Ribeiro Under Pressure As Future Rallycross Stars Light Up the KymiRing 

The first heat set the tone in spectacular fashion. All eyes were on Lithuanian star Rytis Gurklys, second in the standings and eager to take the fight to runaway championship leader João Ribeiro. The Finnish fans got the explosive start they wanted as Gurklys launched off the line, building a four-second cushion over the chasing pack. Victory looked inevitable – until disaster struck. A costly brush with the barriers pitched his Audi into the gravel, undoing his hard work and dropping him from the lead. 

Hungarian charger Balázs Körmöczi pounced on the mistake, attacking in the closing stages and timing his joker lap to perfection. He dived past Gurklys at the merge to snatch the win and, with it, the fastest time of the session.

Ribeiro responded with a commanding run of his own, taking the heat win in his race, but even the Portuguese ace couldn’t eclipse Körmöczi’s benchmark. The Hungarian walked away with his first session victory of the season and the all-important 50 points.

If Körmöczi owned the morning, the afternoon belonged to Nicolas Geleyns. The young Barbadian was untouchable in his Audi A1, storming into the lead and never looking back. Rogerio Sousa tried to keep him honest, but Geleyns’ pace was relentless. By the midpoint, he had a six-second cushion, giving him the luxury of a calm joker lap and a dominant heat win. His performance was enough to take the session outright and bank maximum points.

Meanwhile, the anticipated clash of the day came when Gurklys and Ribeiro lined up side by side. Both launched brilliantly, drag-racing down the KymiRing’s long straight. Then came the flashpoint: Ribeiro lunged at Gurklys in a bold move that backfired, dropping the Portuguese star to third.

Gurklys seized the opening and took control, though Ribeiro clawed back relentlessly, closing to within 0.7 seconds. The tension peaked when Gurklys took a late joker, almost colliding with Ribeiro at the merge. He clung on by a whisker – just 0.27 seconds separating them at the flag – a statement win that reignited his challenge.

At the close of Saturday, Körmöczi leads the overnight classification with 89 points. Just behind, Geleyns and Gurklys are tied on 87, while Sámuel Kovács sits on 83 and Ribeiro rounds out the top five with 82.

With Saturday’s Euro RX3 action wrapped up, attention now shifts to the all-important remaining qualifying sessions tomorrow which will set our lineup for the finals. With just 8 points separating 5th place and 1st sparks are set to fly in Finland. 

Click here for provisional FIA European Rallycross Championship RX3 classification.

Click here to schedule tomorrow’s action live and free on the FIA World Rallycross Championship YouTube Channel.