Heading into the Final Race

Going into the final race in Norrköping, I had already secured the overall cup victory with four straight wins and the maximum 800 points. That meant I could approach this last race without pressure, just focusing on enjoying myself. But I’m a racer at heart — I always want to win — so I still gave it everything I had. 
With 33 drivers in five heats, three in 4wd and two in 2wd, it would turn out to be a long day. It's great to see such turnout in this class and we have many new drivers this season.

A Tough Start

I arrived at the track the night before, exhausted after a couple of intense work weeks. Motivation was low, and things didn’t improve during practice. My exhaust pipe came loose for no apparent reason, and then I discovered that my steering felt terrible again. After some troubleshooting, I realized only one of my two steering servos was actually working — dragging the other one along. This was the same frustrating issue I’d had at the Euros and the previous race. For some reason, before each race, I have to unplug and replug the second servo to “wake it up.” Very strange — and the problem continued all through the race weekend.

Wet and Slippery Conditions

Heavy rain during the night left the track wet and slick in the morning. The surface was very slippery, forcing us to power-slide through corners — challenging, but honestly a lot of fun. Apart from that the track had some layout changes from last season that was great additions and made the racing much more fun and closer.

Qualifying & 1/8 Final

Qualifying went okay, though I made a few simple mistakes and started third in the 1/8 final. Because of the large number of drivers and some delays in the schedule, we didn’t start until after lunch. It was going to be a long day.

I drove a clean race and won the 1/8 final, but the field was close behind. I knew the rest of the day was going to be intense.

Quarter Final Chaos

The quarter final could not have started worse — I was hit from behind in the first corner and spun around, ending up dead last. Time to play catch-up. I love this kind of challenge, though — working my way through the field, lap after lap. With just a few laps left, I fought my way into the lead after some really fair and exciting battles. On the final straight, my car suddenly went full throttle on its own! Luckily, killswitches are mandatory in Sweden, so I was able to shut it down right after crossing the finish line.

I discovered that my throttle/brake servo was glitching at high RPMs — likely an electrical issue. I replaced the servo and fixed the problem. Fortunately, the long breaks between heats gave me time to repair and properly tune the car.

Semifinal

The semifinal was another nail-biter, but I managed to win again — keeping my streak of heat wins alive for the entire season. Only the A-final remained, but with so many strong drivers, victory was far from guaranteed.

A-Final – The Decider

By the time the final started, the sun was setting, the light was fading, and everyone was exhausted from the long day. I had a great start and quickly built a gap, but soon had pressure from faster drivers right behind me.

After a few laps, disaster struck — I got stuck on one of the pins holding down the track markers, losing three positions. I fought my way back up to second, but the leader was far ahead. My only chance was to drive flawlessly and hope he made a mistake. He did — and I regained the lead!

But racing luck wasn’t on my side. While lapping slower cars, I was bumped off the track not once, but twice. The second time was especially bad — I got stuck in the corner into the the main straight, allowing the second-place car to pass. I lost my rhythm after that and couldn’t recover.
You can watch the second incident around the 18:30 mark in the race video. But that's racing and I don't hold and grudges, I know nobody does this on purpose. The winner was well deserved and he drove great the whole day.

In the end, I lost the only one heat of the entire season — and that's in the very last race. That stung, as a “perfect season” had been within reach. 

Still, this was probably the most fun race of the year — with incredible on-track battles — and I hadn’t even been motivated to go in the first place! Norrköping remains a challenge for me; I haven’t won there in three years. I’ll be back next year to try again.
I also want to make sure to thank all the people in Norrköping who helped out and made this cup final such a great and fun race. 

Season Recap

This concludes the 2025 race season. The cup was a success, four wins out of five, 19 heathens out of 20, but the Euros in Fehring was once again a disappointment results-wise. Still, the Euros is always about more than just racing — the experience itself is special.

Farewell to the Ultron

This also marks the end of my time with the Ultron. It was never supposed to run this season, but with delays on the Rival, I had to compete with a car that was technically “retired.” It wasn’t ideal, but it got me through another full year. Now it’s time to move on for real. I have two options for my next car — but that’s a story for another day…

Photo credits: Malcolm Wigren