Flying Finn Heikkinen is now 18 points clear of Reinis Nitiss in the race to claim second position behind provisional champion Petter Solberg when World RX season one concludes in Argentina next month.

But Heikkinen’s performance in Istanbul was significant in more ways than one with his efforts helping his Marklund Motorsport supported by Volkswagen squad to move into the outright lead of the Teams’ championship for the first time this season.
”I started the final from the front row with Timmy Hansen beside me,” said the 23-year-old. ”My start wasn’t perfect and I wasn’t able to keep my position. Therefore I chose to take my ’joker’ lap on the first lap. Towards the end I had some kind of oil leak from the engine, which caused smoke to come into the car. My tyres also got badly worn and I couldn’t fight for the victory, which is always my target. But third overall is a good result and with Anton finishing one place behind we’ve scored some good points for the Teams’ championship and I managed to strengthen my second place in the drivers’ standings.”

Heikkinen set the fastest time in his first heat on Saturday at the wheel of his Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar only to be penalised by having to take two ’joker’ laps in his second heat after a false start. He clocked the second fastest time in heat three on Sunday and was fourth quickest in heat four, which handed him a front-row start for his semi-final where he outgunned his team-mate and fellow front-row starter Anton Marklund following an exciting battle between the pair.

The World Rallycross Championship heads to San Luis in Argentina, 790 kilometres west of the capital Buenos Aires, from November 28/29.

Provisional World RX drivers’ standings (after round 11 of 12):
1 Petter Solberg 250 points
2 Toomas Heikkinen 200
3 Reinis Nitiss 182
4 Timmy Hansen 179
5 Andreas Bakkerud 173
6 Anton Marklund 159