Three drivers went into the 2023 season finale
in the FIA RX2e Championship in the hunt for outright honours, following a
closely-contested campaign in the single-spec FIA World Rallycross Championship
support series. But at the end of the day, only one of them departed Germany’s
Estering clutching the coveted trophy...
The scene was arguably set in the curtain-raising
contest, when Swedish stars Isak Sjökvist, Nils Andersson and Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky
locked out the podium places in Hell, blanketed by barely two seconds at the
chequered flag. The trio would similarly occupy the top three spots in the
classification come season’s end – albeit not in the same order.
Following his recruitment by Hansen Motorsport
junior outfit #YellowSquad, Sjökvist looked to be in pole position off the back
of his maiden triumph in Norway, but thereafter, the 22-year-old struggled to
replicate his stellar start to proceedings.
By the time the field left Lydden Hill towards
the end of July, the ever-present Andersson and defending champion Viktor
Vranckx had supplanted Sjökvist at the summit of the standings, and travelling to
the Estering for the all-important showdown, the Uppsala native found himself
five points adrift of the lead.
He salvaged one of those points by pipping
Andersson to second in the intermediate ranking, but entering the final, Sjökvist
knew he needed to win to have any chance of clinching the crown. With Tommi
Hallman on imperious form, that was always going to be a tall order, and when
his first corner tactics left him high-and-dry, the path was cleared for
Andersson to race on to title glory.
Astonishingly, the Arvika-born ace did not top
the podium all season – indeed, he has yet to do so in 12 appearances in RX2e –
but Andersson was the only driver to reach every final and that commendable
consistency ultimately reaped the biggest reward.
Team E stablemate Åhlin-Kottulinsky was
similarly impressive, building upon her rostrum result on her debut in Norway with
a runner-up finish to guest star Johan Kristoffersson in Belgium that
catapulted her firmly into contention heading to Germany.
Spain’s Pablo Suárez produced another solid performance
in fourth, two points clear of Ole Henry Steinsholt, who enjoyed his day of
days with victory at Höljes’ ‘Magic Weekend’ but got too frequently caught up
in contact to put together a genuine title bid.
Flying Finn Hallman went unbeaten on his two outings
at Lydden Hill and the Estering, while Vranckx was well in the mix to become
RX2e’s first double champion prior to leaving the series ahead of his home
round at Mettet in August.
Championship Standings
1. Nils Andersson 76 pts
2. Isak Sjökvist 69 pts
3. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky 66 pts
4. Pablo Suárez 52 pts
5. Ole Henry Steinsholt 50 pts
6. Filip Thorén 50 pts
Finland
Italy
Hungary