Mattias Ekström proved that the updated EKS Audi S1 has the pace to fight the PSRX VW Polos, but a controversial move in the Final disqualified him and promoted Johan Kristoffersson to the win in the first event of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship season.
The awful track condition after persistent rain brought the competition to a really close level as some drivers proved that it was really easy to overdrive and make a mistake. Petter Solberg led the qualifiers, but he had the company of Timmy Hansen and Johan Kristoffersson, with the EKS duo of Mattias Ekström and Andreas Bakkerud coming right after. Worth mention too is the big progress of Niclas Grönholm in sixth with the new Hyundai i20 RX of GRX Taneco if in comparison to last year, and Robin Larsson’s World RX comeback with Olsbergs MSE, appearing in seventh in the standings.
On semifinal 1 the PSRX Polos were in place to defend their 1-2 but Andreas Bakkerud cut through their formation and got second place. Petter Solberg was clocking fastest laps while in first place, and this created the gap to help Solberg into his way to the win. Bakkerud though lost the second place when he had to Joker as Kristoffersson came with better pace and kept it going to the finish.
Semifinal 2 had a late change in the grid as Kevin Hansen qualified 12th and Sébastien Loeb was 13th, so Team Peugeot swapped their cars for tactical reasons, so they would have an extra shot at the teams points.
At the start, Ekström went for a wider line at turn 1, only to be given a beating by those behind him, though he stayed in third position. While that, Timmy Hansen was firmly on the lead and with his good pace he was holding the lead even after his Joker lap.
But then the turnaround came on the final lap, as Hansen’s Peugeot 208 WRX had a problem and stopped in the middle of the track, allowing Ekström to take the win with ease while Sébastien Loeb took advantage of the mess at the line and took second place and Niclas Grönholm completed the list of qualified drivers for the final.
In the Final heavy contact happened before the first corner, with Ekström leaving no room for Solberg, resulting in a crash for the World RX double champion. The EKS owner then kept the lead while being chased hard by Kristoffersson, with Bakkerud behind in third, trying to match the pace of both.
After the Joker, Bakkerud’s lack of pace was evident as Loeb went past for third, while in the last lap Ekström made everything in his power to stop Kristoffersson’s charge and win the first event of the year. Loeb held his way comfortably to get third place and complete the podium.
A few moments later, Ekström’s move was deemed inappropriate and the Swede was disqualified and relegated to sixth, handing the win to Kristoffersson, the second place to Loeb and promoting Bakkerud to the final step of the podium.
Kristoffersson leads the standings with 27 points and Solberg follows in a close second with 24 points, while Bakkerud and Ekström are in third and fourth with 20 and 19 points respectively. PSRX VW and EKS dominate the teams standings with 51 and 39 points while Peugeot has 30 points and GRX Taneco has 29 in fourth.
Montalegre is the following destination of the World RX, and the second round of the championship will be on April 29th, with local talent confirmed like Joaquim Santos and Mário Barbosa, and also a second STARD Fiesta ST RX for Chinese racer Ma Qinghua.
PHOTO: Volkswagen Motorsport
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