Neumeyer targeting 2027 title after stellar end to Euro RX5 campaign
Bryan Luca Neumeyer sent out a warning shot to his Euro RX5 rivals in last month’s Lousada season finale, with a maiden triumph and a runner-up result catapulting him up the overall order – and installing him as an early favourite for glory next year...
Neumeyer arrived on the Euro RX5 scene with a strong reputation in the sport, having won the ADAC XC Junior Cup in 2023 prior to placing second in the Senior category 12 months later. The German had additionally shone in the FIA European Junior Cross Car Championship and finished fourth in the 2024 edition of the FIA Motorsport Games.
For all of that success, however, the season did not get off to a sparkling start, as Neumeyer failed to advance beyond the Qualifying stages in either of the opening two contests in Latvia and Hungary, leaving him unexpectedly languishing towards the tail-end of the classification.
Happily, round three at Höljes in Sweden – the dual-surface discipline’s legendary ‘Magic Weekend’ – yielded a breakthrough, as the 18-year-old progressed not only past the Heats for the first time, but all the way into the Final, going on to finish fifth.
Neumeyer continued to showcase his speed at Mondello Park a fortnight later with a brace of top five Qualifying runs, before saving his best until last in September’s Portuguese double-header.
Sitting fourth after the Heats on the opening day, the talented teenager dominated his Semi-Final to the tune of almost ten seconds – a veritable eternity in rallycross terms. From there, he went on to apply sustained pressure to champion-elect Armin Raag throughout the floodlit Final, ultimately taking the chequered flag just under half-a-second in arrears to scoop the runner-up spoils – his first podium finish in the fiercely-disputed class.
The next day, Neumeyer topped the times in Q3 to secure an excellent second place in the intermediate ranking, prior to leaving Raag trailing in the pair’s Semi-Final to earn himself pole position for the all-important Final. Having nailed the start, the Schleswig-Holstein native edged away as Raag and countryman Martin Juga tussled energetically in his wake, thereafter controlling proceedings to the end to deservedly break his Euro RX5 duck.
His stellar results made Neumeyer the weekend’s highest scorer – with the event accounting for 61 of the 79 points he tallied in total in 2026 – and vaulted him from 12th up to fifth in the title table. He wants to do even better in 2027...
“I enjoyed my first FIA European Rallycross Championship season a lot,” enthused the Speedcar Wonder-R star, who began his career midway through 2022. “The level of competition was high and a big step-up from what I had done in the past, especially compared to national series.
“The racing was always extremely close, which made it tough but exciting and I think we made good improvements throughout both in terms of the car’s development as well as my own.
“Even though the start of the season wasn’t great, with bad luck and no points from the first two rounds, we managed to come back strongly and finish in the best way possible in Portugal with a win! Overall, I’m very happy with the progress we made as a team, and my plan for next year is to compete in Euro RX5 again and this time, to fight for the title. It will clearly be hard, but I’m up for the challenge!”
