The SET Esports duo of Tommi Hallman and Jonne Ollikainen came out on top of Saturday’s iRacing Rallycross World Championship presented by Yokohama action from Phoenix Raceway, securing their second 1-2 finish of the season and the fourth overall among teammates in the penultimate round of the season.
Hallman and Ollikainen were joined on the podium by points leader Jon Robertson, who helped Team Yokohama clinch the inaugural iRX teams’ championship.
Battles between teammates were hot and heavy throughout the final, as Hallman and Ollikainen fought it out in the Joker Lap early in the race and Robertson and teammate Yohann Harth engaged in a battle of their own for the final podium position. The latter two would make contact in the sharp right-hander as they returned to the infield from the Phoenix oval, but both would continue on and hold their positions through the balance of the race.
It wasn’t all good news for the top drivers, though, as a tricky qualifying session saw what would have been a pole-winning lap for Subaru Motorsports USA’s Mitchell deJong invalidated. The 2018 series champion and last week’s winner from Lucas Oil Raceway was unable to advance through the last chance qualifier, losing significant ground in the championship campaign.
Solid finishes for both Robertson and Harth leave four drivers in mathematical contention for the title going into next week’s finale from Sonoma Raceway. Both Hallman and deJong are 26 points out of the lead, meaning Robertson can eliminate them by scoring just four points—either qualifying in the top three or finishing in the top five in his heat. Harth is only 10 points behind his teammate, meaning that as long as he can make it to the final, there’s a good chance the title won’t be officially awarded until the final checkered flag flies on December 5.
iRacing Rallycross World Championship presented by Yokohama results from Phoenix Raceway were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Name | Manufacturer | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | 87 | Tommi Hallman | Subaru | 10 | 10 | 35.034 | 29 | |
| 2 | 2 | 44 | Jonne Ollikainen | Subaru | 10 | -0.404 | 0 | 35.001 | 25 |
| 3 | 4 | 86 | Jon Robertson | Subaru | 10 | -2.577 | 0 | 35.231 | 18 |
| 4 | 5 | 90 | Yohann Harth | Subaru | 10 | -4.532 | 0 | 35.033 | 15 |
| 5 | 8 | 12 | Josh Fox | Subaru | 10 | -6.657 | 0 | 35.032 | 16 |
| 6 | 6 | 99 | Marcos Matamoros | Volkswagen | 10 | -7.588 | 0 | 35.449 | 12 |
| 7 | 9 | 97 | Adria Perez | Volkswagen | 10 | -8.374 | 0 | 35.238 | 9 |
| 8 | 7 | 76 | Daniel Mitrani | Subaru | 10 | -9.456 | 0 | 35.617 | 10 |
| 9 | 3 | 77 | Aleksi Heikkinen | Volkswagen | 10 | -15.006 | 0 | 35.787 | 14 |
| 10 | 10 | 28 | Vicente Salas | Volkswagen | 2 | -8 L | 0 | 36.919 | 8 |
iRacing Rallycross World Championship presented by Yokohama driver points through eight rounds are as follows:
- Jon Robertson, 163
- Yohann Harth, 153
- Tommi Hallman, 137
- Mitchell deJong, 137
- Jonne Ollikainen, 125
- Josh Fox, 82
- Bobby Zalenski, 74
- Ilari Lamminsivu, 73
- Garrett Manes, 65
- Jake Robertson, 61
iRacing Rallycross World Championship presented by Yokohama team points through eight rounds are as follows:
- Team Yokohama, 316
- SET Esports, 262
- Subaru Motorsports USA, 211
- CR22 Motorsports, 120
- Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 118
- Hansen Williams Esports, 112
- Ed Carpenter Racing, 111
- SET Esports Team GRX, 94
- Williams Esports, 91
- Burton Kligerman Esports, 84
iRX All-Star Invitational and World Championship presented by Yokohama action from Sonoma Raceway kicks off on Saturday, December 5 at 1PM ET (17:00 GMT) on the iRacing Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube pages, as well as across a number of industry and competitor Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube pages.
