Hansen was already a winner in the series arriving at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but his previous success – in Abu Dhabi in 2019 – came as a result of a penalty for the on-track winner. This time, the Swede triumphed entirely on merit after a pulsating performance for the family-run Hansen World RX Team.

For the majority of the weekend, Hansen closely shadowed elder brother Timmy as the two Peugeot 208s topped the intermediate classification at World RX of Catalunya. Behind them, however, a threat was lurking – a threat in the shape of three-time world champion Johan Kristofferson.

Entering the season as the defending title-holder, the KYB EKS JC ace was left on the back foot yesterday as a Q1 disqualification – after his data-logger was found not to have been connected – left him down in an uncharacteristic 15th position.

Proving just why he is the most crowned competitor in World Championship history, however, the Swede went on to win all three subsequent qualifiers to haul himself up to sixth place after Q4 – and back in the hunt.

That set the scene for a dazzling duel in the second semi-final, as Kristoffersson tried every which way to pass the younger of the Hansen brothers over the last two laps in a phenomenal fight, but the Peugeot driver stuck stubbornly to his guns and refused to yield, setting up an all-Hansen front row for the final following Timmy’s victory in the first semi-final.

After gaining a spot to third at the start, Kristoffersson then deployed an early joker tactic to try to get the undercut on the Hansen duo but found himself covered off by Timmy.

The pair both emerged from the joker behind GRX-SET World RX Team’s Krisztián Szabó, though, and the subsequent delay – allied to a rapid turn-of-speed from Kevin Hansen – enabled the latter to sweep around the outside of his two countrymen on lap four to assume a lead he would not subsequently relinquish.

Showing just how much the result meant to him, the winner fought back tears after exiting his car in parc fermé, while Timmy Hansen withstood the pressure of Kristoffersson all the way to the chequered flag to seal a one-two for the Swedish outfit and get Hansen World RX Team’s season off to the perfect start.

Although Kristofferson was disappointed not to win, the pace he showed throughout the weekend proved that the Audi driver will once again be a force to be reckoned with this year, while Szabó’s fourth-place finish brought some consolation to GRX-SET, after team-mate Niclas Grönholm found himself spat off-track at the beginning of the second semi-final.
René Münnich reached the final for the first time in his World RX career and ultimately wound up fifth for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, but there was less fortune for team-mate Timo Scheider, who was fast and feisty during the qualifying stages and sat third in the intermediate standings only to be squeezed into the barriers on the opening lap of his semi-final.

At the start of his first full season in World RX, meanwhile, Kevin Abbring showed flashes of real form in UNKORRUPTED’s Renault Mégane on his way to sixth.

DOMINANT DE RIDDER MAKES HISTORY IN RX2e

Guillaume De Ridder was the dominant force in the all-new FIA RX2e Championship, as the Belgian – three times a top three championship finisher in the series’ RX2 predecessor – won every race he started in Barcelona.

After completing a clean sweep through the qualifiers, De Ridder fended off Jesse Kallio in the first semi-final and then simply drove away from his pursuers in the final, aided by an opening lap tangle that delayed Kallio and took out fellow front-runner Fraser McConnell. Ole Henry Steinsholt secured the runner-up spoils, with Patrick O’Donovan an elated third from the back of the grid, just ahead of local hero Pablo Suárez.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE PREVAILS IN RX3

Yury Belevskiy picked up from where he left off in Barcelona nine months ago, as he took the opening honours in the FIA European Rallycross Championship’s RX3 category. Last year’s highest scorer registered maximum points from the weekend to get his title bid off to the perfect start, but he was pushed hard by hugely impressive newcomer Kobe Pauwels in another Volland Racing Audi A1, as the Belgian excelled on his international debut in top-flight rallycross.

Pauwels found himself out-of-luck in the final, however, after a first corner tag sent him sideways and dropped him to the tail of the field. Timur Shigabutdinov gratefully picked up second place having battled back from an accident on the first day, with Zsolt Szíjj ‘Jolly’ rounding out the rostrum in third – by some margin the finest result of the Hungarian’s career – following a penalty for Marat Knyazev for the early contact with Pauwels.

The 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship campaign next moves on to the iconic Höljes circuit for World RX of Sweden on 20-22 August, which will feature a bumper bill of action with all four series – World RX, RX2e, Euro RX3 and the seasonal debut of Euro RX1.

FINAL RESULT

1. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team 6 laps
2. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team + 1.141s
3. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KYB EKS JC + 2.394s
4. Krisztián SZABÓ (HUN) GRX-SET World RX Team + 3.499s
5. René MÜNNICH (DEU) ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport + 7.259s
6. Kevin ABBRING (NLD) Unkorrupted + 9.782s

The post Kevin Hansen beats the champions for first victory of 2021 in captivating Catalunya curtain-raiser first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The World Championship campaign will get underway in Barcelona this weekend, and the Nürburgring – a new addition to the series’ calendar – had been due to welcome the headlining World RX battle and all-electric FIA RX2e Championship a week later, on 31 July – 1 August.

