Two rounds were held at the Nürburgring to end the 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the last season using internal combustion machinery, and the send off couldn’t be more exciting, with Johan Kristoffersson winning on Saturday and conquering the fourth World title on Sunday while Niclas Grönholm ended the season on a high note.
Coming to an European race in late November, it would be expected to face some adverse weather, but with snow falling occasionally at the venue, the drivers had an entire new challenge to overcome, along with the opponents.
Johan Kristoffersson was using bolder lines to see the limits in practice, and this actually paid off with the Q1 lead, while Niclas Grönholm took advantage of the slightly better track condition in Q2 and topped the table, but both had to keep an eye on World RX debutant Yury Belevskiy, as the Russian kept clocking fast laps and racked up two second places in Q1 and Q2.
Lots of potential candidates for the Final were in Semifinal 1, and Kristoffersson found the door left open by Niclas Grönholm and dashed to the first place, keeping it covered in the Joker Lap on Lap 3, so all that Grönholm and Krisztián Szabó could do was secure the places for the Final and watch the EKS JC driver dominate the race.
On Semifinal 2, Belevskiy wasn’t caring about the title that Timmy Hansen was fighting for and hammered it down to the lead on the first corner. While every point counts, Timmy opted for a close pursuit to Belevskiy, watching the Russian from Volland Racing conquer the race from lights to flag.
The Final had title contenders one behind another on one side, while the rest had different goals on the other side of the grid, and while Kristoffersson kept his nose clean, Timmy Hansen barged his way from fifth to third to again see the back of Belevskiy’s Audi, opting for a mid-race Joker to keep Szabó at bay. With none of the top contenders taking risks in the tactics, Timmy Hansen could jump to second only in the final lap, minimizing the points loss to winner Kristoffersson while Belevskiy finished just behind in third on track.
After the race the stewards reviewed Hansen’s first corner moves and decided to disqualify the Hansen WRXT driver for the pushing, with the same going for Enzo Ide too, so Belevskiy was promoted to second and Grönholm became third placed.
Nürburgring RX 1 - Event results
Q1 on Day 2 had Kristoffersson on his usual domination, but sometimes things don’t go to plan, even for a triple World champion, but while Timmy Hansen was successful to hold an EKS JC driver, the other did his job, as Enzo Ide topped Q2. Kristoffersson returned to the top spot on Q3 and got the top qualifier title again, reducing the points gap to Hansen to a mere 3.
If points counted before the Semifinals, now it counted even more. Johan Kristoffersson kept it perfect on Semifinal 1 while Enzo Ide helped the team mate with a swift move to second place, with the pair just having to bring it home as Guerlain Chicherit won the battle for third against Belevskiy and Szabó.
Timmy Hansen had to do the same as Kristoffersson to keep the advantage to his side, no matter how minimal it was, and on Semifinal 2, Timmy Hansen barged his way over Grönholm on turn 1, and the strategy was the same as from the EKS JC duo - let Timmy win while having Kevin Hansen as the guard, and with this their 1-2 was kept to the finish line, while Grönholm beat Marklund for third near the end of the race.
Post-race investigations concluded Hansen was guilty in the Semifinal 2 incident, so he had 7 seconds added to his total time and was demoted to third.
The Final had Kristoffersson in the points advantage, and while Kevin Hansen was leading and the position was handed to Niclas Grönholm later, Kristoffersson was stuck behind Hansen WRXT’s strategy, sandwiched between Kevin and Timmy. In the end, Grönholm won it and Kevin Hansen was second, and the third place was more than enough for Kristoffersson to send the title fight to a tie, with the number of victories counting in favor of the EKS JC driver.
Nürburgring RX 2 - Event results
While some people may think Johan Kristoffersson wouldn’t have something new in conquering his fourth title, this is actually the first one he gets outside the almighty Volkswagen Polo GTi RX he used in his previous three titles, in what was his first year in the Audi S1 EKS RX, with actually only half of the year to get the proper feel of the new car.
This is also the second time in the championship’s history that a title is decided on a tiebreak, with Timmy Hansen getting the best result in the first one in 2019 while having to watch the trophy going elsewhere in 2021.
The 2022 calendar and the remaining teams will be announced over the end of the year and the start of the next one, but Kristoffersson is confirmed to return to defend his title in a more familiar ambient, returning to Kristoffersson Motorsport as he will lead a three car armada for 2022.
PHOTO: Red Bull Content Pool
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