RX1 Semi-Finals & Final FULL | Euro RX of France 2026

Okay, on then to RX1 semi-final number one. It has been raining a little bit, this is going to be a tough one, it is a heck of a lineup in this first one. Johan Christophersen on the pole, Fabian Paillet alongside him. Paillet, remember, the only driver that was able to match Christophersen's lap times on Fridays, he was within a couple of hundreds. Patrick O'Donovan and Julien Fabreau, what a brilliant drive by Fabreau, one-off outing, and he's right up there with some of the best drivers in the world. Nils Volland, who's having a great weekend, Paillet needs a hell of a start from there, O'Donovan, we know row two's got good grip, Hal Ritchie's back with me, Andrew Coley in the comment box. Lights are up, top left, Johan Christophersen is ready, he looks across intently at the marshal, Paillet is already looking at the lights, the marshal gives him the thumbs up, that's the view that Paillet's got, we're on board with both those front two drivers. Revs up, here we go, it's a good start for the front row, but Volland with the best start from the back, Volland from row number three up into P3 potentially, O'Donovan inside him, they run out into the loose, Volland across the dirt, Fabien Paillet on the outside, Paillet leads in front from Johan Christophersen, Patrick O'Donovan P3, Bakchuska up the inside of the background of Volland, get a run for him wide, surely, Volland goes really deep, Bakchuska goes joker, and Fabreau up into P5. Volland's been absolutely mugged out from the best start I've seen in ages from the back row, but Fabien Paillet in the front of this race, the semi-finals at home in France, now we've got a race on our hands. Absolutely, haven't we? If he could deny Christophersen the front row, Hal, they could see a French winner, they're applauding him every time he comes past that grandstand, you're on board with Paillet now, those inputs in the Megane, got to get the best out of it, I said to Johan earlier, Paillet's impressive, he's neat, and he said yes he is, a little nod and a little smile, he loves a good scrap Johan, you've only got to give him a lap Hal, but he can't drop out yet. Chaos behind as Bakchuska gets up the inside of Niels Volland, and really, Paillet needs these guys to be closing on the back of Christophersen to affect the joker strategy. Yeah, keep the windows shut, and with them dropping back the windows opening big time, and it's only a small window anyway. So, Johan Christophersen in behind Fabien Paillet, two laps down onto the third lap, Paillet here, the pressure must be immense, yes there's big support from the French fans. Paillet took two tenths out of Christophersen on that lap, on the previous final stage Christophersen was much quicker, but Paillet is matching the eight time World Radacross Champion at the moment. Look at the difference in line down the bottom in there, Paillet opens the car and lets it run wide, Christophersen runs less metres and he closes down again, he's wide, Christophersen's gone wide in the dirt, Paillet this gives him a tiny, tiny advantage, Johan you're on board with him there, little nip on the handbrake as he gets the car turned in, Patrick O'Donovan is still there, Batshuska the only driver to have got choked out, this is wide open at the minute, but who's going to make that third spot? Febvreau is potentially going to do the front rear a bit of a favour here. Look at the gap, Al, it's huge compared to what it was on the previous lap. It is indeed, but it's not going to be enough at the moment, the second is the gap. I might go now, I'll be tempted to go now and come out in front of O'Donovan. You can't give Christophersen the free air. No, it's fair Al, it's fair. But you're right, it would work in another scenario because O'Donovan's some 2.9 seconds off the back of Christophersen, Christophersen's just taken three tenths out of Paillet in the middle sector, this is a real battle isn't it? Absolutely it's Paillet with that start, we didn't actually see where it was done, I'm assuming turn one to two. O'Donovan in the background is in big danger here from Batshuska. Batshuska's joke, he's only 1.4, 1.6 now, O'Donovan stretches the gap a tiny, tiny bit, but we are focused entirely on this, five out of six, Christophersen's got to go now if Paillet doesn't go in, we need to see the Joker split, Joker split, there we go, Paillet's gone, sorry Christophersen's gone, Paillet stayed out, so Paillet stays out. Look at Christophersen's Joker attitude through the chicane, sending the Volkswagen Polo and on the exit, this is a massive charge. 