The wide-ranging recent floods in Germany have forced the postponement of the event, with the Nürburgring having become a focal point of the rescue and recovery efforts as a collection and distribution centre. The rescheduled double-header will now act as the 2021 season finale over the weekend of 27-28 November. Existing tickets will remain valid for the new date.

This means World RX of Sweden at Höljes will now become round two of the current campaign on 20-22 August.

Arne Dirks, Executive Director, Rallycross Promoter GmbH, said:

“Everybody has seen the pictures of the devastating recent flooding in Germany, and whilst the Nürburgring itself has thankfully been largely spared by this natural disaster, the same cannot unfortunately be said for the surrounding area.”

“It is important to remember that there are far more important matters at stake here than rallycross, and we must pay immense tribute to the event organisers, who have worked night and day to help the humanitarian efforts.

“At the same time, they have collaborated very closely with us as the World Championship promoter and the FIA to find a solution to reschedule the event, and we are very much looking forward to going to this legendary venue later in the year for what promises to be a pulsating season finale – with the World Rallycross Champion set to be crowned at one of motorsport’s most iconic venues.”

The post World RX of Germany postponed as Nurburgring assists disaster relief effort first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Located on the outskirts of the country’s capital city, the Biķernieki track has been a fixture on the World RX schedule since 2016, with a long gravel section through the wooded infield and no fewer than three jumps making it an instant favourite amongst both drivers and fans.

In evidence of the circuit’s challenging nature, the six rounds held there to-date have all been won by true legends of the sport – World Rallycross Champions Johan Kristoffersson, Mattias Ekström and Timmy Hansen, and nine-time FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb.

September’s double-header will now offer drivers two chances to add their names to that illustrious list, with the headlining World RX battle to be complemented by the third outing in the 2021 FIA European Rallycross Championship Euro RX1 title fight.

Arne Dirks, Executive Director, Rallycross Promoter GmbH, said: “We are delighted to confirm that Riga will now play host to two rounds on the 2021 World RX calendar.”

“The Latvian organisers proved last year that they are more than capable of successfully staging a double-header event, and it means fans can look forward to even more exciting action this season around the Biķernieki circuit, which has invariably generated spectacular racing since joining the World Championship in 2016. We have no doubt that September’s event will deliver more of the same.”

Raimonds Strokšs, Director, World RX of Riga-Latvia, said: “This is fantastic news for rallycross fans. For two days, spectators at our race weekend in Latvia will have the opportunity to follow twice as many races and twice as many intriguing semi-finals and finals.”

“The 2021 World Championship title will be won in a car running an internal combustion engine, and spectators have been given a unique opportunity to enjoy these cars for the final time before World RX moves forward and switches to electric vehicles in 2022.

“There is much greater responsibility when organising a double-header event – an increased number of races accordingly increases the amount of work required for everything to run smoothly – but I believe that we, our partners and all our service providers are more than ready to bring their best and maintain the high-quality standard set by the events hosted in Latvia.”

While Rallycross Promoter has full confidence in the organisers and venues on the schedule, the decision to add an extra round to the Riga race weekend was taken in order to protect the calendar should any circumstances change against the backdrop of the ongoing global pandemic.

The post 2021 World RX of Riga-Latvia becomes double-header event first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The Kristoffersson Motorsport Volkswagen Polo driver’s 24th career victory ensured Kristoffersson maintained his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ standings, as he targets a record-breaking third crown.

Kristoffersson initially lost ground to KYB Team JC’s Mattias Ekstrom, from Sweden, in the race for Drivers’ Championship points at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as he qualified fifth in the Intermediate Classification, with Ekstrom the top qualifier.

Double World RX Champion (2017 and 2018) Kristoffersson got the upper hand over 2016 Champion Ekstrom in the semi-final stages, and used superior pace to beat 2019 Drivers’ Champion Timmy Hansen, from Sweden, in the final.

Kristoffersson started second in the final and survived contact with Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud at the first corner to take the lead of the race. The turn one incident – in which Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Bakkerud was forced into the wall on the inside of the track – ended the Norwegian’s race, his Renault Megane getting hit by the Audi S1 of KYB Team JC’s Robin Larsson from Sweden, who also retired.

Kristoffersson led the final for the first three laps before taking his joker lap – an alternative route that every driver must take at least once in every race – which gave Team Hansen’s Timmy Hansen, from Sweden, the lead. Hansen took his joker on lap six and Kristoffersson moved back into the lead to take victory.

