Sébastien Loeb finally proved why Peugeot is a force to reckon in then FIA World Rallycross Championship as he won the Mettet RX after battling until the very end with Petter Solberg, like in the WRC days.
The lead in the qualifiers changed like the weather at Mettet, going from sunny to overcast during the night, with Saturday king Petter Solberg losing the lead to Timmy Hansen after the Q3, with Hansen then losing the top qualifier spot to Mattias Ekström after the Q4. EKS, Peugeot and PSRX VW were spread in the top six spots, with the drivers from EKS and PSRX VW choosing the best option by going with wet weather tires.
On semifinal 1 the PSRXVW duo help position and kept the lead with Johan Kristoffersson in front, opening a gap that let both cars go back from the Joker in front of the competition. Mattias Ekström opted for an early Joker, and had a conservative driving all the time, which gave him the third place and a spot in the final.
Kristoffersson then described the track conditions as tricky, as he explained that was hard to judge how much you can push without making a mistake, so he took the clean air period to test this limit.
The second semifinal had Andreas Bakkerud being penalised for a jump start and then a multi-car mess with Sébastien Loeb taking first place. Timmy Hansen lost the most in the initial contact, so he was pushing hard to make up for the lost time, catching up Janis Baumanis, Guerlain Chicherit and Timur Timerzyanov in sequence.
Loeb was more than secure in front and won the race with ease, while Bakkerud held second place and Timmy Hansen got the last spot in the final.
The final had a private EKS vs. PSRXVW battle at the first corner while Loeb and Hansen got a 1-2 for Peugeot, with things turning into a team competition on Lap 2.
PSRXVW and Solberg more specifically went early for the Joker and were pushing hard, and Loeb almost lost the lead to Solberg but brave moves held the double World RX champion’s pace. From Lap 4 to the end Loeb held Solberg for the lead and Hansen held Kristoffersson for third, and the Peugeots did their jobs as Loeb was crowned winner, Solberg came second and Hansen completed the podium.
Johan Kristoffersson kept the lead with 75 points, but saw his opponents get closer as Loeb has 66 points, Solberg has 65, Bakkerud has 61 and Ekström and Timmy Hansen are tied with 59 points. Today’s results also brought the teams standings closer as PSRX VW leads with 140 points against 125 of Peugeot and 120 of EKS.
The next event is the Silverstone RX at the brand new Speedmachine circuit on May 25th, with names like Mark Higgins, Andy Jordan, Tommy Rustad and Topi Heikkinen as wildcards, and even a possible rallycross debut for Ma Qinghua in a second STARD Fiesta ST.
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