Defending champion Andersson a winner at last in RX2e

Andersson was on imperious form throughout RX2e’s 2024 curtain-raising contest, dominating his rivals – including last season’s title contenders Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Isak Sjökvist – to tally a clean sweep of heat race victories and top the intermediate ranking.

Proving that he was just as comfortable on a wet track as on a dry one, the Arvika native – a protégé of six-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson and competing for Kristoffersson Motorsport ‘junior’ outfit Team E – scampered more than five seconds clear of his pursuers in the first semi-final.

He went on to prevail by an even greater margin in the all-important final, bucking the trend of poor starts from pole position in the wet by immediately assuming a lead he would not subsequently relinquish. His full score means Andersson will travel next to Nyirád in Hungary on 27-28 July at the summit of the standings, holding an eight-point championship lead as he bids to become RX2e’s first two-time title winner.

“It was devastating [not to win] here last year and I’ve thought about that ever since,” acknowledged the 24-year-old, referencing the last lap error that had cost him victory at Höljes in similar conditions 12 months earlier. “Even though I wasn’t under any pressure from behind in the final, I still had that in the back of my mind in the closing stages. To do this on home soil in front of so many fans is just great!”

Åhlin-Kottulinsky ultimately wound up second, with Estonia’s Marko Muru completing the podium-finishers in third. Molly Taylor reached the RX2e final for the first time on her way to a career-best fourth, ahead of rallycross newcomer Luka Wlömer, who pushed Andersson hard for a while in heat four.

There was no joy, however, for last year’s championship runner-up Sjökvist (#YellowSquad), who struggled for speed before finding himself a victim of the typical Turn One squeeze in the final, sending him into a spin that dropped the Swede to the tail-end of the order.