Viktor Johansson had to wait until the eighth round of the RallyX North season to finally secure his first podium of the year. Victory in the second event at Nysum allowed the two-time Open 2WD champion to overtake Jon Ny and climb back to second in the championship standings.
Even that breakthrough is unlikely to be enough to put a third title within reach. Heading to Estering, Lucas Gabrielsson holds a 56-point advantage and needs just five more points to wrap up the championship.
The situation looks very different from what Johansson had envisioned at the start of the season. His campaign began in ideal fashion in RallyX South at Valkenswaard before a succession of setbacks brought his momentum to a halt.
"The season actually started really well in the Netherlands with a win and a second place. It was a very good start. But after the Netherlands, the chassis was completely bent following our crash in Q2 on Sunday. Since then, we've had to deal with one technical problem after another," Johansson recalled.
From that point on, the Swede and his team found themselves in a race against time. After suffering an engine failure at Tierp, their focus shifted from chasing performance to rebuilding the entire project.
"The engine failure at Tierp was a huge setback for our season. Since then, we've put all our energy into getting the car back together. We had to rebuild it, solve all the technical issues and get the whole package back where it needed to be. I don't feel I've been able to show my full potential behind the wheel this year."
The former Mercedes engine has since been replaced by a 3.2-litre, 16-valve Volvo unit developed by MotorDesign. The change forced Johansson to rethink his entire set-up.
"The dyno figures suggest we should have exactly the same power curve, with around 50 extra horsepower and 50 Nm of additional torque throughout the rev range. Even so, the engine behaves differently from the old Mercedes unit. From around 7,000 rpm onwards, you can feel that it doesn't pull quite as hard as the previous engine."
Despite those challenges, Johansson remained as determined as ever before arriving in Denmark.
"My goal was to win on Saturday and Sunday, then do exactly the same again at Estering."
The Swede achieved only half of that objective at Nysum, but Sunday's victory gave him renewed momentum at exactly the right time. Although the championship is no longer entirely in his hands, his determination to finish the season on a high remains unchanged.
"We'll keep fighting right up to the final round of the season. I'll give everything until the very last laps of the championship. Until the chequered flag falls in the final race, anything is still possible."
The way the championship has unfolded has done nothing to diminish Johansson's admiration for Lucas Gabrielsson. In fact, he sees plenty of similarities between himself and the Toyota Starlet driver.
"I'm really happy to see Lucas Gabrielsson doing so well with his Toyota Starlet. His car works incredibly well. Sometimes you can even see it lifting a front wheel under acceleration. My wife often tells me Lucas is a bit like my Finnish alter ego. We share a very similar philosophy, both in the way we see things and in the way we approach racing."
That camaraderie reflects the unique spirit of the Open 2WD category, where competitors devote countless hours to designing, building and developing their own machinery.
"Every car has its own technical philosophy, just as every driver has different set-ups and driving styles. That's what makes this category so fascinating. We race hard against each other on track, but we're still happy to help one another in the paddock."
While the title may no longer depend on Viktor Johansson, Estering still offers the Swede two final opportunities to confirm his return to form, defend second place in the standings and bring an intensely challenging 2026 campaign to a positive conclusion.