HOLSWORTHY’S rallycross star Dan Rooke shone in the Swedish round of the RX2 International Series at the legendary Holjes circuit last Sunday (July 2) to claim his first international rallycross victory and close the gap to series leader Cyril Raymond to just six points.

Racing at the challenging, undulating circuit for the first time, in front of a 41,000 strong passionate crowd in the Varmland region of Sweden, Rooke had to produce the comeback performance of his career after he suffered broken steering in Q1 (first round of qualifying) and lost further time in traffic in Q2.

Fighting back in Q3 and Q4, the reigning MSA British Rallycross champion finished second in the Intermediate Classification in the FIA World Rallycross Championship support category, and won the second semi-final to line up on the front row of the grid for the final.

In the all-important final, Rooke ran second on the opening lap but briefly dropped to third on lap two when he lost time behind Raymond whose car had picked up a puncture.

Rooke then passed the championship leader, but had also been overtaken by Belgian driver Guillaume De-Ridder. In a textbook overtaking manoeuvre in the final corner of the lap, after the circuit’s second large jump, the MSA Academy member made a decisive move for the lead of the race and was never caught to claim his first victory in RX2, and the first win for the fledgling Team Färén squad.

Rooke said: “I’m so, so happy. Cyril (Raymond) has dominated RX2 all season so far, so this victory means so much to all of us. I started off on the Friday after my two qualifying sessions on the back foot. I was lying 13th overnight — we had it all to do, but we managed to make a really good come back.

“Team Färén are new to the series like I am and we don’t have any previous data like the other teams, so we are really having to learn a lot all the time.

“I had a big push in the semi-final and then just kept the pressure on in the final until Cyril accidentally rolled the tyre off the rim and we were able to take advantage, even if we lost some time behind him. I saw Guillaume on my outside, so I just kept clean, managed to get past Cyril before the jump and braked as late as I dared into the last corner and tucked up the inside of Guillaume for the lead. It’s amazing.”

Despite the dream result closing the gap on the championship leader, Rooke’s season still faces an uncertainty. The 20-year-old still needs to secure the required budget to compete at the next round of the championship in Canada, in just four weeks’ time (August 5-6).

Rooke added: “It’s incredible to win, but now our focus is completely on trying to get to the next round in to Canada, to keep fighting for the title.

“This weekend proves that we are right in the fight, and I’m desperate to continue. We’re all working so hard to try and find the budget to continue on this amazing journey.”