Masterful Ekström heads qualifying for second Barcelona round.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

Mattias Ekström topped qualifying for round eight of the 2020 World Rallycross season in Barcelona as championship leader Johan Kristoffersson failed to top a session for the second time this season.

The 2016 champion was the pacesetter in Q1 and Q2, with Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel's Andreas Bakkerud topping the table in Q3 to secure a pole position start for semi-final two. 

"To be honest I am surprised [to beat Ekström]," Bakkerud said. "I was the first car into the first car. Oh my god!"

Kristoffersson has not had the Sunday that he had hoped for finishing sixth in Q1 after taking a risk on higher RPM for the launch. While he tried to undercut the Hansen brothers on the inside, he was wary that a third reprimand could result in a five-point penalty, which could prove costly. In Q2, the Swede went backward off the line but came out in third as the race played out he progressed to P2 behind Andreas Bakekrud which meant he would finish the session in fourth overall. 

Q3 saw three five-car races following the withdrawal of Liam Doran. Kristoffersson would start on the outside, but was last through turn 1, while Bakkerud led the way from Ekstrom, Kevin, and Timmy Hansen. 

Ekström jokered earlier than his rivals in hope that he can undercut Andreas Bakkerud ahead, but the Norweigan had other plans and only took his joker lap on lap 3 seeing him leapfrog his former teammate. While Kevin Hansen who stayed out managed to pass Mattias as well to the claim second. 

Stuck behind Bakkerud and Kevin Hansen, Kristoffersson would end the session in fifth place, and for the first time this season, he will line-up on the second row of the grid for the semi-finals. 

Kevin and Timmy Hansen have enjoyed another strong day finding themselves in third and fourth respectively in the standings. 

Anton Marklund completes the top six ahead of Robin Larsson who will make the semi-finals this time after Enzo Ide was sacrificed on Saturday.

Despite winning Q3 Race 1, Larsson went backward off the grid due to a clutch issue, but it was like the seas parted for the reigning Euro RX champion as everyone he closed in on seemed to have an issue and he passed them with ease. 

"I had a problem with the clutch at the start. It slips from the gears to turn one," Larsson said. "The car feels good, but it's been one of those tough weekends when everything goes wrong." 

It's been a tricky morning for Niclas Grönholm who has been struggling to find the pace yesterday but admitted that Sunday has been slightly better. "The car was good in the morning practice, but the track is developing in the wrong direction," he said. "It's hard to be in the last heat. We have no luck!"

Timo Scheider who has had endless mechanical issues yesterday has had a slightly better Sunday splitting the GRX Taneco team-mates with Timur Timerzyanov in tenth. 

Tamas Karai and JC Raceteknik's Enzo Ide take the final two spots in the semi-finals. Ide was investigated for an incident with Oliver Bennett and was handed a three-second time penalty. 

All-Inkl Muennich Motorsport's Mandie August will miss out on a spot in the semi-finals by a single point, while Q2 race 1 winner Oliver Bennett has also missed out and will not progress any further after finishing the three qualifying sessions in 14th overall, ahead of Patrick Guillerme, and Liam Doran.

Doran's day came to a premature end due to engine issues while leading in Q2. The Brit was leading his heat race but an engine misfire earlier in the race led to engine failure on the final lap, which resulted in a spin and contact with the barrier as he crossed the finish line. 

"It started well and lead the race. Then I had an engine problem in the middle of the first lap then had an engine failure," Doran said. "The engine just let go and then had no engine to pull me out of the wall."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Hard work pays off as Team Hansen claims first win of the season.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull

Determined to get back to winning ways, Team Hansen arrived at Circuit de Catalunya with a number of updates after completing a few days of testing prior to the Barcelona double-header, and it has shown that these updates are in fact working. 

Whilst traction has been an issue for the team in the first half of the season, they seem to have found a solution this weekend, as reigning champion Timmy Hansen claimed his first win of the season in emphatic style, with younger brother Kevin Hansen finishing in third place to give the team a double podium. 

