Despite being slowed down in the early parts of the Sunday event of the Barcelona RX, Johan Kristoffersson showed that with clean air he is supreme, winning his fourth event in the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship season and improving massively his chances of an early title.
Getting stuck behind the Hansen brothers slowed Johan Kristoffersson as he ended the Q1 in sixth while Mattias Ekström dominated it despite quite a high bar being put there as the top-6 was within 2 seconds. As for Q2, Kristoffersson got stuck behind Andreas Bakkerud, and he saw Ekström dominate with the Hansens behind as he got fourth place.
Winning the strongest race of Q3 was the thing needed for Bakkerud to win it and move to second in the qualifying standings, only behind Ekström, with Kevin and Timmy Hansen following while Kristoffersson appeared only in fifth. At the bottom of the table, Tamas Karai was able to secure an important place in the Semifinals while Enzo Ide could finally enjoy his progress after being replaced on Saturday.
Barcelona RX 2 - Qualifying intermediate results
In Semifinal 1, Ekström took the lead but with the KYB Team JC cars trying to find space at Turn 1, this opened the gap for Kristoffersson to be second and Larsson was relegated to third. With the top three on their own as Karai was holding Kevin Hansen in fourth place, Kristoffersson had a tiny edge to pass Ekström on Lap 4, and once he was free from the Audis, Kristoffersson just gone away with the first place, while Ekström and Larsson had to watch it from second and third.
2019 title contenders were side by side in the Semifinal 2 grid in search for recovery in the season, and Bakkerud prevailed over Timmy Hansen while the rest of the pack was straight behind them, and without the brother and team mate in the grid, Timmy would need to be aggressive and smart to triumph. Behind stuck behind his rival, Timmy gave an early go to the Joker, but this didn’t change the order until the finish, with Anton Marklund being third in front of the GRX Taneco Hyundais.
Barcelona RX 2 - Semifinal results
Tire choices would be important in the Final, with most of the grid opting for new front tires, including Johan Kristoffersson and Andreas Bakkerud, who had contact at the start, with the result being Bakkerud sent to the barrier and Larsson being caught in the mess.
Kristoffersson still had Timmy Hansen and Ekström hot on his back end, but opted for an early Joker to avoid the chance of being outpaced in Timmy’s Joker Lap. Ekström was left behind due to a mistake, so the battle for the win was reduced to a two-car affair in favor of Kristoffersson, and with Timmy having no gap to come out of the Joker in front, Kristoffersson ran straight to another win.
Barcelona RX 2 - Final results
Related to the incident in the Final, Kristoffersson said the following in the post-race interview: “I had a great start, I saw Andreas drop back, I didn’t expect him to be there, I thought he was further back than he was and I thought I had a car length, and when into brake distance came Bakkerud. I couldn’t do any different.”
Immediately after the contact, an investigation was opened with the results to be announced after the race, and the stewards decided to not penalize Kristoffersson.
Despite being slowed down in the Qualifying, Kristoffersson has a huge chance of leaving the Spa RX as the 2020 champion, having 219 points against 192 from Ekström, and while Timmy Hansen still has mathematical chances with his 163 points, they are almost null. The teams fight is a bit closer, with KYB Team JC having 314 points against 298 from Team Hansen, while GRX Taneco has slim chances coming from third place with its 228 points.
A break of one month will be more than enough for the drivers and teams to cool down, rest and work on improvements, as the Spa RX will be held on 22 November.
PHOTO: Kristoffersson Motorsport
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