Latvia WRX: Bakkerud heads Day 1 amid fierce Solberg - Ekstrom battle

In the last race of the day, Solberg and Ekstrom exited the tight first chicane third and fifth on lap one, before Solberg dropped time by running wide on the loose surface hairpin.

Ekstrom changed his mind about taking the joker on lap one and ran wide at the following corner, but passed Peugeot driver Sebastien Loeb as the Frenchman took his joker on lap two.

Carrying more momentum through the final corner, Ekstrom made a move on the inside into turn one on lap three to claim the position.

Solberg and Ekstrom then took their joker laps on lap three, Solberg returning to the main circuit alongside Swede Timmy Hansen, who had been fastest in Q1 and the event’s Free Practice session.

The pair made contact, Solberg saving a half-spin, allowing Ekstrom to close on the double champion.

The Audi S1 driver attempted a move at turn one of lap four, and passed Solberg into turn three, a 90 degree left hander, but the race wasn’t done there.

Solberg retook the position out of the circuit’s first hairpin, Ekstrom being forced into the Armco barrier.
The close racing did nothing but cost the pair time, Solberg was 11th in Q2 with Ekstrom 15th, and the title rivals are sixth and ninth overall in the overnight standings.

Bakkerud won that race on track to set his second, second fastest time of the day to be top at the Intermediate Classification.

Volkswagen Polo driver Johan Kristoffersson, racing for the Volkswagen RX Sweden team set the fastest time in Q2 and is third at the end of day one, the pair sandwiching Hansen and closely followed by Loeb, who was held up behind Latvian Reinis Nitiss in Q1.

DTM star Timo Schider had a solid day for the All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport squad, a seventh and sixth fastest times putting him fifth overall, the best day one result for the team’s Seat Ibiza this season.

Russian Timur Timerzyanov led his Q1 race but spun with transmission issues. Racing in the first race of Q2, the triple European Champion won on track to be fourth in Q2 and climb to 14th overall, just two places outside a qualifying position for the semi-finals.

At their home round of the championship, Janis Baumanis and Reinis Nitiss and seventh and 12th, both driving Ford Fiestas.

Former WRC podium finisher Gigi Galli spun in his Q1 race on his return to rallycross, after changing his mind about taking the joker lap at the last moment and hitting a wall, but was 20th in Q2 to be 19th overall.