Dumfries based Albatec Racing finished fourth in the final round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, with former champion Tommy leaving Latvia fifth in the championship. Euro RX rookie Jere Kalliokoski was on scintillating form across the weekend, fourth overall in the first two races, he was disqualified from Q2 for having the wrong wet tyres and just failed to make the cut but showed his potential with top five times across the races.
In Saturday’s opening qualifier the duo was drawn together, with Jere starting from pole and Tommy fifth aboard the team’s pair of Peugeot 208 RX Supercars. A good start for Jere allowed him to take the immediate lead, which he held to the flag, while Tommy came through to finish third after a well-timed joker.
Conditions in Q2 proved challenging, but Jere, with limited wet experience, drove a very mature race to take third. Tommy didn’t get the best start, fourth into turn one he elected to take the joker early but came out behind slower cars and in the very wet conditions was unable to find a way past.
Sunday dawned cold but dry, and saw Tommy top the times in the warm-up. After two races Jere was initially placed fourth overall, and Tommy 12th, however Jere was later disqualified from the Q2 results for using 2016-spec wet tyres, dropping him down the order. As a result, he lined up in the first race of Q3 and made a good start from the middle of the grid, and taking his joker on the final lap, he went on to win.
Tommy showed the form that earnt him the Euro RX title in 2015, overcoming a bad start from pole, he was challenging Ollie O’Donovan and the pair made contact on lap two, however the Norwegian was able to control his HTB Racing-backed Peugeot 208 and finish second.
Tommy lined up second for Q4 and a good start into turn one earnt the immediate lead, which he held to the finish. Jere started his fourth qualifying race from the middle of the grid, and narrowly avoided crashing at the start, recovering to finish third.
After four qualifying races, Tommy was placed eighth to secure a place in the semi-finals, but Jere was unable to progress, losing out by just three points. In the semi finals, a decent start from Tommy put him fourth and after the joker he crossed the line third to guarantee a place in the Final. In that Tommy was unable to get a clean run from the second row and finished fourth at the flag.
Andy Scott, Team Principal Albatec Racing:
“We ended the last race of the European championship in Riga with some disappointing points and some positive. From Jere’s point of view, it’s obviously been an immensely disappointing weekend as the team made an error which led to him being disqualified from Q2 and undoubtedly robbed him of the opportunity of reaching the semi. On the pace he had this weekend, a place in the Final was easily within his reach. This was certainly the low point of the season and certainly this weekend. The positive is that it’s great to see Jere come along with no experience in European rallycross and in a very short season get his act together so that he can be setting top five times, which probably compounds the pain of him being disqualified. He’s matured as a driver through the year, he’s learnt from the team and from Tommy and it’s put him in a good position for next season.
“For Tommy, we’re naturally disappointed to be fifth in the championship. It’s been a difficult weekend. It’s so hard in the top five as the level is really high and we just didn’t have the starts when we needed them. He progressed to the final but it was really hard and he did a great job to finish fourth from the back row. This season we’ve had the speed, the car, the team, and the drivers and deserved to have had better results than we achieved, but lady luck didn’t always shine on us. We’ve demonstrated that Albatec is still a force to be reckoned with in European rallycross, with Tommy and Jere both setting top five times so overall we’re disappointed but we’ll come back even stronger.”
Tommy Rustad, driver Albatec Racing:
“This was my second year with Albatec and I knew that Andy had upgraded the car over the winter so we had high expectations before the season and this weekend. The car was very good today but it all came together too late, the level in Euro RX is so high you need to start well to have any chance to succeed so I’m not entirely satisfied with the weekend as I think myself, the team and the car are all much better than the results we’ve had.
“Across the weekend we had a few issues with traffic, and some battles which naturally compromised my times. I also had a problem with my starts on Saturday, so overnight the team made some changes to improve that, which worked, but unfortunately the speed wasn’t as good as it could have been as I think the later races had better conditions, but that’s racing. Big thanks to all the mechanics though, in fact everyone in the team, who are all doing a very good job.”
Jere Kalliokoski, driver Albatec Racing:
“When we came here I was feeling good, and Saturday was an excellent day for me scoring fourth place in both qualifying races, so being disqualified from Q2 was naturally a big disappointment for me and the team. I tried my best on Sunday but the starting position in Q3 wasn’t ideal and the track was drying up. I scored good points in Q3 and Q4 but it wasn’t quite enough. I was just three points away from qualifying which was a disappointment, but I think I showed my ability to drive well.
“To summarise this season, I have mixed feelings. I’ve improved my speed and race times all season; in Barcelona for round one, my speed was between 15th and 20th and now I’m around the top five which shows that I have improved my driving. On the other hand, there have been some technical issues in every race which have hindered my pace and also my positions, but overall this has been a good learning year for me. The level of competition is really high so it’s been good experience for next season and my intention is to stay in the European championship and target podium finishes.”
