Fabien Pailler produced a weekend to remember in Lohéac, turning strong pace in difficult conditions into glory on home soil at the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA European Rallycross Championship.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA Rallycross Championships
The Frenchman had to work for it, however, with Saturday's qualifying providing a constantly changing challenge as heavy rain, a drying circuit and renewed showers repeatedly altered the balance of the field.
Juha Rytkönen was the man to master the opening conditions. With persistent rain falling across Circuit de Lohéac, the Finn produced a late charge in Q1 to snatch victory from Sébastien Loeb at the final corner and take the fastest time of the session. Pailler also showed his potential in the difficult conditions, finishing third behind Rytkönen and Loeb.
The rain eased for Q2, and the circuit began to dry, bringing a significant improvement in lap times. Johan Kristoffersson took advantage of the changing surface to win the session's headline race, while Rytkönen again finished strongly in second after recovering from an early battle with Loeb. Pailler finished fourth, keeping himself firmly in contention as the qualifying order took shape.
Q3 delivered the first major indication that the home driver could challenge for victory. Andreas Bakkerud won his heat after a strong start, while contact involving Kristoffersson and Patrick O'Donovan left the latter with a puncture. Pailler, meanwhile, produced the fastest performance of the session, setting a 2:34.976 to finish ahead of Joni Turpeinen and Bakkerud on the overall Q3 times.
Rytkonen leads Loeb and Pailler on Saturday.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA Rallycross Championships
That result moved Pailler into second overall behind Rytkönen at the end of Saturday, with Kristoffersson completing the top three.
It meant the Frenchman had put himself in a strong position for Sunday, despite having had to contend with conditions that had changed dramatically throughout the opening day. Rytkönen carried the overnight advantage, while Kristoffersson, Bakkerud and the remainder of the field remained within striking distance.
Kristoffersson then took control of the overall rankings after Q4 on Sunday morning, setting the benchmark time ahead of teammate Ole Christian Veiby, Loeb, Tamás Kárai and Rokas Baciuška. Bakkerud won his heat but could not match the Swede's overall pace, while Pailler finished fifth.
The eight-time World RX Champion therefore entered the Quarter-Final stages at the head of the field, followed by Rytkönen, Pailler and Bakkerud.
The Quarter-Finals brought another twist as Veiby, who arrived in France third in the championship, failed to progress after another poor launch and a wide moment on the gravel. Rytkönen controlled the second Quarter-Final, while EuroRX Championship debutant Eoin Murray impressed by taking second ahead of Loeb.
Pailler then continued his progress by winning Quarter-Final 3 ahead of Julien Fébreau as rain returned, leaving the drivers to negotiate a slippery circuit on slick tyres. Bakkerud controlled the Quarter-Final 4 after another strong launch, with João Ribeiro and Ollie O'Donovan also progressing.
By the time the Semi-Finals arrived, Pailler had established himself as a genuine threat. Starting alongside Kristoffersson, the Frenchman produced a superb launch and swept around the outside of the KMS Polo to take the lead.
With the home crowd roaring from the grandstands, Pailler remained composed as Kristoffersson stayed within striking distance. Neither driver had taken the joker by lap four, but the Frenchman had built enough of a margin to maintain his advantage through the final phase of the race. He crossed the line ahead of Kristoffersson to secure pole position for the final, while Bakkerud won the second Semi-Final to join them alongside Rytkönen.
As the pressure increased, Pailler seemed cool, calm and collected, and when it truly mattered in the final, he produced another perfect start. Bakkerud attempted to cover his run into Turn One, but Pailler held his ground and emerged in the lead. Behind them, Kristoffersson and Loeb made light contact, which allowed Rytkönen to move ahead as Pailler began to establish a gap at the front.
Fabien Pailler leads Andreas Bakkerud and Juha Rytkonen in the final.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA Rallycross Championships
Kristoffersson took his joker on lap four in an attempt to escape the traffic, but Pailler, Bakkerud and Rytkönen waited until the final lap. By then, the race was already in Pailler's hands.
He emerged from the joker lap comfortably in front to secure his first Euro RX1 victory, with Bakkerud in second and Rytkönen resisting Kristoffersson's pressure to complete the podium.
After building his weekend through the unpredictable qualifying conditions and then defeating Kristoffersson in the Semi-Final, the Frenchman had delivered the biggest victory of his career in front of his home crowd.
“I feel amazing. Honestly, I cannot believe the pace we have shown and how smoothly everything went this weekend – it is almost unreal. There has been so much effort from the team since Rīga. The team has put so much energy into getting the engine back after Mondello and making sure everything worked perfectly again,” Pailler said. “I am so happy for everybody involved. Winning here is completely crazy. Even in the Semi-Final, when I was ahead of Johan, and the team told me the gap, I could not believe we were able to stay in front. It was also a very clean fight, and he came to congratulate me afterwards. That felt very special.”
While Pailler celebrated his breakthrough victory, Bakkerud leaves France with an even more significant championship reward. The Norwegian's second-place finish moved him into the Euro RX1 championship lead by a single point over Kristoffersson, setting up a dramatic title showdown at the season finale double-header in Lousada on 12-13 September.
“I have lost a championship on a tie before, so one point can sometimes be enough, even though there are still two races to go. It feels amazing to finish second here behind Fabien. The only thing I wanted was to win. I have finished second here five or six times and come so close – this is the race every driver wants to win, so it is bittersweet. But if there was one guy to win today, it was Fabien. They live ten minutes down the road, and standing on the podium listening to the French national anthem even gave me goosebumps. We said at the beginning of the year that we have nothing to lose. We are a brand-new team, so Lousada is going to be exciting, and we are going to give it everything,” Bakkerud said.
Pailler's victory provided a fitting conclusion to the 50th-anniversary Euro RX of France, but the attention now turns to Portugal.
With Bakkerud holding a one-point lead over Kristoffersson and two races still to run, the 2026 FIA European Rallycross championship will be decided at Lousada with little separating the two title contenders.
THE 2026 FIA EUROPEAN RALLYCROSS (EURO RX1) CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS - TOP 10 ONLY:
1. ANDREAS BAKKERUD - 158 pts
2. JOHAN KRISTOFFERSSON - 157
3. OLE CHRISTIAN VEIBY - 119
4. JUHA RYTKONEN - 118
5. JONI TURPEINEN - 91
6. CASPER JANSSON - 60
7. FABIEN PAILLER - 60
8. PATRICK O'DONOVAN - 49
9. NILS VOLLAND - 30
10. ROKAS BACIUSKA - 27
No comments:
Post a Comment