Timmy continued where he left off in 2019 by winning a nail-biting fight against championship leader Johan Kristoffersson by the slimmest of margins 0.417s. 

"There has so many times I've been chasing Johan since 2017 when they entered with that Polo. We have been chasing it as Team Peugeot-Hansen, Peugeot as a factory team, and now as Team Hansen the privateer, so it feels like we've beaten the unbeatable today," Timmy Hansen said. "This result is a big box tick for me; It's something I've been trying to achieve for a long time, to beat that car and driver combination in a World RX final."

With improved traction and pace, Timmy believes that his can be a lot faster tomorrow with some fine-tuning. 

"I believe we can go even faster tomorrow. There are still things we can fine-tune for this track and I know the more work there is, the faster we'll go. So I'm feeling very hopeful for tomorrow," he said. "If we can achieve the same again tomorrow as what we managed today that would be fantastic. Right now I'm happy and grateful for today's result but tomorrow it's about refocusing, doing another three qualifiers and two finals. Who knows, maybe we'll come home with two first-place trophies?"

Kevin Hansen also claimed his second podium of the season, after his second place at the team's home round in Sweden. He slotted in behind Timmy in the final and came out well clear of Niclas Grönholm securing third at the finish line.

"It's been an amazing day. It's great to get some pay-off for all the hard work we've been putting in since Finland and finally we're back on the top step with a 'brodium'!," he said. "This is an amazing place to do it, the site of our one-two finish last year, to come back to the top and win again."

"Our speed has definitely improved since the last round, so we definitely deserve this result. We need to keep our head down now; we've got a good car and we can improve it further. There are still some small things on my side that can be improved to unlock more speed."

"I'm in a good place for tomorrow regarding tyres, so generally, I'm really happy with how the weekend is going," he concludes.

14-time EuroRX champion and Team Principal, Kenneth Hansen finds some satisfaction that his team was able to chase down the Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS Polo R Supercar. 

"It was absolutely fantastic to watch the end of this race, with Timmy chasing down the Polo; a very good factory car that we've had some difficulty matching the pace of in the past," he said.

Whilst Team Hansen claimed their first win of the season, Kenneth says the team needs to continue working as they have not found a perfect set-up just yet.

"All the development, testing, brainstorming we've done so far needs to continue this weekend because we haven't found a perfect set-up yet," he adds. "But we continued to improve our set-up throughout the day and planned our tyre strategy well, which made a difference."

"We really needed this one-three result today, to really demonstrate our performance and potential again with meaningful results. Now, we will focus to try and repeat this performance tomorrow."

"It will be difficult but we are feeling confident and we won't be staying still with our development either; we will be trying more changes to close the gap even further."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Team Hansen hopes to "close the gap" with updates in Barcelona.

CREDIT: FIA World RX

Defending team champions Team Hansen returns to Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona where they claimed a double podium in 2019 and will hope to replicate that result once more this weekend. 

It's been a season of highs and lows for the Hansen's who hoped to start the season as strongly as they had ended it in 2019, but things didn't go their way from round one. But there was some light at the end of the tunnel with Kevin Hansen securing the teams best result of the season, a second-place finish at round two of the championship in Sweden followed by two third-place finishes for reigning champion Timmy Hansen, but the team will hope to claim there first win of the season in Barcelona, Spain. 

As in 2019, the team has struggled with grip issues on low abrasion track, and they often excelled on high grip tracks, but during the Latvian-Barcelona "break" the team have been flat out testing in an attempt to find some much-needed improvements. 

"We've been pushing really hard with our testing programme since Latvia. We want to be winning races this year so we're pushing the limits beyond what we'd normally do, running our equipment for much longer than usual to make sure we get it right. But I like this level of commitment we're taking, which of course carries some risk with it," Timmy Hansen said. 

"I've conducted many rallycross tests over the years and the results we got out of our test last week were some of the best we've ever had. I'm very excited to be coming to Barcelona with this fresh approach we've got and the multiple updates we've brought with us."