Hansen (Peugeot 208) added a second place to his victory from round seven in the Logitech G FIA World RX of Pirineus-Barcelona 2030. Sweden’s Anton Marklund, the GCK Bilsten driver, claimed his first podium of the season with third in a Renault Megane RS RX.

Ekstrom was classified fourth after a problem in the final with his Audi S1. He did however claim victory in round eight of the Champion Fast Start Award and KYB Team JC continues to lead the World RX Teams’ Championship standings.

“I had a great start in the final, I saw Andreas drop back, I didn’t expect him to be there – I thought he was further back than he was. I couldn’t do anything different be honest, but from there on we jokered before Timmy today, I saw Timmy had four new tyres but I had two new tyres and I gave it absolutely everything to manage to beat him. I’m just so happy, we had pace all day but couldn’t really show it, I had traffic in every session. The semi-final was very nice and then in the final we had good pace. It’s a big relief,” said winner Kristoffersson.

Hansen holds third in the World RX Drivers’ standings. “For the weekend as a whole, it’s a fantastic result, we’ve been putting in a lot of work and it’s really paid off. The win yesterday will definitely be the highlight, I will carry that with me.”

“Today it didn’t quite go our way, I think our pace was maybe better at points, but the race didn’t go our way. I was lucky in the final with the carnage, I came out quite well and after that I tried to take the battle to Johan but today it went to him, so congratulations to him. I’m very happy, it’s been a fantastic weekend for us,” he said.

Marklund was delighted to score his first podium of 2020. “It’s a big relief because we had a podium in round one at Holjes where we finished third, but unfortunately got a punishment and got moved down. After that we haven’t really had the pace and the team has been working so hard.”

“Bilstein has been working so hard too and now it starts to pay off. The car is behaving very well and we have the pace. It was a bit of a struggle in the final because I was on four used tyres, and already on lap one I thought the others were too quick for me, but we managed to hold it together and climbed up to third place. I’m really pleased,” said Marklund.

GRX Taneco’s Niclas Gronholm, from Finland, and Timur Timerzyanov, from Russia were fourth and fifth in the team’s Hyundai i20s in semi-final two. Belgium’s Enzo Ide made his first ever World RX semi-final for Team JC Raceteknik and finished sixth in semi-final two with an Audi S1.

Team Hansen’s Kevin Hansen (Peugeot 208), from Sweden, qualified for the front row of semi-final one with third in the Intermediate Classification but lost time in traffic and ended up fourth. Germany’s Timo Scheider was fifth in semi-final one with ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s Seat Ibiza and Hungary’s Tamas Karai (Audi S1) finished sixth.

ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s Mandie August (Seat Ibiza), from Germany, qualified 13th in the Intermediate Classification in her second ever World RX start. Xite Racing’s Oliver Bennett (BMW Mini), from Great Britain was 14th, France’s Patrick Guillerme (Hyundai i20) was 15th and Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Liam Doran (Renault Megane), from Great Britain scored the final Championship point in 16th.

Switzerland’s Yuri Belevskiy (Audi A1) claimed his second victory of the weekend in round two of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600. The Volland Racing driver took maximum points from the Intermediate Classification, semi-final and final victory to extend his Championship lead.

Russia’s Marat Kniazev (Audi A1) finished second and Hungary’s Gergely Marton (Audi A1) completed the podium. Russia’s Artur Egorov (Audi A1), Portugal’s Joao Ribeiro (Skoda Fabia) and Czech Republic’s Josef Susta (Skoda Fabia) completed the final finishers.

Paul Bellamy, Senior Vice President of Motorsports Events at IMG, concluded: “Congratulations to Johan for another victory in his quest to win the 2020 World RX Drivers’ Championship. It was brilliant to see our 2019 title protagonists, Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud battling back at the front where they belong this weekend and it’s a huge shame that Andreas was unable to challenge for a podium finish today.”

“Well done to Timmy and Anton for finishing on the podium and to Yuri for his double victory in Euro RX Super1600 this weekend. I’m sure all of the teams and drivers will be working hard now ahead of the next round at Spa-Francorchamps.”

The ninth round of the World Rallycross Championship takes place at the Spa World RX of Benelux.

The post Johan Kristoffersson claims victory at World RX of Catalunya first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The reigning champion qualified for the front row of the final with a full set of new tyres at his disposal on Team Hansen’s Peugeot 208 Supercar. Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson, the 2020 Drivers’ Championship leader with three victories to his name, started from pole position and led the final race in the opening phase, but when he took his joker lap – an alternative route that every driver much take once in each race – on lap six, Hansen moved into the lead following a series of near-perfect laps, and Kristoffersson had to settle for second at the finish line.

