Dream start to the Euro RX season – Ole Christian Veiby finished second in Belgium

“I’m pretty sure I had won if I had not been hit. To drive almost five laps without power steering is brutal on your arms. This is something completely different than to drive a regular car with no power steering. I did indeed get rewarded for all the hours in the gym during the winter, but I need to go home and work a bit more on my forearms so I can do it even better next time. I don’t think I have ever been this tired after a race before” said a happy but exhausted Ole Christian Veiby.

It was in a hairpin on the second of the six final laps that he got hit by Jérôme Grosset-Janin. The Frenchman destroyed the power steering of the young Norwegian’s Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar, and with almost five laps to go, Ole had a nearly impossible task to accomplish if he wanted to win.

“It was very bitter that it happened, but this is a part of rallycross. I said in advance that if I reach the final, anything could happen” said Ole, who is happy with the first of the five rounds in the European Championship. The Euro RX championship is run together with selected World RX rounds, and the Euro RX drivers and the World RX drivers are up against each other in the qualifying heats. Semi finals and final is however run separately. And Ole sure showed that he can offer the World RX drivers great competition. In the first of the four qualifying heats, he was fourth fastest overall. In the second heat, he was hit and lost a lot of time on the spin that followed. In the third heat, he fought back and won his race with a time that turned out to be the fifth quickest overall. In the last heat, he struggled with technical problems and sadly ended up further down on the list. “Incredibly fun to show that I can keep up with the best drivers in the world” said Ole afterwards.

He was fourth in the Euro standings after the first four heats and made it to the semi finals, where he finished second and moved on to the final.

“I had a great start in the final. I drove tactically clever and passed two cars in the first corner. I took the lead and felt like I was in control until I got hit. Although it was tiring to finish the final, the second place was never in danger” he explained.

“This is a very good start to the season. All five rounds in the European Championship counts in the end and that is why it is important to get points from every event. I am the most pleased about my pace this weekend” said Ole, who wants to share the credit for the great result with his KMS Motorsport team.

“They have done a fantastic job with the car and they have been working night and day to get it in order. It was not ready until Tuesday when we had a small test in Holjes, and from there it was straight off to Belgium. Without the massive effort from the mechanics, it would never have worked out this successfully” he said.

The next round of the European Rallycross Championship is held at Estering in Germany. But already next week, Ole Christian will be on the road again when he joins the WRC in Portugal for the second event in the Junior World Rally Championship.

FIA European Rallycross Championship

15-17 May, Mettet, Belgium
19-21 June, Estering, Germany
21-23 August, Hell, Norway
18-20 September, Barcelona, Spain
16-18 October, Franciacorta, Italy