Timmy Hansen feels "much more relaxed this year" heading into the World RX finale.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool

The Hansen World RX Team is heading to the FIA World Rallycross season finale with a lead in both the drivers’ and teams’ championships, as Timmy and Kevin Hansen prepare to do battle at the famous Nürburgring circuit.

The older Hansen brother, Timmy arrives in Germany with a 17-point lead in the drivers' standings over nearest rival Johan Kristoffersson, putting him in a strong position to chase after a second world championship title to add to his 2019 success.

"While the stakes are high this weekend I'm going to be boring and be my normal self, approaching it as normal! No tactics, no extra send, just racing the same way as I always do. I'll be trying to drive fast, be smart, and not taking too many risks. That's the only approach that we can have. From a driving perspective you can only really do worse if you rethink your approach for a title decider," Timmy Hansen said.

"It's a much nicer feeling going for a second world championship title than the first time back in 2019. I feel much more relaxed this year; I'm two years older which also probably helps! Last time I was very nervous and it was a tough weekend but now I'm feeling great and looking forward to racing these ICE cars one last time."

Whilst the 2021 season draws to a close. It also marks an end of an era. Which era you ask? Well! It will be the final weekend of the internal combustion-engined (ICE) era, as the FIA World Rallycross Championship goes fully electric in 2022. 

"This definitely feels like the end of an era, with the ICE cars going into retirement after this weekend, and we should treat it that way too," Hansen adds. "It's an opportunity to say thank you to these cars and the racing they have produced over the years. While it's sad to say goodbye to them, it's also exciting as rallycross is moving to all-electric cars next year, which should be faster than anything we've seen in rallycross before. I hope I can help the 208 WRX bow out in style."

Younger brother Kevin also remains in the title fight and is only two points behind Kristoffersson in third, ensuring he still has an opportunity to claim a first-world title.

"Coming into the season finale third in the title race and looking to make things happen at the last round isn't a new situation for me! I'm a little further behind now than in 2019 but I learned a lot that time around. This time I'll be able to enjoy it much more and try to do my best for myself and the whole team to finish off the year in style," Kevin Hansen said.

"It will be two very action-packed days; the sun goes down early at this time of year so we're doing a lot of racing in quite a small time window. That means we need to find a very clever balance between pushing and taking risks to win with avoiding mistakes, as there's so little time to make changes and repairs between sessions."

"I'll be hoping for a good grid draw and if that goes well, then it's about focusing on getting the small details right."

Both drivers’ excellent form has put the family-run team in the driving seat to clinch a third World RX teams’ championship crown in eight years, as the team holds a comfortable 61-point lead over GRX-SET with only 112 available at the last two rounds.