Nyirád is a well known venue in the Euro RX, but the FIA World Rallycross Championship still had to debut at the Hungarian circuit, and the first race of the double header of the weekend was absolute chaos from the Heats to the Final, with Niclas Grönholm keeping his PWR RX1e in one piece.
The fact that Kevin Hansen was the top qualifier after the Heats and the only one who took two wins in the session says a lot on how chaotic it was for most of the competition, with Klara Andersson crashing in Heat 1 and Johan Kristoffersson having engine problems in Heat 2. This has shaken so much the order that René Münnich was second with newcomer Jankó Wieszt and Niclas Grönholm.
The Semifinals, in special the first one, had some of the top cars in chasing position, and once they launched in the first race, Wieszt was gobbled by the RX1e spec cars led by Timmy Hansen, so the Impossible Racing Team took a cautious approach to see how the action in front unfolded. To the Hungarian’s luck, Andersson got a low grip area when preparing to turn out of the Joker Lap and crashed in the armco, leaving free reign for the Hansens and Wieszt just needing to hold Anthony Pelfrene with his GCK Megane R.S. RX, with the order remaining unchanged until the finish line.
The second Semifinal had René Münnich pressing Niclas Grönholm but then getting crushed by the rest of the grid to go to a halt on Turn 1, much to the displeasure of the German. With a three car race, no one needed to get out of their comfort zones, but championship points were still in place, so Grönholm fought bravely until the Joker in the final lap, when Kristoffersson got the minimal advantage to take the lead and win the race, with Grönholm in his shadow and Ole Christian Veiby crossing in third with a shattered Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX.
It would be a tense Final as it needed to be seen how Hansen WRXT and KMS HORSE would manage their extra numbers, but then everybody decided to play bumper cars on Turn 1, with Kevin Hansen staying with a mangled piece of machine that was once a Peugeot 208 RX1e. There rest of the grid kept going on varied levels of damage with Grönholm leading Veiby and Wieszt, but not only Grönholm was going away with the lead, but Veiby could sense Wieszt getting closer. With all drivers bar Grönholm carrying scrap to the finish, the order wasn’t changed, giving Grönholm the win, Final points for Veiby and a podium debut for local hero Wieszt.
Nyirád RX I - Event results
The final had the stewards deliberating through the night to confirm the results, and while Grönholm and Timmy Hansen didn’t get a mouthful from the authorities, Kristoffersson got a reprimand and Kevin Hansen got the heaviest penalty as he was disqualified from the Final due to the Turn 1 incident, although the points from Heats and Semifinal were preserved.
PHOTO: FIA World Rallycross Championship
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