Hansen’s victory – by less than half a second – makes him the fourth different 2020 winner from seven rounds, and lifted him to third in the Drivers’ standings. Kristoffersson Motorsport’s Kristoffersson, driving a Volkswagen Polo, had taken the TQ (top qualifier) position in the Intermediate Classification, and the win in semi-final one and second in the final helped the 2017 and 2018 World RX Champion extend his 2020 standings lead to 25 points.

Sweden’s Kevin Hansen was second to team mate and older brother Timmy Hansen in semi-final two and finished third in the final to repeat the double-podium for Team Hansen from the Catalan round in 2019.

Finland’s Niclas Gronholm, the GRX Taneco driver, battled his way to fourth in the final. He overtook 2020 title challenger and 2016 Drivers’ Champion Mattias Ekstrom, from Sweden, during the final. KYB Team JC’s Ekstrom overcame technical challenges with his Audi S1 during the seventh round of the season to finish fifth and remains in title contention with three rounds of the season remaining. KYB Team JC maintained its position in the lead of the Teams’ Championship standings.

Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Andreas Bakkerud, from Norway, delivered his strongest performance of the season so far. He set the quickest time in Q2 and finished sixth in the final.

“It feels like I’ve just beaten the unbeatable one. For so many years we have chased that Volkswagen, as a private team, as a factory team with Peugeot and now as a private team again. The guys have done some magic back home, we’ve been testing really hard but we’re onto something and we came here feeling we had the pace.”

“But, I needed to get everything out of myself in that final, it was hard just to keep up with Johan in the beginning, then from the moment I took the joker I needed to get every single corner 100% right. I must say I was even a bit lucky a couple of times on those laps, but that was everything I’ve got. Johan has again done a fantastic weekend but finally I managed to beat him in a final and it feels fantastic to be the winner,” said Timmy Hansen.

Kristoffersson was pleased with another strong points haul. The Swede also won the round seven Champion Fast Start Award. “It’s been details here and there today. Q2 was not optimal, the start in the final was also not perfect, but still I managed to get out first after the start. But all those things are small details, for the overall picture I have to be very happy, to take 27 points and extend the lead in the Championship.”

“The pace was fantastic from free practice one, we have to be happy and respect our competitors as well, Timmy and the whole Hansen team have done a fantastic job between the races, I’ve seen they’ve been testing and pushing on and that’s what keeps us on our toes as well,” said Kristoffersson.

Kevin Hansen’s podium was his second of the season. “What a day. Timmy has done absolutely incredibly, Barcelona and him is a magic combination. I saw in his eyes before the final that he wanted the win today. For me it was a good turn one in the final, I came out third but just missed a bit of speed to Timmy and Johan ahead. Today they were in a class of their own.”

“I’m super-pumped to be on the podium again, and for the team to get another double podium in Barcelona. Finally it’s some payback for all the work we are doing and putting our life, sole and passion into it,” he said.

Russia’s Timur Timerzyanov, the GRX Taneco driver, was fourth in semi-final one in a Hyundai i20 after he lost time at the start. Xite Racing’s Oliver Bennett, from Great Britain, made a return to World RX and was fifth. Germany’s Timo Scheider, racing for ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport, retired on the second lap of the first semi-final with a technical problem.

GCK Bilstein’s Anton Marklund, from Sweden, set top three times in qualifying and finished fourth in semi-final two, ahead of KYB Team JC’s Robin Larsson, from Sweden. Larsson made it into the semi-finals as the first reserve.

He initially qualified 13th in the Intermediate Classification following a retirement from his Q2 race and a penalty for first corner contact, he then battled with Marklund on the first lap of the semi-final but ended up fifth. Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Liam Doran, from Great Britain, was classified sixth in semi-final two.

Belgium’s Enzo Ide was 13th in the final classification. On his first start of the season the Audi S1 driver, racing with Team JC Raceteknik qualified in 12th but withdrew ahead of the semi-finals with a technical issue. That lifted KYB Team JC’s Robin Larsson into the top 12. Hungary’s Tamas Karai was 14th, France’s Patrick Guillerme was 15th with in a Hyundai i20 and on her debut in World RX, ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s Mandie August, from Germany scored a Championship point in 16th.

The first round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 also took place at the Logitech G FIA World RX of Pirineus-Barcelona 2030. Switzerland’s Yuri Belevskiy, the Volland Racing Audi A1 driver, started on the front row of the grid for the final and overtook teammate Gergely Marton, from Hungary, on lap one of the race to take victory.

Finland’s Rasmus Tuominen drove to third place on his European Championship debut with a SET Promotion Renault Twingo. Norway’s Marius Bermingrud (Audi A1), Russia’s Arthur Egorov (Audi A1) and Portugal’s Joao Ribeiro (Skoda Fabia) completed the final finishers.