Barcelona represents a strong opportunity for the team to score its best result of the 2020 season to date, having been the site of a 1-2 finish for Timmy and Kevin last April. The 1-2 finish last year meant the Hansen brothers would join an exclusive club alongside the Schumacher and McRae families in having siblings score a 1-2 finish in an FIA championship event.

While Johan Kristoffersson has been the benchmark this season, Timmy hopes that the multiple updates they have will assist them in closing the gap to the double World Champion this weekend. 

"I'm feeling optimistic but the only way to know how much difference it's going to make is once we're up against the stopwatch at a race weekend. The car does feel drastically different, in a positive way, so my hope is that this is the step we've been looking for," Hansen adds.

"There are so many good things going for us at this track, considering our history of results here and the updates we're bringing, so I hope that will close the gap enough for us to win some races this year."

In the lead-up to the World RX of Catalunya this weekend, both Team Hansen drivers have been quite busy. Timmy has been hard at work testing updates to the team's Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar, and testing the Spark Odyssey 21 E-SUV for Andretti United Extreme E team, while Kevin made his rally raid debut with the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team at last week's Andalucía Rally, finishing fourth in the SSV class.

"While Timmy was testing I was taking on a great new adventure in Andalucía, racing a buggy with the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team. It's the most fun thing I've done all year and I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to try it out," Kevin said.

"But now I'm switching back to the complete opposite of rally raid, with short racing on a circuit. This is my job, my passion, my life. It's been a month now since we were last in the 208 Supercar, so I can't wait to get the rallycross feeling back."

While Team Hansen has had good results in recent years at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, on the 1.135KM track. Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen are both seeking their first wins of the 2020 season and will hope that the new updates will bring them the desired results. 

"We had a great result here last year but of course, we can't take anything for granted, considering how strong our competition is. But we haven't been servicing the cars and sleeping since Riga. We've been doing testing and we've now got some updates on the cars that have shown positive signs," team boss Kenneth Hansen, said. "If those signs are as good as our first impressions suggest, this could be a good weekend for us."

Kenneth Hansen confirmed that the team focused on finding different set-up options, tweaks to the chassis and engine, and optimizing the set-up of the dampers in hope of finding some much-needed performance. 

"There were limits on how much we could test due to factors like the weather but we've done several test days with different set-up options, tweaks to the chassis and engine, and further optimizing the set-up of our Öhlins dampers," he said.

"The plan is simple: to be battling for wins again. Let's see what happens this weekend."

Written By - Junaid Samodien.

Mixed emotions for Team Hansen in Latvia

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull.

Team Hansen have not had the start to season that they had hoped for after being crowned World Champions in 2019. 

But it's not all doom and gloom, as both Hansen brothers have stepped onto the podium this season, Kevin with a second place in Sweden and Timmy with two third-place finish in Finland and Latvia.

This season has been rather tough forTeam Hansen as they have struggled with starts, grip and set-ups, but there have been glimpses of pace which still needs to be unlocked. On Sunday (round six), Kevin set the unofficial lap record at the Bikerneiki Sports Complex - a 48.098 second lap to show the team's potential. 

Round five of the championship on Saturday saw Timmy claim a third-place finish, while his teammate and younger brother Kevin brought his Peugeot 208 across the line in fourth-place.

Being a double-header weekend, Sunday saw all the teams take to the track for the sixth round of the championship, but the smallest of margins meant Timmy would not claim another podium finish, rather he would take home a fourth-place finish with Kevin making the cut after Timo Scheider was disqualified for an incident with Andreas Bakkerud. He would cross the finish line in sixth. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull.

The reigning world champion won two of his qualifying races, in Q1 and Q3, to qualify fourth overall and pick up a front row start for the semi-final. A straightforward lights-to-flag run in second place in the second semi-final meant a second-row grid slot for the final, though Timmy was beaten to turn one by both Niclas Grönholm and Robin Larsson and fell to fifth-place.

