The 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship season will go to history books as one of the most intense of the competition, with everything being decided in the last race of the season, as TImmy Hansen somehow turned the tables around and was finally along the World title, which he had lost in 2015.
Andreas Bakkerud and Timmy Hansen still had the company of Kevin Hansen in the title race, and they went on full power in every session to have the edge over the opponent, but the South Africa finale left evidence that GRX TANECO should be a force to reckon, as the pair of Hyundai i20 RX made sure their pace would spoil the title contenders party.
Despite having the upper hand in Q1 and a strong run in Q2, Timmy Hansen wasn’t on top overnight, with Niclas Grönholm spoiling the party and showing great pace. The title contenders were basically exchanging blows with Grönholm, and Timmy Hansen got a lucky lead after Q3, combining a perfect run with Grönholm’s jump start, but the GRX TANECO driver reverted it in Q4 to marginally become the top qualifier, with Timmy Hansen, Andreas Bakkerud and Kevin Hansen following him.
Semifinal 1 had Bakkerud isolated to conquer it, and the first step was a rocket start to first while the GRX TANECO Hyundais were at his rear bumper. Keeping Grönholm behind would be critical, and the Norwegian reigned over the GRX TANECO cars with superior tactics, even though Grönholm and Timur Timerzyanov split their ways to take advantage of their pace.
The Hansens would have to do an outstanding job in Semifinal 2 to keep their points advantage, and their usual strategy with Timmy as the lance and Kevin as the shield secured a comfortable 1-2, helped by a mess that caught the rest of the field on Lap 1, and Timo Scheider just watched the brothers from the distance as he got third place.
The Final would decide everything, so all contenders should need to go on full power, and Bakkerud and Timmy Hansen were absolutely equal during most of the first lap, but a tap from Hansen sent Bakkerud’s Audi to the barriers, and by trying to come back, the RX Cartel driver hit the back of Hansen’s Peugeot, which led the Swede to a nose contact with the barriers.
With Timmy coming back to racing, Bakkerud would need to keep the points advantage he had, but Hansen was promoted from fifth to fourth when Timo Scheider retired, which kept them tied. Bakkerud just held to his second place while Niclas Grönholm was dominating the race, and the situation didn’t change until the finish line, crowning the superiority of the Finnish driver.
Hansen and Bakkerud tied on points with their Final results, with 211 points each, but as Hansen had more wins in the season, being it four triumphs against one, he became the 2019 champion, and Team Hansen MJP also secured the teams title with a good margin, scoring 410 points against 367 from GRX TANECO.
The Hansen vs. Bakkerud clash was the tightest points margin in World RX history, and Timmy also keeps the champion heritage from his father and team principal Kenneth, an accomplished champion in the 90s, also with French machinery.
PHOTO - Team Hansen MJP
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