After back-to-back disappointing semi-final exits in the FIA European Rallycross Championship’s Euro RX3 division, Belgian driver Nicolas Geleyns orchestrated a dramatic comeback at Ireland’s iconic Mondello Park circuit, clinching his second podium finish of the 2024 season and jumping into fourth place in the overall championship rankings.
Geleyns, an Antigua-based RACB competitor piloting an Audi A1 for Volland Racing, arrived at the Irish round hungry to reverse his early-season slump. Two consecutive events had seen the talented driver fail to reach the main race, leaving him unable to showcase the full speed his car and team had worked to build. However, a valuable advantage came from an appearance at Mondello Park just one month prior, competing in the British Rallycross Championship. That track time, plus additional testing in a Suzuki Swift at the circuit, gave Geleyns critical insights he was determined to leverage.
From the opening moments of qualifying, it was clear Geleyns’ preparation had paid off. The Audi driver consistently locked himself in among the event’s front-runners, never slipping outside the top three across all four qualifying sessions. He claimed third in both Q1 and Q2, moved up to second in Q3, and closed out the qualifying phase with another third-place result in Q4. When all points were tallied, Geleyns sat third overall with 171 points out of a maximum 200, just three points adrift of second-placed Julien Meunier, while pole sitter Rytis Gurklys claimed a perfect 200-point qualifying score. The Irish round saw Geleyns deliver one of the standout qualifying laps of his season: he set the fastest overall lap of Q4 with a time of 45.937 seconds, edging out Gurklys by just 0.035 seconds.
“I’m really pleased with our pace this weekend,” Geleyns said after qualifying. “We managed to step up our performance in every session, and that proves we can run with the very best in this category. For the first time this season, everything just clicked for us. Outside of one costly mistake in the final, I couldn’t be happier with how the weekend went.”
Geleyns carried his strong form into the semi-final, where he was drawn into the same heat as pole qualifier Gurklys. Once again, he delivered a consistent, solid drive that earned him a spot in the final race, confirming his comeback was no fluke. “The approach we took to this weekend really paid off,” he noted. “We made progress every single day, and it’s so satisfying to see all that hard work get rewarded with a spot in the final.”
The final saw Geleyns stay locked in battle with the race’s leading drivers for every lap, staying within striking distance of the top spots. But on the final corner of the very last lap, a split-second mistake opened the door for Gurklys to overtake and drop Geleyns down the order. “I don’t like to dwell on ‘what ifs’ after a race,” Geleyns reflected post-race. “Starting from the front row might have changed the outcome, but that wasn’t where we started. My biggest regret is that mistake on the final corner. I thought I could force Rytis wide on the outside and hold second, but he was further back than I expected, which let him cut back to the inside and pass me. That was all my error, and he took full advantage – congratulations to him on the win.”
Initially classified in third place, Geleyns was eventually promoted to runner-up after Julien Meunier was handed a three-second time penalty for a rules infringement. Geleyns’ total race time of 5 minutes 10.002 seconds put him just 0.318 seconds behind winner Gurklys. He also posted the second-fastest lap of the final at 46.578 seconds – 0.233 seconds slower than Meunier, but 0.015 seconds quicker than Gurklys – and recorded the second-fastest Joker Lap of the race at 49.833 seconds.
The 25 points Geleyns scored at Mondello Park marked his highest single-round points haul of the season so far, lifting him to fourth in the overall championship standings with 51 total points. He now sits just four points behind third-placed Sámuel Kovács, putting him firmly in contention for a top-three championship finish.
“This podium means so much to me and the team,” Geleyns said. “It confirms that we have the speed to fight at the front, and that we’re still very much in the fight for a good championship position. After two tough weekends, this result is a massive boost mentally. I know there’s still a lot of work to do – I can improve at certain tracks, and there are bits of my driving I want to refine – but this proves we’re heading in the right direction.”
The FIA European Rallycross Championship will now take a short break before heading to Lohéac for its next round at the end of August. Despite re-entering contention for a top-three overall finish, Geleyns said he plans to stick to the same approach that delivered his comeback in Ireland, rather than getting caught up in championship calculations.
“Of course I’m keeping an eye on the standings, but I don’t want to get bogged down in counting points,” he explained. “That doesn’t help me perform better. My only goal is to keep giving 100% at every round we enter. If we do our job right, the results and the championship position will take care of themselves.”