Top qualifier and winner in the semifinal and final, and this sums up the perfect weekend for Johan Kristoffersson at home during the sixth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Höljes, consolidating the leads in the drivers and teams championships.
Again we saw the PSRXVW cars dominating the qualifying, with Johan Kristoffersson having the initial control while Petter Solberg had to recover from a bad Q1 race to be in the top end of the table, following Kristoffersson in the team’s 1-2.
On semifinal 1 started with Kristoffersson commanding the pack, while Timmy Hansen and Sébastien Loeb went to earlier Joker laps. The trick would have worked if it wasn’t for Niclas Grönholm’s interference, which held both cars until the GRX driver was hit with a puncture. Timmy Hansen then got third and advanced to second by overtaking Mattias Ekström, but this wasn’t enough to steal the victory from Kristoffersson.
On semifinal 2 Petter Solberg had it in control but Andreas Bakkerud was right behind him and bringing Kevin Hansen along. The scenario was settled until the fourth lap, when Solberg’s car stopped with engine trouble, leaving the way open for Bakkerud to win the race, with Hansen in second and Jerome Grosset-Janin in third.
The final started again with Kristoffersson jumping in front after a rocket start, and despite Bakkerud’s pressure, the Swede was firm in the lead. After the Joker, Bakkerud was between Ekström and Timmy Hansen fighting for second, and while Bakkerud was able to pass Hansen for second, the same didn’t happen in a normal way for Ekström, as contact sent Timmy off track while Ekström kept going and finished in third. Away from the mess, Kristoffersson just had to cruise to the finish to end another perfect weekend.
Some moments later came an update with the demotion of Ekström to last in the Final for unsportsmanlike behavior after the contact into Timmy Hansen, so Jerome Grosset-Janin rose to P3 and conquered the first podium ever for GCK.
Kristoffersson now holds 165 points against 125 of Bakkerud and 119 of Solberg, while PSRXVW keeps the lead between the teams with 284 points against the 239 of EKS and 233 of Peugeot. The championship now stops for a month as it will cross the Atlantic to race at Trois-Rivières, in Canada, where the Americas RX will also hold its third event.
PHOTO: Johan Kristoffersson
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