Timmy Hansen: "It’s been five years with Peugeot, so it’s emotional now that it’s all ending."

Timmy Hansen flying over the jump in Cape Town.
PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

Timmy Hansen wrapped up his World Rallycross Championship career with Peugeot Sport on a negative note after he was forced to retire from the final in Cape Town. 

Hansen claimed third place overall on Saturday, behind his teammate Loeb and Solberg. 

On Sunday, the Swede claimed third place in the third qualifying heat, and a fourth place finish in qualifying four. He progressed to the semi-finals, and finished in second place booking him a slot in the finals. 

Timmy had a good start in the final but unfortunately he had to retire, as he could not avoid contact with Petter Solberg who spun and threw up a lot of dust. 
“Coming out from the dust, I hit Solberg that has done a spin, and that broke my triangle," said Hansen. "I had to retire."

The Swede has been competing in the World RX championship since its inception in 2014 in a Peugeot 208, five long years but in October, Peugeot announced there withdrawal from the championship at the end of the 2018 season. 

"It’s been five years with Peugeot for me, so it’s emotional now that it’s all ending. I am proud of what we have done," says an emotional Hansen. "I am happy for everything that’s been given to me throughout the years; we have some fantastic memories. I am proud of everything we achieved."

Timmy Hansen would have been in the fight for second place in the drivers' standings, but was forced to take two engine penalties [loosing 15 points per new engine] in Latvia and America. He wrapped up the 2018 World Rallycross Championship in sixth place overall. 

"It has been a good season this year again," says Hansen. "I am happy with the overall result, happy for being with the guys at Peugeot Sport, for sharing this journey with them."

Sébastien Loeb signs off with a third place finish in Cape Town.

Sébastien Loeb in front of the Team Peugeot Total garage.
PHOTO CREDIT: JunaidSamodien

Sébastien Loeb has signed off his World RX Championship career with Team Peugeot Total on a high, claiming a third place finish in Cape Town. 
The Frenchman claimed his 7th podium from 12 events in 2018, which includes the victory in Belgium. 

At the start of the 2018 season. Team Peugeot Total introduced a baseline Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar, but only introduced the evolution of its baseline specification at the Swedish round in late June. 

The new Peugeot 208 WRX Evo showed some strong speed, but the team were working on ironing out the minor kinks. At the Canadian round of the World RX championship, both Loeb and Timmy Hansen stood on the podium for the team.

Loeb went on to claim a podium in Latvia, and claimed a third place finish at the season finale in Cape Town.

“The car was good here [World RX of South Africa], very fast, but we already proved that throughout the year," said Loeb. "We have been working hard on this programme, made significant changes to the Peugeot 208 WRX in mid-season, and I think for our first official season we put in a good performance."

On Saturday in Cape Town, Loeb claimed victory in the first qualifying round, and a fifth place finish in the second qualifying round, which saw him claim the overnight lead. 

Sébastien did not hold back on Sunday, but finished second in the qualifying 3 and 4 heats behind the 2018 World Champion Johan Kristoffersson. With both Loeb and Kristoffersson tied on qualifying points... Who would take the top qualifiers spot?? The authorities performed a count back on the number of wins, and Johan Kristoffersson claimed the top qualifiers spot. 

Loeb finished second in semi-final 2 and booked his place the final. 

"In this last race, we were again very competitive and in the fight from start to finish,"  the Frenchman said. "It was a good weekend and 3rd overall is a good result, especially as everything is always so linked to that first corner, and it was messy again in the final." 

Sébastien Loeb has been the only driver able to deprive Johan Kristoffersson of a clean sweep of wins this season. "I am honestly happy about today and about this season," says Loeb. "Just one victory this year is still one victory!"

In October, Peugeot announced that they will withdrawal from the World Rallycross Championship at the end of the 2018 season, which has left the Hansen brothers and Loeb without a race seat for 2019. However, the Frenchman has set his sights on other challenges and a possible re-entry into the World RX championship with a privateer team. 

