After losing the championship lead following Carl Svedlund's latest dominant display in the second round at Honkajoki, Espen Isaksaetre responded in the best possible fashion on Saturday at Älvsbyn. By winning the opening race of the weekend in northern Sweden, he secured his first RallyX North victory of the season while keeping himself firmly within striking distance of the JC Raceteknik driver in the CrossCar standings.