The Frenchman converted a sensational Semi-Final victory over eight-time FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson into an equally impressive Final performance, leading from the opening corner to defeat Andreas Bakkerud and Juha Rytkönen.
Second place was enough for Bakkerud to move into the championship lead by a single point ahead of the final double-header in Lousada, Portugal, while Rytkönen resisted sustained pressure from Kristoffersson to complete the podium.
Pailler entered Sunday second in the overnight standings after topping Qualifying 3 on Saturday, but Kristoffersson moved to the head of the Overall Qualifying Ranking with a superb performance in Q4.
The Swede set a benchmark time of 2:36.868 to defeat Kristoffersson Motorsport team-mate Ole Christian Veiby, Sébastien Loeb, Tamás Kárai and Rokas Baciuška. Bakkerud won the final heat but could not match Kristoffersson’s time, placing second in the session ahead of Joni Turpeinen, Nils Volland and Pailler.
The result left Kristoffersson at the top of the overall Qualifying Ranking, ahead of Saturday leader Rytkönen, Pailler, Bakkerud, Veiby and Loeb.
Kristoffersson progressed comfortably through the opening Quarter-Final, but the race delivered a major championship twist behind him. Veiby endured a nightmare start and dropped to sixth before attempting to fight his way back through the field. A wide moment on the gravel during his battle with Casper Jansson ultimately left the Norwegian outside the Top 3, ending the weekend of the driver who had arrived in France third in the standings.
Rytkönen controlled the second Quarter-Final, while European Championship debutant Eoin Murray produced one of the surprises of the weekend. After taking an early joker, the Irishman demonstrated impressive pace and emerged from a close joker merge ahead of Loeb, ultimately finishing second to Rytkönen. Loeb followed them through in third.
Pailler then made another excellent start to win Quarter-Final 3 ahead of Julien Fébreau. As rain began to fall, the drivers were forced to negotiate increasingly slippery conditions on slick tyres, while a close battle between Baciuška and Kevin Hansen ended with the Latvian securing the final transfer position.
The rain intensified before Quarter-Final 4, prompting officials to declare a wet race and return the cars to the pre-grid while teams considered their tyre strategies. When the race eventually began, Bakkerud once again launched perfectly and controlled proceedings from the front. João Ribeiro finished second, while Ollie O’Donovan prevailed in a last-corner fight for third. Turpeinen’s weekend came to an early conclusion when a puncture sent him into the gravel.
If Pailler’s pace had already caught the attention of the paddock, his Semi-Final performance confirmed that he was a genuine contender for victory. Starting alongside Kristoffersson, the Frenchman swept around the outside at the launch to take the lead, prompting an enormous roar from the home crowd. Rather than buckle under the pressure of the reigning champion, Pailler steadily built a margin and matched Kristoffersson lap after lap.
Neither driver had taken the joker by lap four, but Pailler had created enough of a gap to retain the advantage through the decisive final phase. He crossed the line ahead of Kristoffersson after one of the drives of the season, with Baciuška denying Patrick O’Donovan the final transfer position.
Bakkerud controlled the second Semi-Final from pole despite a strong start from Loeb. The Frenchman and Ollie O’Donovan took their jokers early, leaving Bakkerud and Rytkönen to build a margin at the front.
Pailler produced another superb launch in the Final. Bakkerud attempted to cover the Frenchman’s run into Turn One, but Pailler held his ground and emerged in the lead. Behind them, Kristoffersson and Loeb made light contact through the opening corner, dropping the pair behind Rytkönen. Kristoffersson then came under further pressure as he battled the Finn for third, while Pailler immediately began to pull clear of Bakkerud.
By lap five, the Frenchman had established a margin of more than two seconds. Kristoffersson took his joker on lap four in an attempt to escape the traffic, but Loeb remained ahead following the merge and briefly moved into fourth. Pailler, Bakkerud and Rytkönen all waited until the final lap to complete their jokers. The leader had built more than enough of a margin and emerged still comfortably ahead, while Bakkerud retained second and Rytkönen held off Kristoffersson to secure the final place on the podium.
As Pailler crossed the line, the grandstands erupted. Spectators rose to their feet to celebrate a landmark victory celebrate a landmark home victory for the Frenchman, as he completed the biggest win of his career against one of the strongest Euro RX1 fields assembled this season.
Fabien Pailler, Pailler Compétition, said: “I feel amazing. Honestly, I cannot believe the pace we have shown and how smoothly everything went this weekend – it is almost unreal. There has been so much effort from the team since Rīga. The team has put so much energy into getting the engine back after Mondello and making sure everything worked perfectly again. I am so happy for everybody involved. Winning here is completely crazy. Even in the Semi-Final, when I was ahead of Johan and the team told me the gap, I could not believe we were able to stay in front. It was also a very clean fight, and he came to congratulate me afterwards. That felt very special.”
Andreas Bakkerud, Bergen Motorsport Evolution, said: “I have lost a championship on a tie before, so one point can sometimes be enough, even though there are still two races to go. It feels amazing to finish second here behind Fabien. The only thing I wanted was to win. I have finished second here five or six times and come so close – this is the race every driver wants to win, so it is bittersweet. But if there was one guy to win today, it was Fabien. They live ten minutes down the road, and standing on the podium listening to the French national anthem even gave me goosebumps. We said at the beginning of the year that we have nothing to lose. We are a brand-new team, so Lousada is going to be exciting and we are going to give it everything.”
Juha Rytkönen, SET Promotion, said: “I am really happy. Qualifying went very well for me, although I think we still need to improve our pace on a dry track. Fabien was really fast and did a great job throughout the Final. My focus was on keeping Johan behind because he was pushing a lot, so I am very pleased with the weekend. I will keep trying for third place in the championship, and what happened this weekend has helped me a lot. The final round of the Championship will also be great – I like Lousada. It has a similar feeling to driving here in France, so I think it is going to be a really nice weekend.”
Pailler’s breakthrough victory provided a fitting conclusion to the 50th-anniversary Euro RX of France, while Bakkerud’s second-place finish has transformed the championship picture. The Norwegian will carry a one-point advantage into the season-closing Lousada double-header (12-13 September), with every point now set to prove decisive in the battle for the 2026 Euro RX1 crown.
Click here to view the final classification from the Euro RX of France.
Click here to view the provisional championship standings.
Click here to hear the drivers’ reaction after Day 2.
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