Grönholm fights back to win first round of Riga double-header.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool

Niclas Grönholm fought back to take a commanding victory at round four of the FIA World Rallycross Championship despite a first-corner collision in Latvia earlier today. 

After a challenging start to the season thus far, Grönholm's season has finally taken a turn for the better. 

The Hyundai driver lined up alongside top qualifier Johan Kristoffersson in the final. With the pressure mounting, lights went out, and on the run into the first corner of the final, Kristoffersson and Grönholm had a door-to-door battle, as the Swede hoped onto the brakes later into the first corner and with some contact, Johan was rotated and slid backward into the outside barrier.

He led from the first corner with second-row start Timo Scheider climbing to second with Krisztian Szabo and the Hansen brothers behind. However, Scheider's second place was short-lived due to an electric issue that switched off his in Seat Ibiza after landing from the big jump. 

Scheider was able to complete a second lap but later retired. 

Fourth through the first corner, Timmy Hansen opted for a first lap joker, which would later gain him track position over Krisztian Szabo and his younger brother Kevin Hansen when they took their respective joker laps. 

Hansen's younger brother, Kevin had a tight battle with Szabo at the joker merge, but with his foot pinned to the gas. He was able to gain third on track, whilst Grönholm pulled out a healthy lead to take his joker rather comfortably and claim his fourth career victory, with the Hansen brothers rounding out the podium, despite a challenging first round in Riga. 

"It was a tough start to the season with two really bad races," Niclas Grönholm said. "France was a step towards something better, and we had good pace just a bit of luck that turned. It was a tough day but in the end quite a good one."

The 25-year-old Finn admits that he was a bit nervous about the first corner collision with Johan Kristoffersson. 

"I was a bit nervous because you always look at things a bit differently. I saw it as a racing incident. We both braked late, he braked a bit later than me and our wheels touched," he said. "I have no reason to take him out on purpose. It was just something that happened. I was a bit nervous coming over the line because I knew there would be an investigation, but now I'm happy."

GRX-SET endures 'another difficult weekend' at Höljes.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX-SET World RX Team

Finnish Squad GRX-SET has had yet another difficult weekend at round two of the FIA World Rallycross Championship despite displaying pace worthy of challenging for top results in Höljes (Sweden).

Fastest overall in Free Practice to start the weekend, then third and fourth fastest times in Q1 and Q2 placed Niclas Grönholm third at the end of day one, but traffic in Q3 on Sunday morning, followed by a penalty for missing the joker lap in Q4 left the Finn fifth in the Intermediate Classification. 

The three-time World RX winner had a great launch from the second row of the grid in the semi-final and immediately took the joker lap, but contact from Peter Hedstrom pushed him into the track markers on the edge of the circuit. And, although he finished in a place good enough to qualify for the final, the Finn was handed a time penalty for hitting the track marker and didn’t make the final.

"On pace, we were a bit better on Sunday than Saturday and made some better launches, we improved quite a lot in that area actually, but unfortunately in Q4 we didn’t take the joker lap and got a penalty. That’s something that can happen quite easily – it was just an honest mistake from us," Grönholm said.

"We had quite a good starting position with good grip for the semi-final so I had a good launch, decided to joker on the first lap because I really didn’t have the chance to go on the normal lap with two cars inside me. It was really slippery in the joker where the track had been watered so I took it carefully, then took a hit from behind and couldn’t really do anything. I couldn’t take the normal route so I had to go across where the track marker was and got a penalty for hitting it and didn’t make the final. I don’t agree with the decision as I had no chance to take the normal line, so I’m a bit upset about that, a lot of points have been lost in the two first race weekends."

 

Team-mate Krisztián Szabó impressed yet again with solid pace, following a fourth-place finish in the opening round of the season. 

Sixth and third on day one put the Hungarian in the fight, before a pair of fourth fastest times on Sunday gave him a front-row start for the semi-finals. Battling throughout both the semi and final he ran as high as third in the final but didn’t have the pace to close out a podium finish and he finished fifth.

"It was a good weekend," he said. "I beat Johan Kristoffersson in our race in Q3 and I was very happy with that performance, that meant a lot to me, but compared to Saturday, Sunday wasn’t so good in general."