The fightback began quickly, with Timmy taking the joker on lap one and turning in a sequence of fast laps to put himself back in contention for a podium finish. Sensing the danger, Larsson took the joker [lap] on lap three, only just managing to get out ahead of Timmy as he covered the inside line on the exit of the last corner.

While Timmy missed out on a podium finish he proved a point by snatching fourth from Grönholm on the last lap, sweeping around the outside of the final corner as the Finn emerged from his joker lap.

"In general this weekend I'm extremely happy with what we delivered and the results we got," Timmy Hansen said. "With the pace we had and the launches we had, this was the maximum we could achieve. The team hasn't made a single mistake all weekend, and I haven't made any mistakes on track, so we extracted everything we had."

"That said, we also want more, we want to be able to fight for the top step on the podium. To do that, we need to take one more step with the whole package that we have. There have been good signs but we need to put it together."

"Our launches were better today and the car was better this weekend in general, so we're taking steps. But it's not easy at this level to gain everything that you need to suddenly be at the front." 

"It's about making little steps and this weekend we took several little steps. It's a hard game, we're a small team, but I believe in the crew we have and we'll keep on fighting," he adds.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull.

While Kevin Hansen only made it to the final after Timo Scheider was disqualified. He had nothing to lose and repeated his strategy from the day before, swinging the car out wide on the outside, which had given him second on the track a day earlier. It didn’t quite work this time around, he tucked in behind Timmy into turn three.

There was still pace on display as he caught Grönholm towards the end of the race, but couldn’t find a way past and finished in sixth.

"I feel I have more and can do more, but the starts still aren't quite there. We're lacking a really small amount of pace, not much at all, but it's tough because it makes a big difference to the result," Kevin Hansen said. 

"We did the maximum possible and I still have a very good feeling with the car, which is a great positive, having that full confidence and not making any mistakes. Being in scenario two for FIA Covid-19 protocols this weekend meant we were able to bring Eric Färén with us as an extra team member to help us even more, which has been useful as well."

"It was very disappointing not to get through my semi-final on speed; I felt I had more speed than both Larsson and Grönholm," he adds. "I went to the pre-grid for the final even though I was sure I wouldn't be the one called up if a grid slot opened, so I'm very surprised they called me in. But understanding the rules afterward, going to pre-grid was a great choice!"

“I was a bit more relaxed than I usually am before a race so it took me about a lap to get fully back into my rhythm again. I feel like I had a good run in the final, even if I was maybe a little too aggressive at the first corner. But when you are starting last, there's nothing to lose of course."

Kenneth Hansen, the team principal of Team Hansen admits that his team can learn from their performance in Riga (Latvia), and aim to take a step forward in Spain in a few weeks time. He adds that Team Hansen will not give up just yet. 

"We need to look at what happened, what we learned, and find some further progression before heading to Spain in a few week's time," Hansen said. 

"It's very close this year and we don't have quite the level of performance we would wish for, but we don't give up. We're definitely pushing to get to the front and fight for wins again."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Team Hansen hope "to take a step forward" in Riga.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.

Team Hansen has not had the start to the season that they had hoped for after being crowned champions in 2019. However, after a 3-day test in Sweden, the team aims to take a step forward in Latvia. 

The Hansen brothers have claimed two podium finishes thus far in 2020, with Kevin picking up a second-place finish in Sweden (currently fifth place in the drivers' championship), and reigning World RX champion Timmy scoring third place in finish Finland (ranked fourth in the championship). Their combined efforts have put Team Hansen only 19 points off the top of the teams’ championship with more than half the 2020 season to go.

Latvia will mark the half-way point of this year’s World RX season, as it hosts the third double-header event of the year. 

During the three-week gap since the previous round at Kouvola (Finland), the Hansen's have been hard at work making refinements to their Peugeot 208 WRX Supercars, conducting a three-day test at Lidköpings Motorstadion with their two drivers.

"The start to this season has been a little bit difficult at times but overall it's still been a positive beginning," Timmy Hansen said. "We did a three-day test near the workshop to evaluate the areas we'd been struggling with so far this year, as well as developing some new things. Hopefully, that'll pay off this weekend."