2.2 is the gap now, need to watch that from Paillet, we know that that final sector as they come around to the Joker merge is where Paillet, this has got to be mint, it's got to be bang on, O'Donovan went on that lap and he's lost out to Batshuska. The trouble for Paillet is that he's going to have the outside effectively, he's going to have to give way if they're side by side at the Joker merge, really you want to go before and have the inside. In he goes, Fabian Paillet smoothly into the Joker, 2.3, enormous pressure now, the eighth time world rallycross champion coming down the outside, Paillet wants to hold on in front of his home crowd, Christophersen's not going to get there, Fabian Paillet to the roars of the French crowd, comes around again and he's going to take the semi-final win here and demotes Christophersen to row two, what a drive by the Frenchman. Listen to the noise, it's like a gourmet Scottish football. Oh, Batshuska of the line, Batshuska and side by side with O'Donovan, Batshuska's got it. Febro on the inside of O'Donovan, I think O'Donovan's got something broken front left, he was really understeering through the final corner. Wow, Paillet hand out the door, waving to the fans, the roar when he crossed the finish line. What a drive Hal, that's one of the drives of the season for me, particularly because Christophersen makes up so much time in that last part of the sector, you're in the Joker, you know he's coming, although it is the same sector he made a mistake in, so he's obviously on the limit. It is rare indeed to see Christophersen not close the gap more when he's on a charge like that in free air. Look at the fans, look at the reaction, they know they've got a shot. Wow, he is fired up, they're going to get that car back to the paddock, absolutely brilliant. What a drive by Fabien Paillet to take semi-final number one. Rukkinen on the front row on the pole, qualified second overall, and it's Andreas Backrud, Owen Murray with a brilliant drive, and Joao Ribeiro on the outside, been wild but fast. Sebastian Loeb on the inside of row three, and Ollie O'Donovan. Now interestingly, Loeb is in the same grid slot that Nils Vollen was in a minute ago, and Vollen smashed it off the start line, got himself right up there very quickly indeed. Thumbs up from the marshal. If this is as good as the last one, I'm going to fall over. It is a good start by Loeb, but not as good as he has up front, so round the outside, Backrud into the lead, Ollie O'Donovan into the gravel, into P2 is Rukkinen, nicely done. Loeb had to lift out of it there in turn two in the dust, O'Donovan gets up the inside of Sebastian Loeb. Loeb goes late on the brakes and takes it back off, and Sebastian Loeb's got to go joker shortly. Nip on the handbrake, has he gone in? I think he has. Yeah, it looks like you see the grass on the yellow side window. So Loeb's gone in there early, sideways from Ribeiro, that's typical of his driving style this weekend, and Ollie's gone in with him. O'Donovan's gone too, Ollie's had great pace this weekend, this could really work out if Ribeiro and Murray start to hold each other up. You might see Sebastian Loeb in the final, and the bench fans would absolutely love that, so would I. So Murray and Ribeiro saw Murray earlier on, and he was absolutely over the moon. He really was, Murray was loving the fact that he got that brilliant result, said well done, he was like yeah, but he said, I saw Kevin Hansen as well, and Kevin was saying, I couldn't keep up with the Honda, I mean somebody could rent it off me if he wants to, but he said he's kind of a bit more known for the French brands. Here we go, Ribeiro into the joker, Murray's gone in too, they're trying to cover off Sebastian Loeb, Loeb trying to come around the outside line, Loeb's going to be inside Murray, but he's not going to be near enough for Ribeiro, O'Donovan comes in hot, and he plows into the back of Murray, that's a shame, so O'Donovan came in too hot there, Sebastian Loeb is now going to try and find a way past Joao Ribeiro and get himself into the final, Loeb here inside, he really wants it, the fans want it, you can hear them roaring through our headsets, absolutely brilliant, on board now with Loeb, the nine-time World Rally Champion who loves his rallycross, goal, inside, Loeb's done it, look at the fans in the background, the reaction is unbelievable, they're