The second visit to the SpeedMachine circuit at Silverstone, Great Britain, saw Team Hansen MJP go back to domination and Timmy Hansen meeting the top step of the podium again in the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship season, though things weren’t as easy as it would seem.
The track condition was favoring the Team Hansen MJP Peugeots from the start, with Timmy and Kevin Hansen dominating the Q1 and Q2, but the drivers were finding improvements, be them on setup or on driving, things started to get leveled up, with Timo Scheider and Joni Wiman closing on the Hansen duo while Andreas Bakkerud beat them in Q3 and Q4.
Timmy Hansen still was the top qualifier, but had Bakkerud in second and Kevin Hansen in third, while Wiman appeared in fifth. Surprise of the weekend was the hard fought 12th from Oliver Bennett, who qualified for the semifinals for the first time in World RX, with good performances of his Mini Cooper SX1 in the final qualifying sessions.
The rain was the unwanted but expected guest at Silverstone as it was building up from closer regions, but initially it didn’t prove to be a hindrance.
Semifinal 1 had the Hansens keeping the front locked while Anton Marklund put his GCK Megane R.S. RX into an early Jokerm with Timo Scheider, Timur Timerzyanov and Guerlain Chicherit following the leader pack. While Timmy Hansen led the race and won easily, Kevin went too sideways in the Joker entry, resulting in front contact with the tire barrier, losing his second place and the chance to go to the final as Marklund and Scheider advanced in second and third.
On Semifinal 2 while Bakkerud remained on the lead, while Krisztian Szabo started a chain reaction that turned into a brawl between Janis Baumanis, Liam Doran and Joni Wiman, with the GRX TANECO driver having the worst end of the fight, being pulled to the tire barrier by Doran, rolling and staying upside down, which triggered a red flag. With a bent front right suspension, Wiman’s couldn’t go back to action.
The restart had an Audi 1-2-3 led by Bakkerud, who disappeared in front early in the race, and this was kept until the checkered. Bennett tried to pose a threat to Szabo but a fire underneath the car, which forced the XITE Racing driver to stop the Mini. Even though Bennett drove the car on fire for a short time, he had no injuries.
The final had a Hansen vs. RX Cartel front row with Doran coming from the back, and a rocket start from Bakkerud gave the lead to the Norwegian.
Bakkerud and Scheider went for a late Joker strategy but Timmy Hansen was countering Bakkerud’s best times, and he justified his early Joker by passing Bakkerud before the final lap, and this allowed Timmy to go straight for the win.
The driver standings finally saw a lead change, as Timmy Hansen now has 88 points against 84 of Kevin, with Andreas Bakkerud coming in third with 77 as the most immediate threat to the Swedish brothers. Team Hansen MJP is in a better situation with its 172 points against 147 from GRX TANECO and 137 from Monster Energy RX Cartel.
A pause of two weeks and the World RX will start the Scandinavian tour, starting with Hell, in Norway, on June 16th.
PHOTO - Team Hansen MJP
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