"I was hoping for better results on track, even if I was P4 in both Q3 and Q4. I started on the front row for the semi-finals which is something I’ve never achieved before, but for sure I missed something in the semi and final, I don’t know yet what that was but I will sleep on it."

 

Jussi Pinomäki (team principal) admits that it was yet another difficult weekend for the team, despite new recruit Szabó showing a good turn of speed. 

 

"It was another difficult weekend for us. I’m again pleased with the progress Krisztian is making. With more work he can really challenge in this championship," the Finn said.

The GRX-SET team principal leaves Sweden with a sour taste in his mouth, as he believes Niclas should not have received a penalty for hitting a track marker in the semi-final. 

"We totally disagree with the stewards’ decision for Niclas in the semi-final, which put an end to a hard weekend for him that started already in Q1. We fully understand that hitting track markers gets penalized, but when you are pushed there by another car then it is out of your hands," he said. "But, we have had difficult weekends before, and we have already put Holjes to the back of our minds. We have to do a lot better next time in France, and we will!"

Szabó claims best-ever World RX finish, as Grönholm crashes out.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX-SET World RX Team

Hungarian Krisztián Szabó claimed a career-best result at round one of the 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. 

Starting his first full season with the GRX-SET World RX Team, Krisztian improved every time he went on track through the course of the event, and from the second row of the semi-final grid, he then started on the second row of the final on his way to fourth.

"To be fourth in the final is my best result in World RX so that is very good as a start to the new season, and hopefully next time I can take a step higher onto the podium," Szabó said. "I’m finding more confidence in the car all the time, I’m finding more rhythm in myself and we fine-tuned the car through the weekend. The pace in the semi-final was fast, then in the final, I missed a little, but the guys in front of me were the very fast guys in the championship, so I am pleased."

Teammate Grönholm on the other hand had a difficult weekend, despite the Finn battling hard and delivering a strong performance to make the best of a challenging situation. He carried a small technical issue from the opening practice sessions that despite all of the experience of the Gronholm RX and SET Promotion engineers, couldn’t be resolved at the circuit.

Marcus Grönholm hinted that his son suffered from anti-lag and turbo issues, which the team later refuted. 

Despite that, Niclas delivered fast lap times, and managed to qualify fourth overall for the semi-finals, only for the weekend to be compounded by contact that sent him into a concrete wall at the second corner of the semi, putting him out and with damaged the car.

"It was a difficult weekend overall. I struggled since practice with finding pace in the car and driver. I think we found a bit more pace for Saturday, the car was feeling a bit more how I wanted and we were doing a bit better launches, but ultimately, we didn’t really have enough at any point in the weekend to close the gap to the top spots," Grönholm said. "It sadly ended in the semi-final with a crash into the wall. The car is in quite bad condition now, but we will fight back."

Jussi Pinomäki (team principal) has been left impressed by Krisztián Szabó's performance at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.

"Krisztian did a solid job for himself and the team this weekend. He proved that with a little more experience racing against the competition he can be right up there fighting for podiums on a regular basis, so I am pleased with his performance," he said.

Whilst his team did not achieve their desired results this weekend, the Finn admits that his team will do everything they need to, to be ready for round 2 in Holjes next month. 

"As a team we have high hopes for World RX this year and with Niclas missing a bit of the pace we expected, it didn’t go to plan at all," Pinomäki said. "But, it’s not how or why you go down, it’s how you pick yourself back up again that counts and we have a great group of guys who I know will do everything we need to do in this short gap now before the next race in Sweden to make sure we are as ready as we can be."

Grönholm targets a "good start to the season" in Catalunya curtain-raiser.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX-SET

Same same, but different... a new name and livery, but same team and dream. Yes, the name we've been accustomed to over the last few years "GRX Taneco" has changed to the GRX-SET World RX Team for the 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

It's been three years since the team made their debut appearance in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, and since then we've seen the rapid progression of the team from seventh overall to fourth in 2020. 

Whilst 2020 was challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season got underway eventually, and ended up being a Kristoffersson/Ekstrom fight, but Niclas was never too far away to capitalize on any mistake. He proves this in Kouvola beating Kristoffersson to claim his one and only win last year. 