Paul Bellamy, Senior Vice President of Motorsports Events at IMG, concluded: “What a brilliant day of action we’ve had at the Logitech G FIA World RX of Pirineus-Barcelona 2030. The local organisers have done a great job to deliver his double-header weekend in challenging global circumstances, and the drivers did the business on track.”

“Congratulations to Timmy, Johan and Kevin for finishing on the podium, it shows just how competitive the Championship is this year that we’ve had four winners in seven rounds and we can’t wait to do it all again in round eight tomorrow in the Logitech G FIA World RX of Catalunya before the fourth edition of the new RX After Track fuelled by Monster Energy on our Facebook and YouTube channels.”

The eighth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place tomorrow (18 October), also at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Logitech G FIA World RX of Catalunya.

The post Timmy Hansen takes victory in Catalunya to become fourth 2020 World RX winner first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Together with the 12th victory of his career, achieved by leading all 12 laps of the semi-final and final on Sunday afternoon at the Bikerneiki Sport Complex, Ekstrom took a maximum points haul in Riga to close the gap to World RX Drivers’ Championship leader Johan Kristoffersson, from Sweden.

The KYB Team JC team made setup changes overnight to the Audi S1 Supercars of Ekstrom and Swedish team mate Robin Larsson and Ekstrom controlled the sixth round of the season in qualifying, the semi-finals and the final.

For the first time in 2020 Kristoffersson didn’t win a qualifying a session. The only time Ekstrom was headed throughout the day was by team mate Larsson in Q3. Like Ekstrom and Larsson, the Kristoffersson Motorsport team worked hard on the tyre strategy to have the best Cooper Tires available for the semi-finals and final, and the Drivers’ Championship leader finished second in the final.

Larsson was third, his first podium of the season, to help KYB Team JC extend its lead in the World RX Teams’ Championship standings.

Team Hansen’s Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208) from Sweden, GRX Taneco’s Niclas Gronholm (Hyundai i20), from Finland and Team Hansen’s Kevin Hansen (Peugeot 208), from Sweden completed the classified finishers in the Riga-Latvia final.

“I can’t say enough about our starts [today] because that was a key to the success. Robin finished second in the semi-final which was very good and important points for the team and then the final battle with Johan, such a close race from the start into the first corner and all the laps he was on my bumper, but I did no mistakes and in the end finished in front.”

“It felt amazing and probably one of the best victories. The win in Holjes was really nice, but somehow at Holjes it felt like everyone was saying the final was great, but this time the whole day was great. I would rate this one higher,” said winner Ekstrom.

Kristoffersson was pleased with his points score from round six. “The fight was all the way to the end, but really the biggest chance for victory today was in Q1. When I didn’t manage to take the start there, in Q2 I didn’t manage to beat Mattias again and then I knew he already had a good tyre strategy then for Q3.”

“I was on the back foot from there on. We were very aggressive on the tyres in the semi-final so I had four new tyres for the final the same as Mattias, but I was on the outside for turn one and thereafter I just had to follow him, saving as much tyres as I could for five laps before the joker, but there was a little too much argy-bargy with Gronholm at the joker merge and during the lap, so I couldn’t really challenge Mattias at the last corner. But, it’s still very good points,” said Kristoffersson.

Larsson was delighted to turn fast pace into a podium finish. “I was really disappointed with a tiny mistake I made in Q2 and we had to fight back in Q3. I knew that we couldn’t fight for the win when we used the new tyres in Q3, because you need the new tyres so much here for the final.”

“I’m more relieved than happy, especially for me at this track. I’ve never been fast here, I’ve struggled a lot. We’ve been in the mix, Johan has been a tiny bit better than us overall. I’m really happy for the double podium for the team,” said Larsson.

GCK Bilstein’s Anton Marklund (Renault Megane) finished fourth in semi-final two and was classified seventh overall when ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s Timo Scheider (Seat Ibiza), from Germany, was disqualified after the race for contact on lap six with Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Andreas Bakkerud (Renault Megane), from Norway, which eliminated Bakkerud from the race. Bakkerud visited hospital in Riga as a precaution but was released a few hours later. Bakkerud’s teammate, Great Britain’s Liam Doran, finished the semi-final side-by-side side with Marklund.

As first reserve for the final, Kevin Hansen benefitted from Scheider’s disqualification. Hansen finished fourth in semi-final one, in front of GRX Taneco’s Timur Timerzyanov and GRX SET’s Krisztian Szabo, from Hungary, both racing Hyundai i20s.

Latvia’s Reinis Nitiss, was classified 13th at his home circuit driving Esmotorsport’s Skoda Fabia. Germany’s Rene Muennich (Seat Ibiza) was 14th, ahead of Unkorrupted team mates Guerlain Chicherit (Renault Clio) and Rokas Baciuska (Renault Clio), from France and Lithuania respectively in 15th and 16th. Ferratum Team’s Jani Paasonen (Ford Fiesta), from Finland, was 17th.