"We've definitely done everything we can to take a step forward for now and although this season is tricky, with there not being much time between the races, the test went well, so I'm excited to see what happens this weekend."

Timmy Hansen returns to Riga, a venue with fond memories after claiming a third-place finish in 2016, and a victory in 2019, which was key to his championship fight. 

"I won here last year which was a key point in taking the world championship, so I'm excited to be coming back to Riga and see how we fare," he said. "With this being another double-header round, we need to be sharp and on the pace from the beginning, as there's no time to make any significant changes between the rounds."

With a return to a track expected to suit the team's Peugeot 208 better than the opening four rounds, the team is hoping for a first win of the year.

"Riga is a very nice track. It has suited us very well in the past; it's more of a high-grip circuit like Loheac, Abu Dhabi and Barcelona, which is the type of circuits we're best at," Kevin Hansen said. "Johan has won here twice in the past of course but I feel that we've got a good car for this track and it should suit us more compared to the tracks we've raced on so far this year."

“We've been testing recently to make improvements in specific areas and we feel like we're arriving in Riga with fewer question marks, which should hopefully bring us a little bit more performance from the first race of the weekend. It looks like it'll be a dry, warm weekend, and it's great to have fans safely back at the track for this event.

“Riga feels a bit like a street circuit; its corners are tight and twisty, with some fast stretches in between, but more than anything you need to watch out for the walls and barriers everywhere," the Swede adds. "There are plenty of run-off areas in Höljes and Kouvola but here, it's a bit like we're competing at the Monaco of rallycross."

The purpose-built Biķernieki circuit in Latvia features the longest lap of the year in both distance and time, with a lap length of 1.295km and a track record time of 48.485s.

"Riga is a bit more like circuit racing compared to what we had in the first two rounds," says  Kenneth Hansen, Team Boss. "It's a challenging track because of how different it is, with it being the longest lap of the season and also the hard jump early in the lap, which requires a delicate set-up balance between softness to cope with the landing but stiffness for grip elsewhere in the lap."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Team Hansen ready to bounce back after 'mixed' season opener.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

Team Hansen are keen bounce back after a weekend of highs and lows in Sweden, as the FIA World Rallycross Championship enters its second phase this weekend with the third and fourth rounds of the season in Finland. 

Whilst Sweden ushered in the new season, it wasn't the smoothest of starts for Timmy Hansen on homesoil. However, his younger brother Kevin lifted the team spirit with a second-place finish in the second round of the championship at the same venue.  

Team boss, Kenneth Hansen believes that his team were at a slight disadvantage compared to their rivals who competed in the RallyX Nordic "Magic Weekend" in Höljes with 2020 specification machinery. 

And while the dust settles on the season opener in Sweden, the World RX championship moves to Finland for the second doubleheader of the season. 

Kouvola's addition to the 2020 calendar was somewhat sudden but also highly welcomed, as other events dropped off the calendar due to complications from the ongoing Covid-19 situation. With past experience at the track for both Timmy and Kevin, it's a favourite circuit of both the team and drivers.

"Kouvola is a great track. It has strong character, good jumps, elevation changes, fast and slow corners, so it's nice to be driving there again. I think I have the lap record there but I'm not sure! I've had some good races there and I'm looking forward to going back," Timmy Hansen said.

The defending champion struggled with traffic all weekend in Sweden, but he firmly believes that Team Hansen has the package to challenge for wins in 2020. 

"I believe we have what it takes in our package to win a couple of races and to be able to fight at the top," he adds. "Last weekend wasn't normal and my hope is Finland is closer to what we would consider 'normal'. The car is still good, so we're hoping for a better result in Finland."

Kouvola is a track of two very distinct halves: the first half almost like Rally Finland, with wide, fast roads featuring jumps, while the second half is tight, twisty and technical.  

Kevin returns to a track with fond memories having made his first appearance at an international-level rallycross event and won his first-ever RX Lites race at the age of 16.  