"I don’t know what I will do next year: for sure it wasn’t great news about the end of the programme, but I will find some other challenges, probably as a privateer,” he concludes.

Kevin Hansen: “It was amazing to get to the final once again!"

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

Team Peugeot Total's young driver and individual entrant Kevin Hansen, claimed a fourth place finish at the 2018 Gumtree World Rallycross of South Africa. 

The 20-year-old Swede secured an eighth place finish in the overall drivers' championship standings, just one point shy of Niclas Gronholm in seventh overall. 

“It was amazing to get to the final once again!," said Kevin Hansen. "I am so pleased to have got the car into the final for my crew; it was really the main goal every weekend. I was challenging for the podium again, but finishing with a 4th place is still nice, as it equals my best result this season."

Despite the strong end to the season, Hansen's future in the World RX championship remains in doubt after Peugeot announced their withdrawal from the sport. But, the young Swede is happy to have learnt and grown in a factory backed team.

"At 20 years old, being in a factory team, you learn a lot! I will take all this experience to grow," said Hansen. "I think it will be very important to help prepare myself to become world champion as soon as possible."

Kevin Hansen confirmed that there are no solid plans to compete in the 2019 World RX championship, as yet. 

GRX Taneco secures fourth in the teams' championship.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien.

GRX Taneco with two new Hyundai i20 Supercars secured fourth place in the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

“What a season!” said Jussi Pinomäki, GRX Taneco Team Manager. “We started from scratch and I’m proud of where we are today. It was a huge challenge and everyone on the team has contributed to this year’s success, all working with determination and real passion."

The World RX of South Africa proved to be a challenge for the team, but they achieved their goal with Timur Timerzyanov making it through to the semi-finals once again. 

Saturday, was a day to forget for the team. Grönholm was in 14th place after getting caught up in the traffic and losing a lot of time in the first corner, while teammate Timerzyanov,  dropped to P16 after a puncture and finished 15th overall at the end of the day. 

“We had a good start but with the dust, visibility was very poor and I hit the barrier before the jump, landing on the side. That’s what caused the puncture to the rear left tyre. It was my fault…” said Timerzyanov. 

In Q3, Grönholm got off to a good start but found himself caught in traffic at Turn One again. He battled hard to catch up but the Finn could only finish 14th and dropped out of the Top 12 in the overall standings. He finished P12 after Q4, so just missed out on the semi-final. 

”I really hoped for much better in this last race. It’s the first time that I’ve failed to make it into the semis this season,” said Grönholm.”I just couldn’t find my pace this weekend and I had real trouble getting round that first corner ahead of the others each race, so I lost a lot of valuable time. I’d like to thank GRX Taneco."

"The team has done a fantastic job all year. It’s been a privilege to have worked with the team,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Grönholm's teammate Timerzyanov with a skillful drive in Q3, finished in eighth moving him up from 15th to ninth position in the overall standings. 

In the final qualifying [Q4] session, he came in 11th, enough to put him through to the semi-final. He started from the back but scrambled up to fourth place in the first semi-final. It was not enough for Russian to progress to the final but he can still be pleased with his performance in South Africa.  

”I’m delighted to end the season on a high note,” said Timerzyanov. “We managed to make it back up the standings after a tough first day and my ticket for the semis was a great reward. Of course, it would have been amazing to get through to the final but, starting from the back, it was too much of a challenge. It’s been a demanding year and each one of us has given their all to make the season a success."

"I’d like to thank the whole team!” the Russian concluded.

Andreas Bakkerud called up for Audi DTM rookie test.

Andreas Bakkerud sliding his EKS Audi Sport S1 Quattro Supercar.
PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien.

FIA World Rallycross driver Andreas Bakkerud headlines a list of six drivers that have been called up by Audi for the end-of-season DTM rookie test.