on their feet, they're screaming, Loeb's eyes barely give away anything, absolutely brilliant. How does a man with such incredible experience have such incredible hunger for this sport, he absolutely loves it, make no mistake, Sebastian Loeb does not need to be doing this for his career, he's doing it because he shares the passion that you and I do for this sport, and so do the fans, the noise here is incredible, absolutely brilliant to be racing in France, Andreas Bracken with the fastest lap here, Juha Rüttgen in P2, championship story remember out front, Bracken and Rüttgen are trying to make his way up towards into that battle with the top three, Topainen hasn't made it today, neither has OC Baby, so this is very important for both of them, as long as Loeb holds on to that position, then he's got Ribeiro massively, so Loeb is safe, it's all about the front two now, Andreas Bracken, one of the lap times, 36.4 for Paillet, he's in 36.6 on his first one, but Paillet's under big pressure, Paillet has to push and push and push, Baccarat has got that nice advantage over a stable mate, you might call them teammates, but they know that they're not going to push each other too hard, look at this Hal, he's going to make it, I literally was saying after the quarters, I don't have the pace, they found it, have they tweaked the car, is this just pure French passion to try and get the job done, Rüttgen comes out of the joker lap, one lap to go, sensible from the set promotion spotters to get Rüttgen into the joker with that margin, Baccarat now has that clear air, O'Donovan's cleared, Ribeiro, Baccarat's got a healthy, healthy margin, 3.2 seconds when they've crossed the line, he can wind the laps back now Hal, they're bang on, 37.3, 37.2, 37.3 can chill out here, they all can, these front three can wind it in and save the tyres, Loeb to me looks like he's early on the brakes at the end of the straight, absolutely no need to push whatsoever, Baccarat in the joker, coming out now will be in front, he had enough of a margin, right, okay then, so this one didn't go right the way to the wire, but it's a brilliant drive, Baccarat in the championship fight will be on the front row when Christophe is on row two, we know how good his starts are, Rüttgen and P2 and Sebastian Loeb makes it, look at the crowd in the background as he comes over the line, absolutely fantastic, Baccarat will be on the front row, pole for the final will be Fabian Payet, I'm sure, yeah he's out-qualified him, yep, so it'd be on pole, yep, semi-final one beats semi-final two, no it doesn't, it depends where you are, yeah it is, and Payet is third over Baccarat being fourth, wow, that was a pair of semi-finals, absolutely brilliant, a couple of great semis there Hal, and look at the adulation for Andreas Baccarat as well, absolutely lovely, did the French crowd, and I'm delighted, I'm loving it, that we've got Loeb in the final as well, me too, it would have been such a shame for him not to make it, remember back to 2013 when he went out in the semis, there was all that build-up, all that hype, just like there's been this weekend with these fans, wow, absolutely fantastic, absolutely fantastic, right, I've no idea what we're doing next, let's take a look at the results first of all, Andreas Baccarat ahead of Juha Rutgenen and Sebastian Loeb, so brilliant job, Oli O'Donovan, Ribeiro and Murray make it no further, Murray with a bit of a shunt from O'Donovan, but it wasn't, it wasn't, yeah, one last race here in Loeb, then Euro RX1 final, Fabien Payet on the pole after beating Christopherson in the semis, can he get the dream French home win alongside him, Andreas Baccarat who wants to take it for those title points, row two, Johan Christopherson inside Juha Rutgenen, Rutgenen looking for a good result here after some bad results for some other people in the standings and Sebastian Loeb in the final in front of his adoring home fans with Rokas Batushka on his own second outing this year, makes the cut as well, okay, on your feet people or tighten those belts, the marshal has left the grid, Fabien Payet is hoping for the launch of his life here in the Megane, he gets a great start, Baccarat maybe slightly better, Christopherson moves across on Sebastian Loeb, contact from Christopherson sideways, Loeb on the outside, but it is Payet who gets into the lead, ah sideways again, contact there, that's Christopherson getting mugged by Rutgenen, Rutgenen on the inside, Andreas Baccarat is in P2 and