final lap. However, the Stewards of the Meeting, then gave a two seconds time penalty to Senegacik for ‘pushing and overtaking‘ in favor of Ferreira and as such the Portuguese driver became third. João Ribeiro stays on top of the standings after two rounds.
The 2025 FIA World Rallycross Championship and the 2025 FIA European Rallycross Championship continues in two weeks time at Nyirád in Hungary with round three of the series.
Results
World RX – Final: 1. Johan Kristoffersson (S), VW Polo RX1e; 2. Niclas Grönholm (FIN), PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e; 3. Timmy Hansen (S), Peugeot 208 RX1e; 4. Juha Rytkönen (FIN), Hyundai i20; 5. Patrick O’Donovan (IRL), Peugeot 208; 6. Kevin Hansen (S), Peugeot RX1e – DNF.
World RX Team: 1. Kristoffersson Motorsport (S), 40; 2. Construction Equipment Dealer Team (S), 33; 3. Hansen World RX Team (S), 30 .
Euro RX1 – Final: 1. Yury Belevskiy (RUS), Audi S1; 2. Lukas Andersson (S), Ford Fiesta Mk7; 3. Mika Liimatainen (FIN), Hyundai i20; 4. Damian Litwinowicz (PL), Audi S1; 5. Joni Turpeinen (FIN), Ford Fiesta Mk7; 6. Peter Hedström (S), Peugeot 208.
Euro RX3 – Final: 1. Rytis Gurklys (LT), Audi A1; 2. Nicolas Geleyns (B), Audi A1; 3. Tiago Ferreira (P), Peugeot 208; 4. Dominik Senegacik (A), Škoda Fabia Mk3; 5. Libor Teješ (CZ), Audi A1; 6. Václav Tůma (CZ), Škoda Fabia Mk3 – DNF.
Standings
World RX (2/6): 1. Niclas Grönholm (FIN), 50; 2. Johan Kristoffersson (S), 44; 3. Timmy Hansen (S), 38; 4. Ole Christian Veiby (N), 29; 5. Kevin Hansen (S), 28; 6. Juha Rytkönen (FIN), 28; etc.
World RX Team (2/6): 1. Construction Equipment Dealer Team (S), 74; 2. Kristoffersson Motorsport (S), 73; 3. Hansen World RX Team (S), 66.
Euro RX1 (2/5): 1. Yury Belevskiy (RUS), 53; 2. Mika Liimatainen (FIN), 39; 3. Damian Litwinowicz (PL), 35; 4. Martin Enlund (S), 28; 5. Nils Volland (D), 24; 6. Lukas Andersson (S), 22; etc.
Euro RX3 (2/5): 1. João Ribeiro (D), 41; 2. Rytis Gurklys (LT), 40; 3. Nicolas Geleyns (B), 31; 4. André Sousa (P), 30; 5. Libor Teješ (CZ), 29; 6. Sámuel Kovács (H), 24; etc.