France’s Cyril Raymond won the second round of the Projekt E championship – the first ever international electric rallycross series – in a brand new Citroen C3 ERX. He beat Latvia’s Janis Baumanis (Ford Fiesta ERX) to victory in the final after trading times with the former World RX podium-finisher throughout the weekend. In the series for cars fitted with the three motor, 450kW electric powertrains developed by Projekt E technical

partner STARD, Norway’s Svein-Bjarte Holten (Ford Fiesta) completed the podium. Great Britain’s Natalie Barratt (Ford Fiesta) was fourth and moved into the series points lead.

Sweden’s Oliver Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) claimed a hard-fought victory in round two of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar. He took pole position for the final when he won semi-final two and top qualifier, France’s Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Peugeot 208), finished second in semi-final one to Norway’s Sondre Evjen (Volkswagen Polo).

In the final, Eriksson led for all six laps, Evjen was second and Dubourg third. Dubourg’s brother and DA Racing team mate Andrea Dubourg (Peugeot 208) was fourth. Norway’s Ben-Philip Gundersen (Audi S1) and Hungary’s Tamas Karai (Audi S1) completed the final classification.

The post Ekstrom storms to Riga World RX win first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Kristoffersson took his third win of the 2020 World RX season with Kristoffersson Motorsport, leading the final in Riga for all six laps in a Volkswagen Polo. The Swedish driver qualified second in the Intermediate Classification, took victory in semi-final two, and won the final to extend his Championship lead to 21 points.

Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom battled his way to victory in semi-final one to start on row one of the final, then used a superior joker lap strategy by KYB Team JC team to take second, his fourth podium of the 2020 season.

Team Hansen’s Timmy Hansen completed the podium to not only make it an all-Swedish top three but to ensure the podium was filled by World RX Drivers’ Champions (Kristoffersson 2017-18, Ekstrom 2016, Hansen 2019).

The TQ (top qualifier) position in the Intermediate Classification was taken by Finland’s Niclas Gronholm, the winner of World RX round four in Finland. The GRX Taneco driver finished second in semi-final one, then had a battle with Sweden’s Kevin Hansen in the final but spun out of podium contention.

Kevin Hansen climbed to second at the start of the final from row three and took his joker on lap two. He defended from Gronholm for over two laps, then challenged brother Timmy Hansen for the final podium place at the last corner of the race. He finished fourth.

Gronholm was classified fifth and Sweden’s Robin Larsson, Ekstrom’s KYB Team JC teammate was sixth, following contact and a spin at the second corner. KYB Team JC maintained its position in the lead of the Teams’ Championship standings.

“This feels very good. We were really pushing hard in Q2 and Q3, I was not really able to pull off the best times, but instead we had some good tyres for the semi-final and final so I think we had a big jump on our competitors or terms of tyres, then we had two good starts, and everything is much easier when you have fresh tyres.”

“Big thanks to the team, we made some changes between Q3 and the semi-final and it actually made the car better so that feels good to gamble and go in the right direction,” said winner Kristoffersson.

Ekstrom’s podium was the 25th of his career. “The first corner of the final was a little bit too exciting, I don’t know exactly what happened to Robin, we’ll have to watch the television, but it was a bit messy and after I drove as fast as I could behind Kevin. After he jokered I had a clear track and ended up P2.”

“For sure that was not our wish when we came here, we wanted to win but during qualifying we were not good enough so we couldn’t do good enough starts so we couldn’t be at the front in Q1 and Q2. When you’re on the back foot then you have to try and recover and I think P2 is a good recovery, but you need to be spot on to win these races especially when the other guys are in top shape as well,” said Ekstrom.

Hansen was pleased with a podium finish after a hard-fought day in Riga. “We had a tough day. We see glimpses of really good performance, some good launches and I’ve been fastest on lap time many times today, but you know when you’re not up front then it’s not easy.”

“We need to improve those launches so we can be at the front of the races from the beginning. I must say coming in third is really good and I’m super happy about that. The team has worked so hard and it is paying off, but at this level, it’s a slow process to gain speed, but I’m quite confident tomorrow will be even better,” said Hansen.

Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud, racing a Renault Megane RS RX for the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel team was fourth in semi-final one after he lost time in turn two of the race. ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s Timo Scheider, from Germany, was fourth in semi-final two.

He qualified 13th in the Intermediate Classification but started the semi-finals when his teammate Rene Muennich withdrew. Scheider used the joker lap strategy to beat GRX Taneco’s Timur Timerzyanov, from Russia. Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Liam Doran, from Great Britain was classified sixth in the same race.

Latvia’s Reinis Nitiss, on his debut in the Esmotorsport Skoda Fabia, beat GRX SET’s Krisztian Szabo, from Hungary, for fifth in semi-final one.