The six drivers will be given the opportunity to test a Audi RS 5 DTM on track in Jerez from December 10–12. 

Bakkerud has to date won six events and has been a regular World RX frontrunner since the series' inception in 2014. The Norwegian joined Mattias Ekstrom's Audi factory supported EKS team in 2018. Bakkerud's future in World RX is uncertain after Audi announced there withdrawal of factory support to the EKS outfit, and Ekstrom announced that he does not know the future of his EKS team for 2019.  

Joining Bakkerud on the list of six drivers is three-time Le Mans winner and former champion of the Japanese Super GT, Benoît Tréluyer, as well as GT and touring car racer Frederic Vervisch.

Vervisch has been successful in the Audi Sport customer racing program with WRT over the years.

In addition, Vincent Vosse’s Team WRT who are joining the DTM grid in 2019, will use its first opportunity to attend a test in order to prepare for the championship.

Audi have also named three young drivers who will also test the RS5 DTM car. 

Italian Mattia Drudi, who finished in the runner-up spot to Lance Stroll, and left a strong impression in the Audi R8 LMS this season.

Two Formula 3 drivers will also be behind the wheel of the Audi DTM machine: Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg and Jonathan Aberdein from South Africa. 

Audi are yet to announce their 2019 DTM driver line-up.

Ekström claims runners-up title with second place in World RX season finale.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

EKS Audi Sport's Mattias Ekström once again claimed the runners-up title in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX). The Swede also finished the final race of the season in Cape Town in second place behind the 2018 World Champion Johan Kristoffersson.

Mattias Ekström started the final from the back row, but he never gave up and fought his way to second place. The Swede overtook Sébastien Loeb on the opening lap. Shortly after, he also caught and passed Petter Solberg.

“We actually came to Cape Town to win the race,” said Ekström. “We were fast throughout the entire weekend, but somehow didn’t get into the right rhythm. In the finale things finally fell into place. Second is a fantastic result and a good end to a long season, in which Johan (Kristoffersson) was always a small step ahead. Even so, I’m extremely proud of the entire team: We extracted the maximum from our resources. It was also a fabulous year with Andreas (Bakkerud). We had a lot of fun together and have something to celebrate this evening.”

After four qualifying round, Ekström teammate Andreas Bakkerud was one place in front of Ekström and had reduced the deficit from four to three points in the race for silver. 

In the semi-finals, Bakkerud hit the back of Kevin Hansen and was forced to park his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro suffering front right suspension damage. He nevertheless clinched third place in the drivers’ world championship.

“I touched Kevin Hansen and damaged my car’s steering. It’s a great shame that I had to give up in the semi-final. Despite all this I’m extremely satisfied with my year," said Bakkerud. "I finished third in the World Championship and working together with EKS Audi Sport was fantastic throughput the whole year. The mechanics, the chef, the media team, the truckie – each and everyone did a perfect job. And above all of course Mattias who I warmly congratulate for the World Championship runner-up title.”

After securing second place in the teams' standings, Mattias announced his withdrawal from the World Rallycross Championship, as a full-time driver. 

Audi also announced earlier this year that they will withdraw factory support to the EKS squad. 

“That was probably the last race for EKS Audi Sport as a factory-supported team in the World Rallycross Championship,” said Mattias Ekström. “After five amazing years it’s a very emotional moment for all of us. But I think we concluded this fantastic chapter with style today.”

Speedmachine 2019 early bird tickets have now gone on sale.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

Early bird tickets have gone on sale from today for the 2019 Speedmachine Festival at Silverstone, offering World RX fans the best possible rates for the UK round of the all-action FIA World Rallycross Championship.

An epic weekend of motorsport, music, street food and entertainment, Speedmachine Festival effortlessly fuses fast cars and the world’s finest drivers with some of the hottest acts around and a whole host of family-friendly off-track activities to enjoy. What’s more, the second edition of the ultimate adrenaline-fuelled weekender is set to build upon the success of a hugely popular debut this year.

