Having the fifth FIA World Rallycross Championship in his hands didn’t mean that Johan Kristoffersson would go easy at the season final at the Nürburgring, and with little gains here and there over the Hansen Peugeots, the Swedish driver won his eighth win of the 2022 season, finishing with an impressive 80% winning rate reminiscent of his first two title winning campaigns.
Johan Kristoffersson had the edge on Heat 1 over Timmy Hansen, but it was clear that the difference between the VW BAUHAUS Polos and the Hansen Peugeots was marginal, like Kevin Hansen showed on Heat 2 when he took the top spot over Ole Christian Veiby, but clean air on Heat 3 was what Kristoffersson needed to top the table over a Timmy Hansen that was struggling to keep up with the pace of the five time World RX champion.
Two debuts this weekend were more like returns to the championship, with Anton Marklund trying to squeeze out something of the Münnich SEAT Ibiza, while Guerlain Chicherit went from heaven to hell with his Lancia Delta Evo-e, showing pace enough to take on the big names until he was sent to the wall by Kevin Hansen, which obliterated the right side of the Lancia, and with an extensive repair to do, the French driver/owner missed the next two Heats.
The top two from the Heats were the Progression winners, but neither Kristoffersson nor Timmy Hansen had it easy as they both had to overcome impressive performances from the CEDT PWRs of Klara Andersson and Niclas Grönholm.
Semifinal 1 had Kristoffersson taking advantage of grid position to prevail over the competition, and his job was made easier as Kevin Hansen was more focused on keeping second place, easily covering Grönholm as his PWR never had the pace to fight back.
In Semifinal 2, Chicherit barged his way from fifth to second to follow Timmy Hansen, and he was in good position for a Final spot until a bad hit on a kerb destroyed the suspension of the Lancia Delta Evo-e. Andersson took the second place, but the VW BAUHAUS cars were preparing a move once she went to the Joker, which benefitted Veiby as he ended in second while Timmy Hansen had no threats to his win.
After the second Semifinal, Andersson was the best third, so she would go to the Final, but CEDT decided to withdraw the Swede and put Grönholm in the grid on the best interests of the team.
The Final had cars getting compressed and bumped for nearly half a lap before Kristoffersson takes the lead, but behind him and Grönholm, Kevin Hansen was leading a pack that went to the Joker early and had clean air on their favor. It is a known fact that Kristoffersson is especially fearsome with room to apply his drive, and this allowed him to counter Kevin Hansen’s early Joker little by little, having nearly a car ahead in the Final Lap to win the race and end the title winning season on a high note.
Nürburgring RX - Event results
Kristoffersson ended the season with 182 points against 135 from Timmy Hansen, 128 from Kevin Hansen and 127 from Grönholm. Despite a dismal weekend, Gustav Bergström was the best rookie, ending in sixth with 107 points, just five points more than Klara Andersson, in a championship that had 10 drivers taking part in at least one event and scoring points.
The action returns in 2023 with the calendar still having to be decided, with probably the same suspects from 2022 plus a full time program from GCK Motorsport, with the team not confirming if they would go beyond having a single Lancia Delta Evo-e on the grid.
PHOTO: Kristoffersson Motorsport
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.