New season in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, new cars with the RX1e specification having its debut, but the conqueror of it all still wins, no matter if combustion or electric, as Johan Kristoffersson starts the quest for the fifth title with a triumph at a returning Hell circuit, absent for two long years from the World calendar.
During Qualifying it was all about Johan Kristoffersson exchanging blows with Timmy Hansen, with the VW BAUHAUS driver winning two heats of the three and becoming the top qualifier. Kevin Hansen was consolidated in third with Niclas Grönholm and Ole Christian Veiby, while Klara Andersson was the best rookie as she was outpacing Gustav Bergström, with René Münnich clearly having his difficulties with his SEAT Ibiza Cupra RX1e.
Semifinal 1 was with all three KMS Volkswagen Polos against René Münnich, with Veiby leading early as Kristoffersson stalled and started a bit later. In order to not be boxed by the VW BAUHAUS cars, an early Joker was the option for Münnich, but the lack of reliability of his SEAT Ibiza RX1e appeared again, which let only an all-Volkswagen show on track that was led by Veiby with Kristoffersson in second and Bergström in third.
Semifinal 2 was an even match in numbers between Hansen WRXT and CEDT, and while Klara Andersson was disturbing the Hansen tactics, Niclas Grönholm focused on going ahead and hold the lead. Timmy Hansen tried different tactics on his own to not get boxed by the CEDT PWRs, but he couldn’t do much to avoid it, with Grönholm winning and Andersson qualifying to the Final from third place.
The Final had Kristoffersson beating a four-wide entry into Turn 1 to take the lead, counting with Veiby to keep Timmy Hansen honest. Hansen’s Peugeot 208 wasn’t looking healthy, and basically held everybody from chasing Kristoffersson, so the Swede was back to World RX winning ways, adding another one to his career leading numbers.
Next stop will be the Bikernieku Trase in Riga, Latvia, where the competitors will face the first double header of the season on 3 and 4 September, with possibility of GCK Motorsport appearing for the first time with their Lancia Delta Evo-e RX1e, though the French squad didn’t have an exact time for its debut.
PHOTO: Red Bull Content Pool
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