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The seventh race of the FIA European Rallycross Super1600 Championships took place in the village of Loheac in Brittany. There is always a lot of competition in France, which also underlines the large media and spectator interest. 70,000 visitors lined the super-fast, tyre-sapping race course.
Following an 8-week summer break, the last three of a total of nine races will finally decide the title hunt. "We have reworked all our vehicles over the last two months", explains Rolf Volland, who is relying on his drivers Sergei Zagumennov and Nikita Misyulya to bring the trophy home.
It was as early as the qualification stages that the Volland Racing team displayed great strength. Misyualya was ranked second on the leaderboard in his orange Skoda VR Fabia, and Zagumennov was ranked seventh overall. Denis Salikov, an ambitious talent in his first Rallycross season, fought off strong French competition and achieved fourth place in the third Heat, thereby securing a place on the starting grid in the final.
In the first semi-final, Salikov started from the last row and hung onto the rear of Ulrik Linnemann's Peugeot 208. However, the Dane pipped him by half a second at the line, dashing his hopes of participation in the Top6 final. Misyulya and Zagummenov finished in second in their respective semi-finals, thereby qualifying for the second starting row of the Super1600 final.
The final proved to be something rather special. As direct title contenders, Zagumennov and Misyulya fought out an exciting duel. From the second row, table-topper Zagumennov had the better start, passing Misyulya's orange Fabia VR and attacking both of the fleeing French drivers. Misyulya held onto his coat-tails and took every opportunity to try to pass his team colleague. On the meandering bends of the third lap, Misyulya took his chance and slipped into the gap that Zagumennov had left open, passing the league leader. Zagumennov countered two curves later, a duel which even the television cameras couldn't decipher. A few laps later, both were able to close in on second-placed Andréa Dubourg (Renault Clio). In the last curve, Misyulya succeeded in squeezing past the Frenchman in his Fabia VR. Second place for Misyulya, fourth for Zagumennov.
Both Fabia VR pilots were able to distance themselves further from their title pursuers with their positive placings in the final, closing ranks on the leaderboard. Now Sergei Zagumennov leads Nikita Misyulya by18 points. In two weeks (20th/21st of September), the eighth race takes place on the Estering near Buxtehude. "It is here that I have won several times", says Rolf Volland, "and now it is my aim to get all my VR Fabias into the final." The 2014 FIA European Rallycross Super1600 Championship is played out over the framework of nine European events in the FIA World Rallycross Championship for SuperCars.