Germany’s Rene Muennich was classified 13th in the final results following his withdrawal from the semi-finals that lifted his ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport team mate Scheider into the top 12.

GCK Bilstein’s Anton Marklund, from Sweden, was 14th Unkorrupted team mates Guerlain Chicherit, from France, and Rokas Baciuska, from Lithuania were 15th and 16th in their Renault Clios. Ferratum Team’s Jani Paasonen, from Finland, retired from Q2 with a technical problem and didn’t take part in Q3.

Norway’s Sondre Evjen (Volkswagen Polo) is top qualifier after Q2 in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar. France’s Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Peugeot 208) is second and Norway’s Ben-Philip Gundersen (Audi S1) is third. Championship leader winner OIiver Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) had a difficult day but recovered to be fifth.

In the second round of the Projekt E category – the first ever international electric rallycross series – at the halfway stage France’s Cyril Raymond is top qualifier on day one, racing a new Citroen C3 ERX.

Latvia’s Janis Baumanis was quickest in Q1 and is second in a Ford Fiesta ERX. Great Britain’s Natalie Barratt and Norway’s Svein-Bjarte Holten, also driving Fiesta ERXs fitted with three motor, 450kW electric powertrains developed by Projekt E technical partner STARD, hold third and fourth in the Intermediate Classification.

The post Johan Kristoffersson wins in Latvia to extend Championship lead first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The move to November is being made in anticipation of being able welcome a larger number of fans to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Current restrictions on the size of public gatherings in Belgium mean that only 400 spectators would be admitted to the event in October.

This decision has been made after careful consideration and consultation with the FIA, the Belgian ASN and the local event organiser.

The post Spa World RX of Benelux moved to November first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

GRX Taneco’s Gronholm produced his best qualifying performance of the season in the Intermediate Classification to end up second and take 15 championship points at the Kouvola circuit, located 130km north east of Finland’s capital Helsinki. He then won semi-final two in treacherous conditions to earn a front row start for the final.

The TQ (top qualifier) position in the Intermediate Classification was taken by Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson, the World RX Drivers’ points leader, fresh from winning round three of the Championship at the same circuit on Saturday.

Kristoffersson started from pole position for the final, thanks to victory in semi-final one, but it was Gronholm who led on lap one after overtaking Kristoffersson at the first corner.

From there on, Gronholm held the lead in difficult wet and slippery conditions at the picturesque venue, fending off the close attentions of first Kristoffersson, and then Mattias Ekstrom, when Kristoffersson took his joker on lap three.

Managing the race lead with maturity beyond his years, with the chasing pack just centimetres behind the GRX Taneco Hyundai i20 Supercar for the entire race, Gronholm took his joker on lap six and held on to score his third World RX career victory.

Ekstrom finished second, overtaking Kristoffersson in the last corner. For the first time in 2020 though, Kristoffersson didn’t finish on the podium, he was also overtaken by Gronholm’s GRX team mate, Russia’s Timur Timerzyanov, in a race to the finish line.

Sweden’s Timmy Hansen, racing a Peugeot 208 for Team Hansen, finished fifth after taking his joker on lap one and Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Andreas Bakkerud completed the list of final finishers.

Kristoffersson continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship standings, KYB Team JC maintains its position in the lead of the Teams’ Championship standings.

“I knew that the guys behind would push me in the tight corners in the final, so I just kept to the inside lines and just accelerating on the straights was enough. I was keeping calm and trying not to do any mistakes at all. I did a few, but not so big mistakes. I felt the pressure but it was basically just to control the race when I got into the lead, and it’s really nice to get a win,” said Gronholm.

Ekstrom’s second place finish kept the Swede in title-contention. “I had good pace in the final, it was difficult to see with so much dirt on the windscreen, but somehow the wipers swept it away and I could see.”

“I felt had good pace compared to Niclas so I had no problem at all to stick on his bumper, but he did no mistakes so big congratulations to him and the entire team – when you make no mistakes then you can win.”

“I didn’t see much, I heard my guys on the radio, they said it would be tight in the last corner and I look forward to watching it on TV because everyone says it was a great race,” said Ekstrom.

Timerzyanov visited the podium for the first time this year. “That was good. That was a nice fight in both the semi-final and final, it was so close.”

“I started to over drive a little bit on the last lap, and it was a really tight last corner, everyone wanted to be on the podium. Johan opened the door and I used that to pass him on the inside. I’m really happy,” said Timerzyanov.

Finland’s Juha Rytkonen, racing for the GRX SET team, almost made it three Hyundai i20s in the final, but was handed a five second track limits infringement penalty and the place he initially held for the final was taken by Bakkerud.

