Johan Kristoffersson triumphs in dramatic FIA European Rallycross Championship season opener at Biķernieki
11.05.2026
Yesterday, May 10, the fastest drivers of the opening round of the 2026 FIA European Rallycross Championship were crowned at the Biķernieki circuit following extremely aggressive wheel-to-wheel battles and unexpected twists. In the prestigious RX1 category, eight-time World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson of Sweden proved unbeatable, while Roberts Purmalis secured an impressive fourth place in the RX5 category.
The opening round of the season, launched on Saturday, May 9, brought everyone back to the era when world-class rallycross took place in Biķernieki — with even more power, noise and spectacular racing action. Driven by that atmosphere, both drivers and fans returned to the track on Sunday to fight for places on the podium. And the battles truly delivered — aggressive contact racing, impacts into concrete barriers and even rollovers! The Biķernieki circuit, known for its technical layout and challenging corner sections, forgave no mistakes, while competitors were willing to risk everything to avoid giving away a podium position. All of this created an incredibly dramatic and emotional conclusion to the opening round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship.
The second day of competition began with the fourth qualifying round in the powerful RX1 category. After a successful first race day, Sunday proved less fortunate for Latvian driver Jānis Baumanis. He finished third in his fourth qualifying session, but the decisive quarter-final ended in disappointment after his car became involved in contact battles, suffered technical damage and was pushed off the track, forcing the Latvian driver to retire from further competition.
As expected, RX1 featured extremely intense competition, with some of the fastest rallycross drivers in the world lining up on the grid. After the fourth qualifying round, previous day favorites Johan Kristoffersson, Andreas Bakkerud and Ole Christian Veiby lost their leading positions to Hungarian driver Andor Trepak and Finnish drivers Joni Turpeinen and Juha Rytkönen. This led to thrilling quarter-final and semi-final races, where Johan Kristoffersson demonstrated his experience and class at the crucial moments, recovering lost positions and convincingly taking victory in RX1. Norwegian driver Ole Christian Veiby finished second, while 17-year-old Finnish talent Joni Turpeinen claimed third place after battling Andreas Bakkerud all the way to the finish line.
The RX3 semi-finals became some of the most dramatic races of the entire weekend. Already at the first start, Czech driver Jan Dvorák was heavily pushed into the track’s concrete barriers during aggressive contact racing, forcing the race to be stopped. However, the restart proved equally dramatic — on the final lap, while fighting for second place in the semi-final, French driver Dylan Dufas and Norwegian Markus Rosrud collided on the main straight, both crashing heavily into the barriers.
The second RX3 semi-final also left spectators breathless. On lap three, Austrian driver Dominik Senegacnik rolled twice after clipping the barriers in a corner, and only moments later Czech driver Vaclav Tuma suffered a similar crash into the track barriers. Biķernieki had not witnessed so many dramatic crashes, collisions and aggressive contact battles in a very long time. Amid all the chaos, one of Europe’s young rallycross talents — Frenchman Julien Meunier — remained unbeatable and climbed to the top step of the podium. Lithuanian driver Rytis Gurklys finished second, while Antigua and Barbuda talent Nicolas Geleyns, who showed excellent pace throughout both race days, secured third place.
After a very successful first race day, Sunday turned out less favorable for the Latvian RX4 drivers. Lenards Patriks Lepsis suffered disappointment in the battle for a place in the final after making a mistake in the semi-final, resulting in a crash and rollover that ended his participation in the opening round of the European Championship. In the same semi-final, Ivo Gabrāns finished third and secured a place in the final, although he was unable to improve from sixth position during the final race, ultimately finishing sixth in RX4 in his FIA European Rallycross Championship debut. Victory went to French driver Andrea Benezet, followed by Estonian Albert Ako Kokk in second and Frenchman Thomas Quince in third.
“Not bad, but I wanted more points at my home track to make the rest of the season easier. Other drivers have big teams and they found the right setups. Our speed was good, but at times it disappeared. The first day was successful, but after technical adjustments our starts were no longer as good today, and that is very important on this track. I also made a few mistakes myself. Now we will prepare for the next rounds, continue searching for the right setups and hopefully there will be more gravel sections, which I prefer,” evaluated Ivo Gabrāns after the event.
In RX5, the semi-finals unfolded differently for the Latvian drivers. Ronalds Baldiņš retired already in the semi-final due to technical issues, while 16-year-old Roberts Purmalis secured a place in the final in his debut event by finishing second in his semi-final race. In the final, Purmalis delivered a competitive performance and finished fourth overall in RX5. Victory went to German driver Tim Braumüller, ahead of Estonians Armin Raag and Martin Juga.
Roberts Purmalis did not hide his excitement about finishing fourth in his class, calling the event the most impressive competition he has ever experienced: “It went well — the speed and car setup were very good, but we were just missing a little bit. We fought as hard as we could, and overall the event was extremely impressive. I really enjoyed it. We still need to work on some technical details — we had new tires and we still hadn’t fully understood how to work with them, and I personally still wasn’t used to them. We definitely need to test more before the next races. This season we will continue competing in the Latvian-Lithuanian and Baltic Championships.”
Event organizer Jānis Bergs expressed satisfaction with the competition, emphasizing that teamwork was the key to success: “The event was definitely a success. These were also the first races in a long time where we did not receive a single negative comment, and that is only possible thanks to the fantastic team that worked with huge motivation and dedication. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the rallycross promoter, the track crew and everyone involved did an excellent job to make this event happen at such a high level. The grandstands were full, there were many competitors and the emotions were positive — that is the biggest proof that everything truly worked out.”
The FIA European Rallycross Championship round “Euro RX of Latvia” was made possible thanks to the support of the Riga City Municipality, Mission Latvia, Travel Latvia and the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD). Special thanks to sponsors: Monum, Pro Dev, Stokker, Storent and Cido Group. Media support for the event was provided by Rīgas Viļņi publishing house and TV24. Special thanks also to the Latvian Automobile Federation for their support.