Loeb down the outside on the brakes, trying to come out the outside here of Bacchuska, is he going to go chugger? No, Bacchuska goes in, Christopherson came storming through on the inside of turn one, nearly made it work around the outside, but got force wide and this is not where Christopherson wants to be at the back of this pack, Bacchuska has had good pace this weekend, he's now in that free air to close on the back of Loeb, Loeb's there as well, we know though that Loeb hasn't been that happy with the car in the conditions, but I've got my eyes on two people, Payet for the dream home win and Baccarat how he's looking to take some points off Johan and at the minute he's going to, Baccarat gave a lot of space didn't he to Payet in the first corner, Loeb being dropped here by the leading pack, Christopherson can't joke for the moment because he'll fall into that Loeb window, yeah 0.8 of a second, Payet going very quickly out front on Friday, Johan was sitting at the top of the time sheets, he was some eight tenths up the road and we were looking and thinking wow this is going to be a tough weekend, then a couple of people slotted in, I think it was Rookkinen who was only 0.4 off him, but then Payet popped up how less than like a, I think there's like a tenth or something behind, he's taken another tenth out of Andreas Baccarat on that previous lap, Christopherson is 2.2, so what is he 1.3 off the back of Baccarat, he's got to do something if he wants to try and get it, he's stalled, he's in that stalled period where he can't do anything at the moment, and Loeb's maybe not going to go because Bacchuska's going to gobble him up if he does, so there's not a lot Loeb can do, another ten for Payet in sector one, another ten for Payet in sector two, he's pulling away, push from Christopherson, look at Rookkinen twice, he's just letting him know I'm here, I'm here, put the pressure on, he needs a mistake from Rookkinen, I think he's out there, but it's about Baccarat versus Christopherson for championship points, 1.3 seconds the gap between Christopherson and Loeb, I think Christopherson might risk it now because he's got to do something and Rookkinen almost barking, he does, good shout from Hal Ridge, Joran Christopherson goes into the joker lap now, the points lead is just seven, it was big commitment, don't forget Hal Baccarat took a point off him in the semi-finals as well, sideways, Loeb's got him, he's got down a position, the gambler's not paid off, Loeb has got him, he will go backwards when he goes to his joker, this is going to stall him up even more, send Baccarat now I would, cover him off, Payet's taken nearly a second out of Andreas Baccarat on that previous lap, Fabian Payet is absolutely flying at the front of the order here, what a drive by him, is Baccarat going to go to cover him, he doesn't, so Baccarat's going to stay out, you're on board now with Payet, he's had an absolutely horrible season, so horrible that he's in the minus points, double engine changes, something like minus 10 in the championship standings, he is nowhere, he's missed starting events, Loeb's got Joker, Christophsen's up, Payet's been nowhere and now he's everywhere, he's up front, he's killing it, Christophsen's not pulling away from Rokas Bakhuska either, has he used his tyres up at this stage, trying to stay in the fight, he told me a brand new one for the semi-finals, you need to watch for Baccarat now, let's see Baccarat as he goes into the joker lap, Payet goes in, Baccarat goes in, we're watching the two of them, Fabian Payet, the crowd are making so much noise here already, Payet smoothly through the joker lap, Rokanen is going to try and get in front of Christophsen, Christophsen will want that extra point but he's not going to get there, all eyes though, it's in the air, Fabian Payet wins in France in the European Rallycross Championship, biggest win of his career for me against this field, against the odds when he's had a shocker of a season, Fabian Payet what a drive and Baccarat gets P2 with Christophsen in fourth, that will close the tyre fight down to a matter of one hand in terms of points, Fabian Payet though the winner here in Lowiak, incredible, Joyeux Payet won the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 1993 with the very team that runs his son Fabian today but this result will be right up there with the best they have ever achieved, this man does not show much emotion, multiple French champion, look what it means to win not only in