Team Hansen’s Kevin Hansen, from Sweden, was also classified fourth in his semi-final, he lost out in a battle for position with his brother and teammate in the final lap of the semi-final. KYB Team JC’s Robin Larsson and GCK Bilstein’s Anton Marklund, both from Sweden, completed the list of finishers in semi-final one, and Germany’s Timo Scheider, racing for ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport and Finland’s Jere Kalliokoski were fifth and sixth in semi-final two.

The first reserve for the semi-finals was Netherlands’ Kevin Abbring, making his debut for the Unkorrupted team in a Renault Clio. Great Britain’s Liam Doran, the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel driver was 14th and Abbring’s Unkorrupted team mate Guerlain Chicherit, from France, was 15th.

The final championship point was claimed by Hungary’s Tamas Karai. Finland’s Jani Paasonen and Atro Maatta, and Germany’s Rene Muennich completed the list of qualifiers in the Intermediate Classification.

The post Gronholm takes World RX home win in Finland first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Kristoffersson Motorsport’s driver was TQ (top qualifier) in the Intermediate Classification, won semi-final one and the final to secure his second win of the season – following victory in round on at Holjes in Sweden last weekend.

Finland’s Juha Rytkonen was a star performer, racing a Hyundai i20 Supercar for the GRX SET team. He was fourth in qualifying, won semi-final two and finished second in the final, one place ahead of Sweden’s Timmy Hansen, the reigning World RX Drivers’ Champion fighting back from a difficult opening to the season a week ago.

Hansen didn’t have the pace to match Kristoffersson or Rytkonen at the front of the six-lap final on the Kouvola circuit, but claimed the final podium position in a race for the finish line with Finnish star Niclas Gronholm. Competing at home for GRX Taneco, Gronholm finished fourth.

Germany’s Timo Scheider, the ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport driver, was fifth and Team Hansen’s Kevin Hansen, from Sweden, made the final following an opportunistic overtake on lap one of the semi-final two and finished the final sixth.

Kristoffersson’s 22nd career victory was accompanied by winning round three of the new-for-2020 Champion Fast Start Award. “The final was very, very good. I had a very good start, like I had all day and from there on, the track was similar to how it was in the semi-final, so we could adapt a bit and do some small changes for the final which worked out well.”

“I have to thank the team today, we did a lot of work and put a lot of effort into this weekend, especially having only one car on a new track to learn. It’s been quite tricky but it feels very nice to win practice, Q1, Q2, Q3, my semi-final and final today,” said Kristofferson.

Rytkonen’s second place marked the first podium of the season for a Gronholm RX Hyundai i20. “I’m really happy. The team is very, very good. I did not expect this at all. I just kept pushing in the final, I had Topi [Toomas Heikkinen] on the radio giving me information and he is very good, that helps a lot,” said Rytkonen.

Despite not making it into the final in round three, Mattias Ekstrom remains second in the Drivers’ standings, with the Hansen brothers tied in third. Timmy Hansen was delighted to his first podium of the season at Kouvola.

“It was a hard final, I came out in third and from there it was a race of pace. When Rytkonen took the joker I knew that we were racing for position. Dad was pushing me so hard on the radio, especially the two last laps was absolutely everything I could give.”

“It wasn’t enough for more than third today but I’m happy for this. It’s a huge step from Holjes in Sweden last weekend when we didn’t really know what was going on and Kevin claimed a P2, but we were a bit off the pace. After all the work we’ve done this week to be rewarded with a podium feels incredible,” said Hansen.

First reserve for the final was Monster Energy RX Cartel’s Andreas Bakkerud, from Norway, who was third in Q2 and just missed a place in the final with fourth in semi-final one in the Renault Megane.

Finland’s Jere Kalliokoski returned to World RX in a Ford Fiesta and was fourth in semi-final two, in front of both KYB Team JC drivers. Sweden’s Robin Larsson was classified fifth but retired with a front puncture on his Audi S1. Ekstrom qualified on pole position but retired from the race on the second lap.

GRX Taneco’s Timur Timerzyanov, from Russia, and GCK Bilstein’s Anton Marklund, from Sweden, were fourth and fifth in semi-final one.

Hungary’s Tamas Karai was 13th in the Intermediate Classification on his first World RX start of the season, after racing in the European Rallycross Championship at Holjes-Sweden. France’s Guerlain Chicherit was highest placed of the Unkorrupted drivers in the team’s Renault Clios, with Netherland’s Kevin Abbring 18th on his debut with the team. Finland’s Jani Paasonen took 15th in his home event for Ferratum Team.

ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s Rene Muennich was 16th, Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel’s Liam Doran again showed good pace but had a disappointing round and was 17th. Former Finnish Rallycross Champion Atro Maatta was 19th in the Intermediate Classification.

The post Kristoffersson clean sweeps Kouvola first appeared on InsideRacing.com.