Five French drivers and the lone Czech competitor, Lukáš Matěja, were lining up on the grid for the biggest event in the DiRT Rally 2.0 rallycross calendar. The big questions ahead of the action were whether Matěja could earn a second world title on the same day he secured the DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series championship? Or would reigning champion Killian Dall’olmo keep his crown? Maybe it would be another driver altogether… it was time to find out!
Heat 1 and 2 – Montalegre, Portugal
First up was the Portuguese Montalegre track, with its beautiful mountainous surroundings. The first race saw all but two drivers take a first lap joker. Baptiste and Quentin Dall’olmo stayed on the regular layout to try and pull out a lead whilst the others fought for track position behind. Hus/ Baptiste took the Joker on lap 3, leaving the lead to Quentin Dall’olmo. Fighting his brother, on the merge it was the reigning champion Killian Dall’olmo that ended up at the top, followed by Quentin and Jeffrey Page in 3rd.
For race 2, Quentin Dall’olmo again went for the Joker – this time alongside Page. Matěja led the rest of the pack but was forced down to 3rd by Killian Dall’olmo after a clash into turn one that was judged to be fair by the stewards. Quentin took the victory after a very close merge ahead of his brother as they continued to dominate the start of the event. A number of drivers were found to be guilty of track limits infractions by the game, hampering their points haul.
Heat 3 and 4 – Holjes, Sweden
As we arrived in Sweden track in Holjes was wet, an additional challenge for the drivers to contend with. At the start of race 3, Baptiste got away well from pole position and led the way into turn one. Matěja and Hus were first lap Jokers and gaining whilst the rest of the field were battling ahead of them. As the group began lap 2, Page made a mistake and clipped Quentin Dall’olmo, causing some damage and chaos for the drivers around them. Killian Dall’olmo was in the lead with a small lead and took the Joker on the final lap. His lead wasn’t enough though, and the first lap tactic paid off for Alexander Hus and he took the victory ahead of Killian and Quentin.
The second and final Swedish race had a relatively clean start. Quentin Dall’olmo, Baptiste and Page took the first lap Joker whilst Killian Dall’olmo held the lead. The two brothers were dominating again and the reigning champion, elder brother secured the victory by covering off Quentin with a second lap Joker. It was a disappointing race yet again for Matěja, who found himself bottom of the table – he earlier confessed to spending the majority of his practice time on the rally discipline. Maybe there would be some fight back from the newly crowned rally champ?
Heat 5 and 6 – Bikernieki, Latvia
The final track in the qualifying segment was the Latvian track of Bikernieki. Tight, technical and twisty – this was going to be a challenge. It’s such a trick first chicane, and almost inevitably there was contact but separately Hus went wide and was unable to rejoin without finding the wall. Matěja was looking strong in this one, leading well at the end of lap one. He might though rue not taking an earlier Joker when the brothers were in traffic. Yet again, the Dall’olmo brothers with Quentin at the top.
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