In part two of our season review we look at ‚the fight for fourth‘ – a collective of drivers who had moments of brilliance over the course of the season, but ultimately fell short of fighting for the title.
Jerome Grosset-Janin
Frenchman Jerome Grosset-Janin began the year as a one-off wildcard for his home rounds in Essay, but he ended the year as the driver giving the title protagonists the biggest headache.
After claiming a podium finish at Circuit des Ducs, it looked as if it could be a four-way fight for the title, with Grosset-Janin joining the Hansen/Heikkinen party. However, two difficult weekends in Britain and Portugal derailed any hopes of a sustained challenge at the top of the points.
He returned to form in Austria, making the final on both days, but it was when the series headed to Hungary that Grosset-Janin’s season came alive. A fourth plae finish in the first Nyirad race was followed by a return to the podium, and then when TitansRX crossed the border to Germany, Grosset-Janin broke into the exclusive club of race winners for the very first time.
Third place in the season finale mean that he’d not only secured the hotly-contested fourth place spot in the season standings, but he’d ended the season by scroing the second-most points of any driver in the final two race weekend.
Wins: 1 – Round 11, Estering
Tamara Molinaro
Tamara Molinaro was a hugely-popular figure int he TitansRX paddock throughout 2019, and was also a driver that impressed many on track. It’s hard to believe that she began the season with no rallycross, or even racing experience; by the end of the year she was giving seasoned veterans a hard time.
After a mixed first third of the year, with final appearances bookended by struggles owing to inexperence, Molinaro come to the fore in Montalegre. There she won her first heat race in convincing fashion, then made it all the way to the final. A pair of top-five finishes in Austria and Hungary left her in prime position to secure fourth in the points until engine issues at Nyirad put an end to that.
She bounced back to claim her best-ever finish in the season finale to take fifth in the points overall. Podiums may have only just been out of Molinaro’s reach this season, but she raised plenty of eyebrows, and for all the right reasons.
Best result: Fourth – Round 12, Estering
‚CsuCsu‘
‚CsuCsu‘ has something of an up-and-down season, with flashes of pace being punctuated by the odd mistake and clash on-track. Nevertheless, the Hungarian remained a fixture in ‚the fight of fourth‘ throughout the season.
He appeared in one third of the season’s main events, including a popular showing on home soil at Nyirad. In the first race at the iconic circuit ‚CsuCsu‘ looked set to claim a remarkable podium finish until suspension failure resulting from contact forced him to retire. He was back in the final for the hugely-attritional round 11 at Estering in Germany but early contact prevented him from capitalising and taking that elusive podium finish.
Best result: Fifth – Round 2, Essay; Round 6 Montalegre; Round 11 Estering
Ronny C’Rock
Ronny C’Rock’s final standing of seventh was by no-means a reflection of the German’s pace in 2019. The stunt driving legend is no stranger to racing, but the maiden TitansRX campaign marked his first full season of rallycross competition.
He twice made the final – in France and Britain – but mistakes and mechanical gremlins prevented him from finishing any higher up the order. Nevertheless, Ronny C’Rock showed strong pace and impressive racecraft over the course of the season. Numbers don’t always tell the full story.
Best result: Fifth – Round 4, Lydden Hill