"Kouvola is quite similar to Höljes, with a lot of elevation changes. I love the track; it's got a good flow and I think we have a good car for it too," Kevin Hansen said.

Having stepped onto the podium in Sweden, the 22-year-old expects to score more podium finishes in Finland but admits that the team needs to keep pushing. 

"I expect we'll be able to score podiums in Finland. That's the aim, and we need to keep on our toes and do the maximum possible," he said. "If we want to reach the podium or score wins, we have to keep pushing step-by-step beyond where we are now."

Whilst Team Hansen did not have the pace they expected in Sweden, rounds 3 and 4 of the condensed calendar will give the team strong motivation to perform at their best. 

"It's good to be back racing so soon after the last round. We didn't have the result we expected last time, so we have strong motivation to be back on track again and trying to perform to our best," Team Hansen team principal, Kenneth Hansen said. "It's going to be quite unusual this time, as it's the first time we're racing with only World RX present and none of the support categories."

"Both Timmy and Kevin know and love this circuit, so they'll have a slight advantage over the drivers who've been here before. But there won't be a big difference compared to the top-calibre drivers who've not raced here before; they'll get into it quickly."

Written By - Junaid Samodien. 

"We expected to have slightly better pace" in Holjes - Kenneth Hansen.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull.

Team Hansen did not have the easiest of starts when the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship season finally got underway in Sweden, with Kevin Hansen leading the team's charge in fourth and reigning champion Timmy Hansen finishing eighth in the drivers' standings after two rounds.  

The reigning champions' hopes were high for a strong result during the return of World RX after an extended break. And while there were signs of strong pace at times, the team's key focus is to find improvements ahead of the third round of the championship this weekend in Finland.

Ultimately circumstances conspired against either reigning world champion Timmy Hansen and his younger brother, Kevin Hansen, from scoring a top result in round 1 on Saturday. Both drivers faced a similar fate at turn two, as Kevin was pushed wide into the joker lap in his semi-final and Timmy spun around in the final.

After overnight fine-tuning for the second round of the season in Holjes, Kevin got off to a much better start compared to his brother who started on the outside in Q1 and ultimately got caught in traffic. Whilst Kevin was consistently in the top five throughout the three qualifying sessions, Timmy worked his way out of the dropzone to ninth place, to qualify for the semi-finals.

Kevin Hansen had a much smoother run in the semi-final compared to his brother who got pushed wide by Andreas Bakkerud on lap one and took the joker lap. Whilst Marklund jokered to cover off Hansen. The GCK Bilstein driver emerged alongside Timmy and the two fought for track position with Hansen coming out on top. Timmy later recovered to fourth-place but after colliding with Andreas Bakkerud and Timur Timerzyanov in an attempt to get the final spot in the final, he was disqualified from the semi-final.

In the thrilling final, Kevin took the joker lap right behind Mattias Ekstrom on lap one in an attempt to jump traffic. A lap later, Robin Larsson, Timo Scheider, and Andreas Bakkerud took the joker lap. With a hard push, Kevin was able to jump Scheider and Bakkerud but emerged from the joker lap on par with Robin Larsson and the two fought all the way around the lap. On lap 5, Larsson ran into some trouble, and in a bold move around the outside of the KYB Team JC driver exiting the velodrome, Kevin took third place, which became second when Johan Kristoffersson was given a five-second penalty for a track marker infringement.

14-time European Rallycross Champion and team boss, Kenneth Hansen believes that despite struggling in some conditions on Saturday (season-opener) and encountering some unexpected issues, the team figured out the issues and were better prepared for the second round on Sunday. 

"I think we adapted very well. Kevin got into a good rhythm and his pace was very stable, pushing really hard. We weren't completely on the pace today (Sunday) but once we make some small adjustments, we'll be there," Kenneth Hansen said. "We continued to learn the upgrades we'd developed and tested; we didn't quite get that right [on Saturday] but today (Sunday) we started going in the right direction."

