Now running his Audi A1 under his own steam,
Ribeiro came out-of-the-blocks flying at the sport’s ‘Magic Weekend’, outpacing
pre-season favourite Nils Volland to win in heat one before doubling up in heat
two. A small mistake in heat three cost the Portuguese star a clean sweep on the
opening day, but he nevertheless
concluded Saturday at the summit of the intermediate standings.
A demon launch in the wet in heat four the following morning propelled Ribeiro into the lead from the outside of the grid, and he
would not subsequently look back as he duly secured Top Qualifier honours in
style – but as the rain intensified, he struggled to maintain the same speed.
After conceding the initiative at the beginning
of the semi-final, the Baltar native went on to finish second before replicating
that result in the final, benefitting from a puncture for Balázs Körmöczi along
the way.
His finest result in Euro RX3 to-date – and first
trip to the rostrum since the same event in 2022 – means Ribeiro will travel
next to Nyirád in Hungary (27-28 July) sitting second in the championship
classification, just four points adrift of the top of the table. The famous ‘Red
Cauldron’ was the scene of his maiden podium finish in the category two years
ago, and also a spectacular roll in the final last season – something he is
eager to avoid repeating 15 months on...
“Everything is different for us this year now
we are running the car ourselves, so I didn’t go to Höljes with any specific
expectations, particularly with the new format in 2024 and the new tyres that
demand a different way of driving,” the 40-year-old explained.
“Still, we had a positive pre-season build-up and I’ve been focussing
very hard on my starts – making some changes to the car to get better traction
and training hard on my reaction times in the gym – because the start is such an important
element of rallycross.
“To end Saturday in first place was perfect and
I felt really confident in the dry, but we struggled to get the set-up right in
the rain on Sunday. I had expected to be quicker in those conditions, so that
is an area we clearly need
to work on.
“The changeable weather certainly made
things very challenging – we never knew how the car would react from one corner
to the next and in the wettest races, it was simply a case of praying we would
get to the end! There was a lot of sideways driving – even more than usual in
rallycross!
“Overall, though, I have to be happy with
second position. Of
course I want more – every racing driver always wants to win – but the
championship is what matters most and that is at the forefront of my mind. The key
this year with the new points system is to score consistently well in every
single race – every heat is important and we need to be clever.
“There are a lot of Hungarian drivers on the entry
list for Nyirád and we know they will be very fast at their home track, but we
are working hard to keep improving our car and adapting it to the Hoosier tyres
and we are testing again this weekend. Ultimately, the aim has to be another
podium finish.”
Greece
Poland
Portugal