Eriksson Brothers Sweep Nitro Rallycross Ice Events as Kevin Wins in Reimagined Calgary Event
Sweden’s Olsbergs MSE has long been recognized as one of the most innovative teams in rallycross, building not only the Supercar Lites formula that has served as the sport’s top development level for a decade now but also the FC1-X car that Nitro Rallycross uses for its premier Group E level. OMSE principal Andreas Eriksson’s efforts have extended into race promotion in Scandinavia as well, including the popular RallyX on Ice series that ran for multiple winters over the past decade.
It should be no surprise, then, that Eriksson’s sons, Oliver and Kevin, have taken the two checkered flags as NRX made its trip north to Canada for a pair of snow rounds to kick off 2023. Oliver took the checkered flag two weekends ago in Trois-Rivieres, while Kevin did the same as the series built what looks to be a new marquee event for itself at Stampede Park in Calgary. It was his first win of a season where he missed multiple rounds due to injury, and perhaps his biggest win since his 2016 win at Estering with his career-defining “around the outside” move in the final.
The bad news for Eriksson? Due to a last-minute format change for Group E, owing to warmer than usual conditions that made preserving the ice on the track a struggle, it won’t count for points. NRX officials scrapped the normal heat, semifinal, and final format for another set of battle brackets, sending the top four into a super final and bottom five into a consolation race. After Fraser McConnell beat Eriksson in Saturday’s final bracket race, Kris Meeke did the same to Eriksson on Sunday, but it was Eriksson who got the last laugh in the super final by dominating over Meeke, Travis Pastrana, and Conner Martell.
McConnell took the consolation race over Olivers Eriksson and Bennett, while points leaders Robin Larsson and Andreas Bakkerud were thankful not to see Calgary count for points after rounding up the back of the grid in that race. Meanwhile in NRX NEXT, with George Megennis not making the trip up to Calgary, Casper Jansson swept the weekend over Jimmy Henderson, Lane Vacala, and Eric Gordon in both races to take his second straight class title.
Just one event remains on the 2022-23 NRX calendar, but it’ll be a big one: a Group E doubleheader, and single-race NRX NEXT World Final, at Glen Helen Raceway on March 17-19. McConnell, Larson, and Bakkerud swept the Group E podium for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the fall, while Megennis and Jansson split the NEXT races and Brian Deegan and Travis Pastrana took the SXS races.
Image via Nitro Rallycross