Throughout the qualifying stages at the World RX of Türkiye today (20 September), the star of the show in the first leg of the double-header FIA World Rallycross Championship finale was Niclas Grönholm – but when the time came for the big points to be handed out, Johan Kristoffersson turned up the wick to claim a masterful third win of the season.

From the middle of the grid, Grönholm had to get his elbows out at the start of Q1 to see off Euro RX1 front-runner Damian Litwinowicz – with the World and European Championship fields mixed this weekend in Istanbul – but once in front, the flying Finn sped clear.

He repeated the result in the following two heats, having to overhaul rapid countryman Mika Liimatainen in Q2 before twice getting the better of title rival Kristoffersson in crowd-pleasing side-by-side duels in Q3 to top the intermediate ranking and steal back one point in the chase for the coveted crown.

Grönholm was looking to further reduce the deficit in the all-important final, but Kristoffersson is unaccustomed to playing second fiddle, and having done so all day, the Swede was in no mood to settle for the runner-up spot again.

Immediately going on the attack, the KMS star’s relentless pressure paid off approaching mid-distance in the six-lap contest as he darted down the inside to boldly seize the initiative.

After withstanding a brief counter-attack from CE Dealer Team ace Grönholm, Kristoffersson proceeded to edge away, going on to take the chequered flag first for the 48th time in his extraordinary career at the dual-surface discipline’s highest level – in so doing, extending his advantage at the summit of the standings to 19 points with only 28 remaining in play.

Ole Christian Veiby rounded out the rostrum in third in the sister Kristoffersson Motorsport-run Polo. The Norwegian’s day was an eventful one. An increasingly loose run through Q1 culminated in him clipping the barriers and spinning – delaying the closely following Kristoffersson in the process – while contact at the start of Q3 saw him unintentionally turned around by his KMS stablemate.

That theme continued in the final, as he engaged in a no-holds-barred battle with CE Dealer Team’s Klara Andersson. The pair collided not once but twice as they disputed third place, ultimately crossing the finish line separated by less than half-a-second in Veiby’s favour – before the result was reversed by a post-race penalty for the contact.

The World RX campaign concludes tomorrow (Sunday, 21 September), with the Euro RX1 regulars once again joining the fray – and now their own title fight has been resolved, the gloves will surely be well-and-truly off!
 
Click here to schedule tomorrow’s action live and free on the FIA World Rallycross Championship YouTube Channel. 

Belevskiy crowned Euro RX1 champion as Litwinowicz breaks through in Türkiye

Yury Belevskiy was crowned the 2025 FIA European Rallycross Champion in extraordinary circumstances in the headlining Euro RX1 category in Türkiye today (20 September), as Damian Litwinowicz produced a stellar performance to claim his maiden series victory.
 
Yury Belevskiy was crowned the 2025 FIA European Rallycross Champion in extraordinary circumstances in the headlining Euro RX1 category in Türkiye today (20 September), as Damian Litwinowicz produced a stellar performance to claim his maiden series victory.
 
Belevskiy’s path to the title has been peppered with ups-and-downs – and the season finale at Istanbul Park was no different. Minor contact with Tamás Kárai in Q1 left him with steering damage and marked a disastrous start to his day, particularly with chief competitor Mika Liimatainen topping the times following an astonishing performance that outpaced even the World RX superstars.
 
The championship leader fared somewhat better in Q2 with a clean run to go second-quickest – but that was still more than two-and-a-half seconds shy of Liimatainen, who again got the better of him in Q3, when Belevskiy was delayed by a spinning Joni Turpeinen following first lap contact between the pair.
 
Liimatainen duly secured Top Qualifier honours, and with Belevskiy third, that meant a two-point swing in the Finn’s favour in the championship classification. As they lined up alongside one another on the front row of the grid for the opening semi-final, there was tension in the air. With good reason, it transpired...
 
Volland Racing ace Belevskiy found himself in close company with both Liimatainen and the latter’s team-mate Turpeinen away from the line, dropping him to third, and despite subsequently running wheel-to-wheel with the younger of the two Finns, he was unable to overhaul the talented teenager.
 