front of this crowd but against this level of opposition, killed it like I said for me the best result of his career, I know he's had, he's been at the top of this series but to win Loeb was in the, good to see Loeb in the final and Baccarat but what a drive, look at the fans, he doesn't know what to do in his wildest dreams, now look back at his results, oh we're hearing Baccarat has taken the lead in the championship by one point as we go to Portugal, there's one point in it for a double header, incroyable, wonderful, look at it, 50 years for Payet competition and 50 years for Rallycross at Loewe, what an incredible weekend it has been and what an incredible finale we're going to have with a double header in Lusada where this man who a few rounds ago didn't hold out much hope for fighting for this title and now he holds the cards going into the final weekend of the year and Payet inadvertently winning that first semi-final, Payet put Kristofferson on row two and that meant that it was just, oh there he is, soak it up, soak it up, he's going for a victory lap that's the braking zone down into turn three, blowing kisses to the crowd, wonderful, wonderful turns around, he listens to the air horns down at the far end, Fabian Payet you legend, he spent a good deal of time with me in the commentary box in Riga because they'd had a problem with the engine they couldn't fix, they hadn't got the car ready in time, the engines hadn't been back to pro drive, I say change the engine they got a penalty, he got another penalty later in the year they were trying to fix it still, did not qualify in Riga, P7 in qualifying in Nuriab but didn't make it out the semis, didn't make it out the semis in Holius, didn't make it out the quarters in Mondello as the problems continue but he takes the win here at home in France and now Baccarat leads the European Rallycross Championship, he's won it before but it would mean so much more to him to win it against Johan Christophersen, he would love that Payet cruising back round in front of the fans, wonderful, absolute scenes here in Lowiak confirmation of the result here in France, Fabian Payet takes his first win of the year, it's the first time he's had any kind of a good weekend and he's won here and he's doing half a donut down behind me, Andreas Baccarat P2, Rutgenen P3, Christophersen P4 back, she's going to Sebastian Lowe, the legend in the final. Fabian I don't even know what to say, you've had such a difficult season with this car, how does it feel to win at home here in front of this insane crowd in Lowiak? I cannot believe it, it's by far the best victory of my career, I won here like in French Championship 13 years ago but now against the best drivers in the world at home in Bretagne in front of our partner of the family, in front of my son also, it's an amazing feeling, I would not even have dared to dream about this. You battled with Andreas Baccarat for the European title in 2021 but to share the grid here with Sebastian Lowe, Bjorn Christophersen and Andreas and to beat them in a fair and square fight must be absolutely incredible. Yeah I mean after the semi-final I even told the team that I didn't thought it was physically possible you know to beat you on and I couldn't believe that we did it honestly but now I think everyone sees the pace there is in this car because at no moment I felt like I was in danger in the car, it felt really safe on a good rhythm and it was magical definitely. I understand your father was pretty emotional when you went quickest yesterday in a qualifying session, how good is tonight going to be celebrating with your family and friends here? Yeah I bet he must be crying now I'm pretty sure but yeah I'm not sure I'm going to go into the office tomorrow. And finally please just summarize your weekend in French for your fans here. Congratulations. Thank you, thank you very much. Can I bring this home? Can I bring this home he says to round out his interview, what's the number one board, I'm sure we get another one, maybe he should be able to take it really shouldn't he? Fist pump from Pye, over the moon takes the win here in Loewe, it is a home win. Championship standings then after round five, two rounds to go and Andreas Bakker has turned around a seven point deficit to a one point lead here in France. Christophersen P2, Baby P3, we then got Rukkunen to Payne and Kafe Jansen, Patrick O'Donovan and Fabien Pye with the win here moves into eighth in the standings, that's absolutely brilliant.