Kristoffersson outscores rivals in Portugal to extend World RX lead
Nils Andersson retains RX2e title
Patrick O’Donovan becomes youngest ever Euro RX1 champion
Nils Volland takes the Euro RX3 title as João Ribeiro gives Portuguese fans a home win
Johan Kristoffersson outscored his FIA World Rallycross Championship rivals to extend his lead to 48 points at the top of the World RX drivers’ standings.
The Swede won Round 7 on Saturday (7 September) despite collecting a rear left puncture and suspension damage after contact with Anthony Pelfrene in the semi-final. His KMS – HORSE Powertrain team did an incredible job in short time to repair his Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX – and Kristoffersson repaid their efforts by coming from the second row to pressurise leader Niclas Grönholm and win after the CE Dealer Team driver jokered on the final lap.
“This is a real team victory after an amazing job to get my car back onto the grid for the final,” said Kristoffersson.
“Montalegre is such an enjoyable circuit to drive. The Volkswagen has always suited the track well and we spent the past few weeks looking at everything we could do to be as fast as possible. Niclas [Grönholm] had great pace in the final, but I just managed to make the difference when it mattered.”
In an equally exciting Round 8 final on Sunday (8 September), Kristoffersson had to once again fight hard from the second row and chased down the pack after taking an early joker to finish a closing second.
Montalegre was a successful hunting ground for Hansen World RX Team, especially for Kevin Hansen who finished third in Round 7 and won Round 8.
He and brother Timmy were particularly smart at the starts, often getting to turn one together and establishing an impenetrable Peugeot 208 RX1e wall.
Kevin looked on course at one stage for victory in Saturday’s final before coming home third, while a superb charge after an early joker in Sunday’s final secured a well-deserved victory.
“The team has done a great job this weekend,” said Kevin.
“This is my first win in the electric Peugeot – it’s taken a while! The car was flying. I had so much confidence and we had a great strategy in the final.”
Timmy was just as fast but was unfortunate in both finals. Blinded by dust, he ploughed into a tyre barrier coming onto the start/finish straight in Saturday’s final and then led Sunday’s final until he had to joker on the final lap – slipping to third behind his brother and Kristoffersson.
Ole Christian Veiby had the pace to win but was once again denied a maiden World RX victory by the smallest of margins. The KMS – HORSE Powertrain driver’s hopes of victory on Saturday disappeared after a sluggish start in the final and whilst he briefly held the Round 8 lead the following day, a last lap joker and visit to a wall saw him finish down in fifth.
The CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment cars were incredibly fast off the start line and were unlucky not to turn those quick getaways into race victories.
Having kept a clean sheet through the heats, pole-sitter Grönholm finished second in Saturday’s final after losing time in the joker and missing out on the top step of the podium by less than four tenths-of-a-second. A rear left puncture halfway through Sunday’s final was a disappointing end to such a promising and competitive weekend.
Klara Andersson’s pace didn’t translate into the results she undoubtedly deserved in the sister PWR RX1e. The Swede was eliminated at the semi-final stage on Saturday and finished fourth in Sunday’s final.
René Münnich finished a fighting fifth in Saturday’s final, but didn’t make it beyond the semi-final stage on Sunday after a spirited performance in his All-Inkl Muennich Motorsport SEAT Ibiza.
Anthony Pelfrene was arguably the unluckiest World RX driver of the weekend. Despite an impressive turn of speed in his JDM Raptor Racing Peugeot 208 WRX the French looked set to reach both finals – but contact with Kristoffersson towards the end of Saturday’s semi-final sent him into a spin, whilst a track limits penalty denied him a place in Sunday’s final.
Nils Andersson won the RX2e title last year but didn’t win a race, while this year he retained the all-electric crown by winning almost every race! The Kristoffersson Motorsport driver won back-to-back titles in style, winning the semi-final and leading the final from start to finish. Isak Sjökvist finished second in the #YellowSquad car, while Luka Wlömer scored another podium race finish with third. Marko Muru was fast all weekend and just missed out on a podium result, the fast starting and late breaking Molly Taylor finished fifth in the RX2e final, while a hard charging Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky missed out on a top result thanks to a spin in the final.
Patrick O’Donovan clinched the 2024 Euro RX1 championship after winning all four heats and his semi-final. It’s a good job that he won the title at the semi-final stage, as he stalled on the grid and was then squeezed onto the infield at turn one in the final. The 20-year old recovered brilliantly to finish third in his Team RX Racing Peugeot 208 and celebrate becoming the first British driver to win the European rallycross title for 30 years, and the youngest ever. Yury Belevskiy won the Euro RX1 final in Portugal to secure the runners-up spot in the championship in his Audi S1. He was followed across the line by Máté Benyó (Korda Racing KFT Peugeot 208), who clinched third in the standings.
The two leading Euro RX3 title contenders, Nils Volland and João Ribeiro, lined up side-by-side in an all-Audi A1 final front row. Volland only needed to finish fourth to be champion but made a bad start and was fifth by the end of the opening lap. Whilst Ribeiro romped away to score a convincing home win, Dominik Senegacnik (Škoda Fabia) clashed with Andre Sousa, which sent the Audi A1 driver into the wall on the start/finish straight. This, as well as an inspired recovery drive, saw Volland climb back up to second and break Portuguese hearts by lifting the title.
2024 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Points after Round 8
1. Johan Kristoffersson….198pts
2. Kevin Hansen….150pts
3. Ole Christian Veiby….147pts
4. Timmy Hansen….141pts
5. Niclas Grönholm….138pts
6. Klara Andersson….116pts
WORLD RX RACE RESULTS
World RX of Portugal (Montalegre)
Round 8 – Sunday 8 September
1. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….5 laps
2. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS – Horse Powertrain (ICE)….+ 0.271s
3. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….+ 2.045s
4. Klara ANDERSSON (SWE) CE Dealer Team (EV)….+ 7.447s
5. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS – Horse Powertrain (ICE)….+ 26.272s
DNF Niclas GRÖNHOLM (FIN) CE Dealer Team (EV)….+ 1 lap
WORLD RX RACE RESULTS
World RX of Portugal (Montalegre)
Round 7 – Saturday 7 September
1. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS – Horse Powertrain (ICE)….5 laps
2. Niclas GRÖNHOLM (FIN) CE Dealer Team (EV)….+ 0.398s
3. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….+ 2.895s
4. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS – Horse Powertrain (ICE)….+ 5.654s
5. René MÜNNICH (DEU) Muennich Motorsport (ICE)….+ 12.374s
DNF Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….+ 4 laps
Source : Fia
