World RX – Mettet: Ekstrom and Solberg leaders after Day 1

DTM star Mattias Ekstrom and former WRC champion Petter Solberg are in the lead in intermediate points standings after first day of Ladbrokes World RX of Belgium, third round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. Over 80 cars in three categories competed at Circuit Jules Tacheny at Mettet.

In Supercar category two qualifying heats were held, winners are Ekstrom and Timmy Hansen. In Heat 1 EKS RX Team owner Ekstrom set fastest time in EKS RX Audi S1, in front of Solberg in Citroen DS3 and Johan Kristofersson in Volkswagen Polo. In Heat 2 fastest was Timmy Hansen in Peugeot 208 WRX, second was Toomas Heikkinen in Volkswagen Polo and third was Andreas Bakkerud in Ford Fiesta.

After two heats Solberg and Ekstrom have 84 points. There will be two more heats tommorow and then 12 best drivers will qualify for semi-finals. Event in Mettet is also first round of European Rallycross Championship. All 37 Supercars competing in Belgium race together through the four qualifying heat stages but after last heat they will be separated.

European and World Championship competitors will then race in their own separate semi-finals and finals. Leader among drivers eligible to score points in Euro RX is Francois Duval in Ford Fiesta.

Mettet hosted two supporting categories. In TouringCar category leader after three qualifying heats is David Nordgard. In Super1600 category leader is Ulrik Linnemann.

Tomorrow’s action begins at 9am with warm-up for all classes.  Heats three and four will run from 10.30am, while the Supercar semi-finals and finals are scheduled from 3pm.