Kristoffersson crowned on dramatic final day of season

The final day of the 2026 FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign at Lousada in Portugal today had everything, from controversial clashes to heroic performances and even a driver putting out a fire in his own car on the grid – and it culminated, perhaps unsurprisingly, with a Johan Kristoffersson title triumph.

Unsurprising, that is, because the Swede – already eight times an FIA World Rallycross Champion and the most successful competitor in the sport’s modern era – entered the day in possession of a commanding 36-point advantage at the summit of the standings with just 40 remaining in play, meaning he needed only to reach the Semi-Finals in order to clinch the coveted crown.

A commanding clean sweep of fastest Heat times secured Kristoffersson Top Qualifier honours, and a comfortable race win in the first Quarter-Final then sealed the deal, in ensuring that closest rival Andreas Bakkerud could no longer mathematically catch him.

With the pressure relieved, the Kristoffersson Motorsport star subsequently went into the Semi-Finals in punchy mood, but he found himself out-gunned away from the start-line by Juha Rytkönen, with SET Promotion thereafter thwarting KMS’ bid to retaliate by using the sister car of Joni Turpeinen to block any attempt at an early joker strategy.

That restricted Kristoffersson to a spot on the inside of the second row of the grid for the Final, behind pole-sitter Patrick O’Donovan – the 2024 champion replicating his standout showing from Saturday – and Rytkönen. 

With typical opportunism, the Volkswagen driver read the developing situation to perfection into Turn One, and as the front row starters both drifted wide in their determination to seize the lead, Kristoffersson ducked underneath to snatch first place. It was not long, however, before the red flags flew due to an accident that left Ole Christian Veiby and Nils Volland stranded broadside across the track.

Both cars were too damaged to take the re-start, and there were dramas, too, for Rytkönen, who had pulled up to his grid slot for the original start with smoke coming from underneath the bonnet of his Hyundai i20. By the time the re-start came around, that smoke had developed into fire, but in characteristically calm and unflappable fashion, the Finn undid his belts, stepped out of the car and opened the hood to extinguish the flames, before returning to the cockpit ready to go again. Today was in every way pure rallycross theatre.

And the drama wasn’t done. Barely had the lights gone out for the second time than Fabien Pailler swept around all three cars ahead of him with a lightning launch to grab the lead, as contact between O’Donovan and Kristoffersson pitched the Peugeot into the wall and sent it spinning across the track and out of the race, ending up stranded just off the racing line. 

In true Agatha Christie style, and then there were three, although in reality it was just two, as Rytkönen had barely crawled away from the line due to his engine issues and would subsequently retire midway through – and very soon, only Kristoffersson would remain. After initially holding sway, Pailler ran wide on the banking on lap two – letting the newly-crowned champion past and, worse still, picking up a left-rear puncture.

Doggedly dragging his Renault Mégane to the chequered flag, the Frenchman – a hugely popular winner on home soil at Lohéac last month – narrowly avoided being lapped as Kristoffersson won by the staggering margin of 52 seconds, even having the luxury of being able to perform a tyre-smoking ‘donut’ exiting the last corner, with the capacity crowd enthusiastically applauding his exuberant showmanship.

The runner-up spoils for Pailler capped a superb end to the season for the double French Champion, and without two points-deducting engine-related penalties, he would have finished fifth in the overall classification – having been plum last four rounds in...

For Rytkönen, third place was enough to vault past Bakkerud into second spot in the title table, with the Norwegian – who arrived at Lousada holding a single-point championship lead – seeing his torrid weekend come to a conclusion at the Semi-Final stage, when his Bergen Motorsport Evolution Ford Fiesta suddenly slowed on lap four.

Countryman Veiby was another to slip down the standings, ultimately coming away with very little to show for an at times dominant display, having topped the timesheets in Saturday’s opening two Qualifiers. His misfortune saw him relegated to fourth behind Rytkönen and Bakkerud, with Turpeinen and O’Donovan rounding out the top six ahead of Pailler.

Johan Kristoffersson, Kristoffersson Motorsport, said: “First of all, I hope OC [Veiby] and Nils [Volland] are alright – I saw it was a pretty heavy impact. As for myself, I really enjoyed the Final. The crowd here has been amazing, so it was nice to have the opportunity to put on a bit of a show for them with the donut in the last corner. It’s been a huge challenge this season, and it was a big job by all the KMS guys to sort out our start problems, but unlocking the secret to making better launches meant we could at last show our true performance, and that’s what we’ve been able to do this weekend. To have been able to turn the tables like that is a good feeling, and I’m very happy. This means a lot to all of us.”

Fabien Pailler, Pailler Compétition, said: “For me, this weekend has been really tough. It’s the first time I’ve done a double-header, and the track doesn’t really suit me. It’s very rally-style – you have to be very aggressive and throw the car into every corner, and I’m not used to that. I was nowhere in Free Practice on Saturday so I had to adapt and work on myself to improve, and I improved a lot. The podium was our objective today, and it’s satisfying to have achieved it. We unfortunately weren’t able to put on much of a show in the Final, but at least we survived, which is what that race was all about. I reduced the engine map to manage the situation and by the end, I was just cruising around. Sometimes rallycross is simply about making it through, and that’s what we did.”

Juha Rytkönen, SET Promotion, said: “We came here in fourth place in the championship, and our plan was to go all-in. Yesterday, we looked really good, and I woke up today thinking maybe I could fight Bakkerud. The Final certainly wasn’t the easiest race, though! First there was the fire, which I managed to put out but I lost the power steering fluid and then the oil pressure, which meant the car wasn’t working very well at all. Still, with the accident in the first corner, we were able to finish third, which was amazing. We’ve fought really hard this year, always showing good pace and I’ve reached every Final, which is so important for the championship. I’m really happy.”

While the FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign has now concluded, there is still one more major event left to run in 2026, in the shape of the inaugural FIA Rallycross World Cup in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on 5-6 December.

Click here to view the final classification from Day Two of Euro RX of Portugal.  

Click here to view the provisional championship standings.