At 17, Armin Raag won the first-ever FIA European Rallycross Championship Euro RX5 title at the season finale in Lousada, Portugal. Driving the Estonian-built P-Tech Estfighter2, he also became the first Estonian to claim a European rallycross crown.
A tyre off, a title won
The championship was decided over two tense rounds at the Circuito Internacional de Lousada in front of 15,000 spectators. Raag won Saturday’s penultimate round, but the victory came only after a heart-stopping final lap. A tyre came off his car through a ditch in the second corner.
The win stretched his lead over compatriot Martin Juga to 30 points ahead of Sunday’s closing round.
From podium goal to two-day test
Sunday’s semifinal was a severe examination of nerve. The pressure was high and the Saturday tyre failure lingered in his mind, yet Raag kept a cool head and advanced cleanly. He finished the final second behind Germany’s Bryan Neumeyer, and the result sealed a historic Estonian one-two: Raag champion with 154 points, Juga runner-up on 123.
Raag had built his season from a clear first target. He credited meticulous physical and driving preparation for the Portuguese rounds, and the Estfighter2 chassis developed by P-Tech.
The weekend itself made its own history, staging the championship’s first night race alongside Johan Kristoffersson’s RX1 coronation. Raag’s rise adds a European title to a young career already marked by crosskart triumphs across the Baltic and a fourth-place finish at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games.