"I'm quite sure Timmy will be back at the front next weekend, especially as he struggled a bit with having to start on the outside for every race today, which isn't easy."

"We expected to have slightly better pace from the start but we've seen some small things in the car which changed its behaviour quite a lot. We also know that while Höljes is a home track for our team, it's also traditionally been quite a difficult one for us over the years."

The next stop in the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship is Kouvola, Finland. A track that last featured on the World RX calendar in 2014, and an unknown for the teams and drivers, which poses a unique challenge. 

"It will be very interesting to try this car in Finland, to see how well it works around Kouvola, how much speed we can gain there, and how close we can be to the Volkswagen and Audis, with the hope that we'll really give them a fight next week," Kenneth said.

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Ekström wins after thrilling battle with Kristoffersson.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media

Mattias Ekström has beaten Johan Kristoffersson in a thrilling six-lap straight fight for victory in the second round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Holjes. 

The 2016 Champion has been Kristoffersson's biggest rival all weekend. Ekström admitted after round one (yesterday), that he could give Kristoffersson a proper run for his money in a straight fight. 

Ekström started on the second row of the grid after being beaten in semi-final 2 by his teammate Robin Larsson, whilst Kristoffersson started from pole having topped qualifying and winning his semi-final. 

In the final, Larsson had the best launch seeing him, and Kristoffersson fight for track position into turn one. Whilst they fought, Ekström opted for his first lap joker tactic that has worked for him all weekend and gained clean air with only Kevin Hansen behind. 

Larsson went on the attack in the early stages keeping Kristoffersson very honest at the front of the field, but by lap two, the chasing Swede, Timo Scheider, and Andreas Bakkerud took the joker lap. Thus promoting Mattias Ekström into second and clean air with no real distraction. 

From there he was able to post fastest lap after fastest lap reeling in Kristoffersson. On lap 4, Johan had a 2.175-second buffer to Mattias and on lap five responded with the fastest lap of the race to extend the gap to 2.711 seconds, but Mattias eeked closer taking a further four-tenths out of the round one winner. 

In an attempt to drag out a few more tenths, Kristoffersson pushed the limits of the joker lap, but the gap was not enough and he emerged behind Ekström. In a pursuit to try and muscle his way past, the double World Champion tried a number of different lines, but to no avail. 

The pair crossed the line split by 0.194s, but later Kristoffersson was handed a five-second time penalty for hitting two-track markers on the joker lap. 

"Today we made constant adjustments because of the weather, and I have to say that Robin [Larsson] was really contributing and did really good starts. He took me in the semi-final, but then I got clean air in the final, which was key to my win," Ekström said. "I had a clean run and the car worked fine. I heard the gaps to Johan and I could hear that I was reeling him in and then I knew just to bang every lap inch-perfect to beat him and it's quite a pleasure because it's quite a while since someone beat him in that car fair and square because it hasn't happened many times."

"We made a step over the last two years with them [KYB]. To win is what I love and today is a great win!"

Johan Kristoffersson was left with a big smile despite finishing in third-place. 

"It was such a fun final," he said. "First of all, Robin [Larsson] had a good start from there on we had a little bit of a wiggle, so lost a little bit of time in the beginning and then started to push and getting into the rhythm. The car was working fine, so I am happy with that. Then I got the gap to Mattias and I heard that he was really close and then I heard no the radio that I really need to push. Then I got told that I increased the gap a little bit and I am not sure if it was correct or not, and then I had the joker and I knew that I would have to do everything in the joker and I actually cut both the pillars and I was meant to do one, but it turned out to be two and then got a five-second penalty. That was a fight to enjoy!"

Despite his mighty charge in the opening laps, Robin Larsson slowed into the velodrome section, and Kevin Hansen took third with a ballsy outside move soon followed by Timo Scheider. 

"I was there all day challenging the guys ahead a bit, but just not quite enough," Kevin Hansen said. "Then I took advantage of Robin's mistake in the final, and I think it was a pretty bold move around the top (outside) when I did it. I was like... what am I doing? Am I completely crazy or what? It was mega fun. And to get home from Holjes with a podium is great. It's a good start for the team, but we need to keep working hard because we have two fast guys to beat."