Their ferocious duel allowed Liimatainen in the lead to make good his escape – and, more significantly, early joker René Münnich to catch up behind. Contact at the hairpin then caused Belevskiy to stall, and worse was to follow, as a mistake on the penultimate tour saw him clip the tyres and tear one of the rear wheels off his Audi, ending his day on the spot.
 
With the Swiss star out of the equation and Liimatainen winning the race, another victory in the all-important final would suffice for the latter to steal the crown, and for a while, that is exactly what the Jyväskylä native looked set to deliver.
 
Earlier jokers for runaway semi-final two winner Kárai and Litwinowicz, however, brought the pair into play, with Liimatainen’s stellar speed seeming to desert him just when he needed it the most. The Hyundai driver delayed his own joker until the last lap in an effort to buy himself some breathing space, but it was too late, as the flying Litwinowicz swept past to secure a hugely popular and well-deserved breakthrough Euro RX1 win.
 
Liimatainen subsequently endeavoured to tough it out with Kárai – even edging the Audi onto the grass heading towards the hairpin – but the Hungarian stood his ground to clinch a career-high second-place finish. Liimatainen rounded out the rostrum in third, but in the context of the championship, that was not quite enough, as Litwinowicz rubbed salt into the wounds by snatching the runner-up position in the title table on countback.
 
Tomorrow (Sunday, 21 September), the Euro RX1 regulars will go head-to-head with their World RX counterparts in a straight scrap for the first time. Points might not be at stake, but pride most certainly is – and it promises to be epic!
 
Click here to schedule tomorrow’s action live and free on the FIA World Rallycross Championship YouTube Channel.

João Ribeiro sets the pace on dramatic opener.

The FIA European Rallycross Championship’s Euro RX3 title fight roared into life at Istanbul Park on Saturday, with João Ribeiro and Rytis Gurklys finishing the opening day locked level on points after two hard-fought qualifying sessions.

Ribeiro, carrying a 24-point cushion into the season finale, began cautiously in Q1. A sluggish launch left him chasing, but the 42-year-old Portuguese ace quickly reeled in the leaders, his Audi A1 surging into clean air by turn one. Countryman André Sousa snapped at his heels throughout, but Ribeiro absorbed the pressure to bank 42 points. In Q2, he raised the bar, fending off Gurklys in a masterclass of precision driving to claim the maximum 50 qualifying points putting him on 92 at the end of the day.

Gurklys was every bit Ribeiro’s equal. The young Lithuanian lit up Q1 with a rocket start, muscling past Hungary’s Sámuel Kovács in a fierce duel that only ended when a small mistake from the Hungarian handed him the advantage. His Q2 was scrappier, boxed in by midfield battles, but he still hunted down Ribeiro to keep the championship fight alive. Ninety-two points on the board leaves the pair inseparable going into Sunday.

Kovács sits third overnight after sparring with both frontrunners, his early fight with Gurklys in Q1 one of the highlights of the day. His consistency across both sessions ensures the Hungarian remains a threat if the leaders stumble in the remaining heats.

Behind them, Nicolas Geleyns endured a bruising Saturday. The young Barbadian has shown flashes of speed all year, but Istanbul’s low-grip gravel proved unforgiving. Struggling to settle into a rhythm, he finished fourth in both heats, leaving him with plenty of work to do if he is to mount a podium challenge on Sunday.

The day’s drama, though, came from the Sousas. In the closing stages of Q1, André blasted out of the joker only to meet Rogério at speed on the standard lap. The heavy collision ended Rogério’s day instantly and drew a stinging “silly” from commentator Andrew Coley. André salvaged points later, but the incident leaves both on the back foot.

With Saturday wrapped up, attention now turns to Sunday’s all-important finale. Battles are raging for position right through the championship order, and with pride, podiums and points still to be decided, Istanbul is set for a showdown that will demand everything from every driver.

Click here to schedule tomorrow’s action live and free on the FIA World Rallycross Championship YouTube Channel.