The FIA World Rallycross Championship is coming off a bye week before its third round of competition, but the series’ regulars were far from idle ahead of this weekend’s Coyote World RX of Belgium in Mettet.

Altogether, four World and Euro RX drivers picked up wins in various series across the continent, while several others reached the podium as they make their way to the technically challenging Circuit Jules Tacheny.

Watch the 2018 Coyote World RX of Belgium LIVE on FloRacing

Date: Sunday, May 13 | Start Time: 8 AM CDT

GCK driver Guerlain Chicherit followed up his fifth-place finish at Montalegre in Portugal—a career-best result in World RX—by switching to a G-Fors Renault Clio and notching his first victory of 2018 in the French Rallycross Championship at Abbeville Baie de Somme. The win also gave Chicherit the overall series lead.

Guerlain Chicherit finished in fifth place in his first-ever appearance in a World RX final at Montalegre on April 29. (FIA World Rallycross)

Other victors included Euro RX podium finisher Ollie O’Donovan, who won at Croft in the British Rallycross Championship, and Euro RX race winner Thomas Bryntesson, who captured the first round of RallyX Nordic at Holjes over fellow Euro RX regulars Lukas Walfridsson and Mats Ohman. Guillaume De Ridder tuned up for this weekend’s first round of the RX2 International Series by winning the Supercar Lites category at Holje.

Elsewhere, reigning World RX champion and current points leader Johan Kristoffersson participated in the Swedish Touring Car Championship’s first event of the season, which took place at the Knutstorp Ring, finishing fourth in race one and reaching the podium in third place in race two.

In Germany, Mattias Ekstrom paid an emotional goodbye to fans in his final race with the DTM series by doing a series of donuts in front of the main grandstand at the season-opening  Hockenheim Circuit. After finishing in 16th in the second race of the weekend, the double champion Swede now turns his focus on his EKS Audi Sport team in World RX.

Heading into this weekend’s Coyote World RX of Belgium, Kristoffersson holds a nine-point advantage in the overall standings following back-to-back victories to open the 2018 series at Montalegre and Barcelona-Catalunya.

He is also the defending champion at the 1.149km Circuit Jules Tacheny, which consists of 69 percent asphalt and 39 percent dirt.

—A World RX press release contributed to this report

The Coyote World RX of Belgium is streaming LIVE on FloRacing this Sunday, beginning at 8 AM CDT.