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

The 2019 EuroRX Champion ended the final in fifth, while Andreas Bakkerud brought it home in a distant sixth +31.949 seconds behind Ekström.

A heated battle in semi-final two saw reigning World RX champion Timmy Hansen, Timur Timerzyanov, and Anton Marklund not making the cut. 

Timmy Hansen was later disqualified "unsportsmanlike behavior during competition" after pushing both Bakkerud and Timerzyanov in semi-final 2. 

Niclas Gronholm, Krisztian Szabo, and Anton Marklund also failed to advance to the finals. 

The question on everyone's lips after the thrilling final is: Will Mattias Ekström return for the full-season after winning in Sweden? 

"It was only planned for here [In Sweden]," Ekström said. "I will speak to Joel [Christoffersson] when I get back [to the garage]. I still have other commitments, which is clashing with other weekends. Finland, I admit would be nice, but then afterward it looks really difficult unless some of my bosses, friends or partners would like to contribute for me to continue, but for the time being that is not the plan."

Written By Junaid Samodien 

"Our expectation for this year is to continue where we left off in 2019" - Kevin Hansen.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.

Kevin Hansen, the reigning TitansRX and NitroRX champion firmly sets his sights on the ultimate crown in rallycross having finished third in the drivers' championship last year. 

Despite winning the season-opener in 2019, the Swede wasn't able to convert his early championship lead into success, and he ultimately believes that spinning on the joker lap at the British round was a turning point in the title fight. 

Whilst heading into the season finale in Cape Town still in contention for the World RX title, Kevin decided to support his brother in his quest to be world champion and ended the season in third place in the standings. 

Kevin Hansen (yellow) and Timmy Hansen (blue) pictured together in photoshoot.
PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.  

Ahead of the 2020 World Rallycross season-opener in Holjes this weekend, Team Hansen RX unveiled their 2020 livery, featuring the traditional Hansen Motorsport blue, plus light blue accents for Timmy Hansen, while Kevin's Peugeot 208 will feature yellow accents to distinguish the team's two cars this season.

"I think the new livery looks amazing," Kevin Hansen said. "We've tried to make the two liveries look more similar this year, so it looks more like the cars belong to the same team. We are the reigning world champions so we need to present a united front, even more, this year. Mine especially looks really great!"

Holjes is a happy hunting ground for Kevin. The Swede came within +0.338s of winning the World RX of Sweden last year and is excited that the season will kick-off on home soil. 

"To start the season with my home race is very exciting," he said. "We're used to doubleheaders and the team is as well, so this format won't feel like a surprise. It'll be very calm with no fans but if we do well in the final, the celebrations will feel a bit empty, with no-one in the grandstands. We feel all the support from our home fans and we hope they will share their feelings and emotions about World RX's return with us on social media." 

Despite the challenges that the 22-year-old Swede faced in 2019, he is ready for action this season and expects Team Hansen RX to continue where they left off in 2019 having claimed the drivers' and teams' titles. The Swede aims to achieve his ultimate goal this season - to be World Champion. 

"Our expectation for this year is to continue where we left off in 2019. We learned a lot from being in the lead of a world championship and fighting for wins, so I don't feel nervous at all. I feel very comfortable with who I am, what I can achieve, and what I'm capable of doing, so it's just about getting to the track and fine-tuning the car, extracting everything we can from every race. Becoming a world champion is the ultimate goal."

Kevin also explains the reasoning behind switching from race number #71 to #9 in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

"I'm switching to #9 for only one reason this year: the qualifying grid draw. #71 has not performed well in these draws for the past few years, so I felt it was time to try and change that. Hopefully now with #9, which has the best average grid position for Q1 grid draws, this will help make things a little easier for Q1" he said. "I'll always keep #71 in my heart and use that number anywhere else I race, but I need to do everything possible to optimize my performance."

Written By - Junaid Samodien