Ola Fløene took a break from co-driving Andreas Mikkelsen in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge to win a stock rallycross event in his native Norway.
Fløene came out on top of 137 competitors at a national qualifying event in Dokka, a village in the Oppland county, by winning all of his heats to qualify for the A Final.
Despite a jump-start earning him a five-metre penalty for the restart, Fløene fought his way through to victory.
“Normally before a rally I sleep like a baby, but the night before I was due to drive myself I didn’t sleep a wink,” said Fløene. “I just went out and enjoyed myself and I’m very surprised I won – especially as people take this very seriously and have been preparing for many months and I’ve been rallying and only tested the car for six laps before race day.”
Stock rallycross is an extremely popular form of motorsport in Norway. In order to control costs and keep cars equal, rules state that drivers must sell their cars for 8,000 Norwegian Krone (approximately €1031) if two or more fellow competitors offer to buy it.
Fløene will return to IRC action on Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc from May 12-14. He will co-drive fellow Norwegian Mikkelsen in a Škoda UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000.