Having finished fourth in the drivers' standings in 2019 and 2020, the only way is forward for the Finnish squad. 

Recently, the team completed testing in Inkoo, Finland in preparation for the season ahead, and with the new season ahead, comes a striking new look. Yes, the GRX-SET World RX Team has unveiled their livery(ries) for the 2021 season. 

Out with the old and in with the new... it's a concept that at times is hard to grasp, but with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Timur Timerzyanov will not return for the full season and will be replaced by Krisztian Szabo this year. It's not all doom and gloom though because the Russian will return for selected outings this season. He will take the wheel of the third Hyundai i20 in Barcelona this coming weekend (his first outing). 

New look for the 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship. Red is Gronholm and Green for Szabo.
PHOTO CREDIT: GRX-SET

Niclas Grönholm enters his sixth World RX season and has his eyes firmly set on the title in 2021, having claimed event wins in each of the last two campaigns. 

"Testing has gone very well and I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made. The feeling is good in the car, I could almost say that it's better than ever but we will see in Barcelona where we are with the pace," Grönholm said. "The track there is quite okay, not one of my favourites but quite enjoyable when you get it right."

"The goal is clear for this weekend, to finish in the top three to get a good start to the season. And the new livery, it’s nice! Quite similar to last year but a bit more simple - I like it!"

Alongside Niclas this season is double European Rallycross Champion, Krisztian Szabo, who is contesting his second full World RX campaign in 2021, having raced with the GRX-SET team in selected events last season.

"I like the track in Barcelona. I’ve never won there but I’ve had some good results back in my Super1600 (RX3) years. I love the circuit part of the track, and discovered the rhythm and tricks of it," Szabo said. 

The Hungarian impressed in a recent RallyX Nordic appearance in the car and will be one to watch this season.

"I’ve had the chance to drive the car quite a lot in the off-season, the RallyX Nordic race at Holjes was very useful and we did a two-day test last week specifically for Barcelona," he adds. "I feel myself, the team and the car are ready for the season-opener, but I don’t want to put pressure on myself with any expectations before we know anything about the other competitors."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Timerzyanov to make World RX return at Barcelona curtain-raiser.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media.

Timur Timerzyanov will race in next month’s FIA World Rallycross Championship curtain-raiser in Catalunya on 23/24 July, in a third GRX-SET World RX Team entry.

The Russian is one of the most experienced drivers of the current rallycross generation - and, one of only three to have contested every World Championship event to date since the series' inception back in 2014. 

For the past three seasons, Timerzyanov has competed under the Grönholm RX banner alongside Niclas Grönholm, and he will once again line up for the Finnish outfit – now rebranded GRX-SET – in Catalunya in just under four weeks’ time, in what is currently labeled as a one-off appearance due to budgetary issues. If he does have only one chance to shine, the 34-year-old has every intention of grabbing it with both hands.

"Rallycross has always been such a big part of my life," he said "But the world has obviously changed a lot over the past year, and that in turn has led to sponsors re-evaluating their priorities and adopting different philosophies."

“It didn’t look like I would make the grid at all in 2021, and I need to thank my loyal partners and Jussi [Pinomäki – GRX-SET Team Principal] for working with me to make it possible for me to continue doing what I love doing – racing rallycross cars – for at least one more event."

"We only have an agreement for Barcelona at the moment, but if the opportunity presents itself to enter more rounds, I will of course take it because I really don’t want this wonderful story to end yet," he adds."Saying that, nothing is ever guaranteed and I will go out there and drive every race as if it’s my last, just in case it is – and I plan to enjoy every moment...”

Grönholm and Szabó join forces to fight World RX title glory.

PHOTO CREDIT: RallyX Nordic

Niclas Grönholm and Krisztián Szabó will join forces for the 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship, as the GRX-SET WORLD RX TEAM sets their sights on championship glory. 

Grönholm – the son of two-time FIA World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm - has enjoyed a lengthy career in World RX since making his debut in 2015. He returned for the full 2016 campaign with Olsbergs MSE, before switching to his family-run GRX squad in 2017 behind the wheel of a Hyundai i20 Supercar. 

