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| PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
Kristoffersson was untouchable around the Lånkebanen circuit, maintaining his flawless SuperPole record before dominating all four heats, his semi-final, and the final to tally his 37th career victory in the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s milestone 100th round.
That secured the five-time world champion a second consecutive maximum score behind the wheel, extending his advantage at the top of the championship standings to 13 points.
"The track was changing so it was difficult and easy to make mistakes," Kristoffersson said. "But I feel comfortable. We have the tools and the knowledge to make the changes we need to make things work, and I played it smart and tried not to get involved in too many incidents. Now, we look ahead to Höljes. Driving there with these new electric cars will be super-fun!”
Behind the Swede, a battle played out for ‘best-of-the-rest’. Ultimately, it was CE Dealer Team's Niclas Grönholm who prevailed in that particular fight as the Finn secured the runner-up spot.
"It has not been an easy weekend; we have been really working hard. It feels good to head home with a second place and a solid points haul after all. We need to keep working hard, stayed focused, and try again in the next race at Höljes," Grönholm said.
In only his second outing in World RX’s electric era, Timo Scheider reached the podium [with a third-place finish] for the first time in almost three years behind the wheel of the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s SEAT Ibiza RX1e.
Replicating the result achieved on her impressive World RX debut in Hell last year, Klara Andersson took the chequered flag fourth. The Swede had some of the most impressive/quickest launches this weekend.
"We had some issues in the semi-final, so I was really lucky to be able to make the final. There I got a very good launch but got hit twice," Andersson said. "After that, the wheels were pointing in every possible direction, so it was not easy to drive that’s for sure. We did not have so much luck this weekend."
Sébastien Loeb finished fifth in the World RX final in his Lancia Delta Evo-E RX, whilst hometown hero Ole Christian Veiby finished fifth on the road, but following first corner contact that removed the boot and rear wing of his car, his Volkswagen RX1e was subsequently found to be +-3.3kg under the minimum weight.
Speaking before receiving the penalty, Veiby said, "In the final, I got hit in the first corner and thus the car was very difficult to handle, so I just couldn't keep up with the others. I feel that I get too little reward for some good driving."
If it was a bad weekend for Veiby, the Hansen Motorsport stable had a weekend to forget, as Kevin Hansen exited proceedings at the semi-final stage after picking up a puncture in a Turn One clash with Kristoffersson, whilst older brother Timmy was withdrawn after his car battery sustained a high g-force load after hitting a big bump whilst attempting an overtake on Veiby. The latter was disqualified from Heat 4.
Hansen was later fined 1,000 euros for walking onto an active circuit, and hitting Veiby's car whilst gesticulating. Due to the FIA Safety Regulations related to the battery g-force load the battery will have to undergo testing in Austria before it could be used again.
FINAL RESULT - WORLD RX OF NORWAY
1. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON - Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS
2. Niclas GRÖNHOLM - CE Dealer Team + 1.755s
3. Timo SCHEIDER - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport + 3.675s
4. Klara ANDERSSON - CE Dealer Team + 5.438s
5. Sébastien LOEB (FRA) Special ONE Racing + 6.798s
6. Ole Christian VEIBY - Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS DSQ
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