Robin Larsson became the first three-time Groupe E winner of the 2023-24 Nitrocross season with a lights-to-flag victory in the second final of the weekend at Glen Helen Raceway.
Racing at the spot where he claimed the 2022-23 title back in March, the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC RX Cartel driver made a clean getaway from pole position in the six-lap final as fellow front row starter Kevin Eriksson slipped behind Larsson’s DRR stablemate Fraser McConnell in the first corner.
McConnell mounted an early challenge to Larsson, but darted into the Joker lap on the second lap in a bid to undercut the race leader. That left Eriksson as Larsson’s nearest challenger once again, with the leader increasing the angle of his slides in the corners to extinguish the Olsbergs MSE driver’s charge.
Eriksson responded by jokering in lap 4 in a bid to mirror McConnell and undercut Larsson. He again dropped behind McConnell, who’d set consistent session-best lap times in the second half of the race. The Jamaican’s purple patch wasn’t enough for him to move to the fore, with Larsson’s position at the front remained secure when he took the longer route on his penultimate tour.
Entering the final lap, Larsson was still in front, but had McConnell all over his back bumper. Ultimately he couldn’t get by and had to settle for second.
Eriksson finished third, his fifth podium finish of the season and extending his run as the only driver to finish every event in the top-five.
Viktor Vrackx was a fine fourth in what was his first final appearance in Nitrocross, while Conner Martell backed up his Saturday podium by rounding out the top five. Saturday winner Oliver Eriksson was classified sixth after crashing out on the third lap, while Deegan was seventh, his race ending a lap earlier.
Lia Block ended her first event in Nitrocross’ premier class in eighth, but despite making the final, she was unable to take the start after suffering a motor failure in her Last Chance Qualifier.
Larsson v McConnell wasn’t just the story of the final though, with the pair’s duel beginning way back in the Top Qualifier race at the start of the day. That race also looked set to go Larsson’s way, until a perfectly-timed nudge and pass in the final corner of the final lap gave McConnell the spot. The pair beat Kevin Ariksson and Andreas Bakkerud, who would later be the only driver to miss out on the final by finishing fourth in the first LCQ.
The other qualifying heat wins were shared between Saturday top-two Oliver Eriksson and Martell, while Larsson and Kevin Eriksson locked in their front-row starting positions for the final with semifinal victories. The two LCQs went the way of Martell and McConnell.
Larsson’s overall victory extends his points lead over Kevin Eriksson to 23 points. McConnell occupies third, 66 points off Larsson, while despite missing out on the final for the first time in the Group E era, Bakkerud leaves Glen Helen fourth in the points, ahead of Martell and Oliver Eriksson.
NITROCROSS GROUP E CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Casper Jansson was once again the victor in Nitrocross NEXT, beating Jimmy Handerson and Lane Vacala as he snatched the points lead. Side-by-Side victory Kainan Baker made his NEXT debut in place of Block, but his final ended prematurely with a puncture.
Nevertheless, it was his fifth SxS win of the year, with him beating Tyler Remmereid and Gray Leadbetter. Brian Deegan was fourth, with Travis Pastrana sixth despite rolling early in the race.
In a reverse of Saturday’s top-two in Baja bugs, Blake Wilkey lead home Ryan Rodriguez, with Kyle Zirkus once again third.