Johan Kristoffersson claimed a second straight victory in the RallyX Nordic series on home soil in Arvika, but Oliver Eriksson made sure he had to work for it. 
Johan Kristoffersson leads at the start of the Supercar final at Arvika.
PHOTO CREDIT: RallyX Nordic.
The two-time World RX champion asserted his dominance from the get-go with a clean sweep in all four qualifying sessions, semi-final, and went wheel-to-wheel with Oliver Eriksson in the six-lap final.
In the final, Eriksson braved it out around the outside of the first corner before snatching the inside line on the exit of Turn Two to lead.
For the next two laps, the Swede led the field and withstood every attempt that Kristoffersson made to get past. Time and again, the Volkswagen Polo driver pulled alongside, but the two-time RX2 Series Champion boldly hung onto the lead.
Unable to find a way past, Kristoffersson took the joker lap at the end of lap three to get some clean air in an attempt to jump Eriksson.
Eriksson knew he needed to get the hammer down if he was to retain his advantage. Unfortunately, a mistake at the last corner saw him tap the barrier on the inside, and the contact would ultimately leave him with a double puncture.
Kristoffersson powered to his second victory from three starts in RallyX Nordic this year, while Eriksson was going in the opposite direction. Linus Westman snuck past on the last lap to record an excellent second-place finish, with the Eriksson having to properly get his elbows out to fend off Peter Hedström on the run to the chequered flag. Flashing across the finish line on only two rims, the third position marked an astonishing effort.
"I said all along that you need to be extremely sharp if you want to achieve a clean sweep," Kristoffersson said.
"Oliver [Eriksson] was really on it in the final. I had a little bit too much wheelspin at the start and he pulled a great move up the inside of me and over the jump. After that, we had a fun battle for a couple of laps – it was only a shame it was cut short as I was looking forward to continuing the fight."
"Still, I’m very happy that we were able to put on such an exciting show."
Written By: Junaid Samodien
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