The team took a significant step forward in 2018, as they progressed to the final on four occasions with a newly developed Hyundai i20, which paved the way for a full title fight the following season. They went on to clinch three wins and four podium finishes, on course to second in the teams' championship standings. 

It's also worth noting that had Niclas not missed two rounds due to appendicitis, he could have challenged for the championship having ended the season just 25 points shy of the drivers' title. He claimed another race win in Kouvola, Finland holding off a fast-charging Kristoffersson to cement a fourth overall spot in the standings. 

The GRX squad used the off-season to test the new developments of their Hyundai i20 entering RallyX Nordic in Höljes. An event that saw Niclas walk away with two wins, whilst newly announced team-mate Szabó claimed a third-place finish. 

The 25-year-old returned for his home round at Ouluzone (Finland) and went on to claim yet another win ahead of three-time World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson. 

Having had a successful test program in RallyX Nordic, GRX-SET World RX Team now has a thorough understanding of how to extract maximum performance from their Hyundai i20 Supercars.

Grönholm admits that he is ready to fight for the biggest prize in international rallycross - the World Rallycross Championship crown. 

"My hopes for this season are quite simple – to fight for the championship. Last year was difficult, but I think we learned a lot and we are going in the right direction at the moment. We have done a lot of experiments with the car and found some good things, as well as some areas to work on," Niclas Grönholm said.

"I expect the competition to be similar to the 2019 and 2020 seasons – nothing will be won easily. We will need to be ready to fight and put in the work required at every round to have a chance to win. The events I’m most looking forward to are Sweden and Portugal – the tracks there are so nice – but also the Nürburgring because it’s new for everybody and nobody knows what to expect, which always makes things interesting."

His team-mate in 2021, Krisztián Szabó has enjoyed a lot of success in his junior career. He clinched his first car racing title at the age of 16 in the Hungarian Autocross Championship in 2008. 

He had further success in the FIA Junior Buggy championship in 2009 and 2009, before stepping up to the Buggy1600 category, where he claimed third in the European Championship in 2013. 

2014 saw the Hungarian make the switch rallycross, making his debut in the FIA European Rallycross Championship's Super1600 class. A year later, he claimed a third-place finish in the championship, setting the scene for consecutive Euro RX Super1600 crowns in 2016 and 2017. 

The 29-year-old then entered two Euro RX rounds in 2018 with Mattias Esktröm’s EKS Audi Sport squad with a second-place finish in Lohéac before making the switch to World RX a year later with EKS Sport, and despite a challenging season, he went on to claim tenth overall in the championship. 

Left without a season for the 2020 season, he joined up with the GRX-SET team for the Swedish and Latvian rounds progressing to the semi-finals on both occasions, but in 2021, he will return for the full campaign. 

"I’m very happy that I can continue with this great team, especially under [Team Principal] Jussi Pinomäki, and I’m even more pumped that I can finally play a part in fighting for the Teams’ championship. The Hyundai is very good – I love it – and it’s really great to work with Niclas; I can learn a lot from him and everyone in the team," Krisztián Szabó said.

"It’s hard to know where we will be, but I’m pretty optimistic that we will be fast this year. My personal aim for the season is to have strong and stable results and to be in the final as much as possible. After the first few rounds, we will know better where we are compared to the others and what we can aim for overall, but I believe we can be very strong contenders this year."

There is no doubt that it has a challenging road trying to secure the necessary funding to compete at World Championship level, due to the current economic climate, but with hard work, the Finnish squad will return in 2021 with one aim in mind, and that is to challenge for the drivers' and teams' championship.

Jussi Pinomäki admits that returning to the championship with Niclas and Krisztián can help the team deliver on their potential. 

“We have worked hard to be able to return this year, and it’s brilliant to do that with Niclas and Krisztián. I think together they can help us to deliver our potential at every event," Jussi Pinomäki, Team Principal, GRX-SET WORLD RX TEAM, said. "As Niclas says, nothing comes easy, especially at this level, but I’m very proud of our hard-working team and we will be doing everything we can to achieve the best results possible."

Today's announcement means that after three years with Grönholm RX team, Timur Timerzyanov will not return in 2021.