The French
rallycross championship is one of the strongest national ones in
Europe, and the proof of the popularity of the sport came with a good
crowd at Lohéac for the eighth round of the FIA
World Rallycross Championship, to see
Johan Kristoffersson
on the top step of the podium instead of local hero Sébastien
Loeb.
Unlike past
editions, the high standard of the World RX teams gave practically no
room for the privateer entries of the Euro RX and of the national
championships to pull any upsets, as the only wildcard entry to
advance to the semifinals was Albatec Racing’s Andy
Scott, with Tommy
Rustad barely missing it.
On the top of the
qualifying table was Mattias Ekström,
although the shadows of Johan Kristoffersson and Petter
Solberg were becoming bigger,
transforming this in a potential 3-way battle for the win.
The sunny day of
Saturday gave place to rain on Sunday, leaving a slightly damp track
for the semifinals, and the balance of the Audi S1 gave Ekström the
upper hand at the start of the first semifinal with Andreas
Bakkerud taking Petter Solberg out of
P2.
Then the race turned
into Bakkerud chasing Ekström and Reinis
Nitiss chasing Solberg, and the tables
have turned when both drivers gave up to the pressure, so Bakkerud
won the round. The surprise came a bit behind, when a puncture in the
last corner denied the semifinal advance to Ekström, with Solberg
finishing second and Nitiss conquering a miracle spot in the final
for Münnich Motorsport.
The second semifinal
started with Ken Block
and Johan Kristoffersson trading paint in the first corners and
Kristoffersson taking the lead, and then Block saw a determined
Sébastien Loeb in the fight with him for second, changing places
each lap. The American-French battle gave room for Kristoffersson to
disappear in first and win the race while Loeb established himself in
second when Block left the Joker.
The final could be
down to a Kristoffersson-Solberg battle, a Loeb win or a surprise in
the way, and Kristoffersson confirmed why he was a confirmed favorite
right in the first corner when he took the lead, opening the gap to
the party between Loeb, Block and Bakkerud, with the Hoonigan duo
keeping second and third places.
Kristoffersson was
comfortable in first while Bakkerud established himself in second,
and then we saw Ken Block’s weekend end in a bad way with a mistake
and then a crash in the guard-rail, putting Loeb in the podium,
although the nine-time WRC champion had to deal with the WRC champion
Solberg, and Loeb had enough guts to hold his position and complete
the podium that already counted with winner Kristoffersson and
runner-up Bakkerud.
Solberg remains on
the way for his third title with 181 points while Ekström is right
behind with 176 points, with Kristoffersson and Bakkerud being the
outsiders in the championship battle, with 158 points and 157
respectively. Looking to the teams table, EKSRX still dominates with
277 points, but Peugeot Hansen is in close pursuit with 258 points.
After two weeks
stopped the World RX goes to Spain to its second race in the smaller
version of the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit that normally holds the
Spanish GP. The event will be on September 18th.
PHOTO: FIA World Rallycross
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