Two events at the Spa-Francorchamps weekend of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, another two wins for current leader and defending champion Johan Kristoffersson, despite the competition being really close.
Qualifying and Progression on Saturday showed very strong performances from both CEDT and Hansen machinery, with Niclas Grönholm shining with Timmy Hansen on Qualifying while both Hansen brothers won the Progression races.
Semifinal 1 had Klara Andersson started a chain reaction with little contact in her move to close the line, sending the whole field to stop, of which only Timmy Hansen recovered. The two were separated by a considerable gap, so Hansen never got Andersson on track, though he would never have to do the effort for it, as Andersson was deemed to blame for the contact and consequently disqualified, which promoted Gustav Bergström to the Final grid despite not even making into Turn 1 in the session.
Semifinal 2 had Grönholm outpacing the tough competition behind him and ultimately staying with Kristoffersson in direct pursuit. Kevin Hansen put himself in contention with his early Joker strategy, appearing at the back of Kristoffersson in the last corner and passing him at the line, all while Grönholm held his place and won the race.
Three of the four teams were in the Final grid, but with all of them split out there, it was all about speed over tactics. Timmy Hansen could have carried his early lead, but a spin at Eau Rouge handed the lead to Kristoffersson, who had some room to maneuver as Bergström was holding second place from Kevin Hansen’s battered Peugeot 208 RX1e. Both Volkswagen BAUHAUS drivers held the Joker to the Final Lap, with Kristoffersson having enough of a gap to leave it and win the race, while Bergström still finished in third as Kevin Hansen took second place in the final moments.
On Sunday the Volkswagen BAUHAUS cars were in a double edged sword, as their incredible pace was hindered by right react tire blows that had the exactly same consequences on the bodywork. Timmy Hansen looked good despite a puncture in Heat 2 and was the top qualifier, and Timmy Hansen carried it to the Progression as he won his race with Kevin Hansen in second, while Johan Kristoffersson controlled the second race.
Semifinal 1 had Niclas Grönholm in maximum aggression to outpace Gustav Bergström and Timmy Hansen. Bergström made a miss on the racing line and Timmy Hansen had a broken suspension, and with Klara Andersson having a puncture, Grönholm had no threats to his win, while Bergström carried it to second place.
Semifinal 2 had the VW BAUHAUS cars sandwiching Kevin Hansen, but to get the direct pass to the Final, Ole Christian Veiby tried an early Joker, which wasn’t enough to pass the younger Hansen. For Kristoffersson, the pace was more than enough to be clear of Kevin Hansen after the Joker, and a slight gain on the Final Lap did the rest of the job for the championship leader.
The Sunday Final had Kristoffersson holding Grönholm for the lead as the CEDT driver tried to barge his way to first, with it backfiring a lap later as Bergström pushed to second, allowing him to hold position against the direct competition and building some room to protect Kristoffersson’s lead. Once Bergström went to the Joker, Grönholm took the position, but the gap was too large to try to unsettle Kristoffersson, who cruised straight to another win in the season.
Kristoffersson now has 131 points with his Spa RX double, while Kevin Hansen is the nearest threat with 90 points against 89 of Veiby and 87 of both Grönholm and Timmy Hansen. The competitors will go to Spain for the penultimate double header of the season, as the reprofiled Barcelona circuit awaits them on 29 and 30 October.
PHOTOS: Red Bull Content Pool
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