The 2019 event will take place on 25/26 May, and early bird tickets are now on sale for a limited time – beginning at £30 for a day pass.

Fans can similarly purchase weekend tickets, which provide grandstand seats for the whole weekend. After the initial pre-sale period, public sales will launch at 10am on 5 December.

“After the success of the inaugural Speedmachine Festival last year, we are fully focused on pulling out all the stops to make the 2019 edition even more spectacular," said World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy. "We are busy putting the finishing touches to what promises to be a superb weekend of entertainment both on and off-track, with many more exciting announcements to come over the following weeks and months.”

For further information on Speedmachine Festival and what fans have to look forward to – including news on headline acts, camping and more – head to Speedmachine.com for all the latest updates and announcements for what promises to be an incredible weekend. 

REVIEW: The Super Swede Kristoffersson's record breaking run continues in South Africa.

The 2018 Gumtree World RX of South Africa FINAL
PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

The 2017/18 FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson claimed victory at the World RX of South Africa, in the championships final round in Cape Town.

Kristoffersson claimed victory in Cape Town last year, and came back fighting after a challenging Q1 session finishing 16th overall due to a turbo issue. 

The Swede hit back after Q2 winning the session. He later claimed two of the quickest qualifying times to claim his eighth TQ (top qualifier) of the season. Kristoffersson claimed victory in the semi-final, but no one could come close to his superb speed.

After topping the semi-final round, Johan started on pole with his teammate Solberg alongside him on the front row. Kristoffersson had a good start and took the lead into Turn 1... He went on to cement himself in the record books with his 11th win of the 12 round championship. 

“I have to say today is quite emotional. This season comes to an end and it’s been a fantastic year for me, really the world championship title sinks in a little bit more now. I really have to thank this great team, they have done everything for me,” said Kristoffersson. “Without them it wouldn’t be possible. I have said that so many times since my first victory in Belgium 2017, but this one meant a lot to me.”

Mattias Ekstrom [EKS Audi Sport] started on the third row of the grid for the final and slotted into second in the race with a strong start. With the second place finish, the Swede secured second in the World RX Drivers’ Championship. 

The Swede was pleased to finish his year and World RX career on the podium. “We actually came to Cape Town to win the race. We were fast throughout the entire weekend, but somehow didn’t get into the right rhythm,” said Ekstrom. “In the final things finally fell into place. Second is a fantastic result and a good end to a long season, in which Johan was always a small step ahead. Even so, I’m extremely proud of the entire team: We extracted the maximum from our resources. It was also a fabulous year with Andreas.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

Sebastien Loeb [Team Peugeot Total] completed his third full World RX season with another podium and finished ahead of team mate Kevin Hansen in the final.

“The car was good here, we improved it all year and since the middle of the season we have changed a lot of things,” said Loeb. “I think we had good performance, we tried to improve some details and here in the last race were really competitive. I had a good weekend and finally to be third overall, I’m happy.”

Petter Solberg [PSRX Volkswagen Sweden] won the Monster Energy Supercharge Award for having the fastest reaction time at the start of the final, but retired on the second lap after a spin involving Timmy Hansen. 

Timmy Hansen [Team Peugeot Total] qualified for the final and started alongside teammate Loeb on the second row of the grid for the final but retired after contact with Solberg’s car.

The highest of the privateer teams is GC Kompetition’s Anton Marklund who finished fourth in the semi-finals and didn’t progress to the final. He was classified in eighth place.

Janis Baumanis slotted into ninth place in the overall classification, with Timo Scheider in tenth, Timur Timerzyanov in 11th and Guerlain Chicherit in 12th overall.

Oliver Bennett clipping the Pylons and sliding towards the barriers.
PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien.

GRX’s Niclas Gronholm failed to achieve his goal of securing a place in the final and finished in 13 overall, followed by Olsbergs MSE’s Kevin Eriksson and Robin Larsson in 14th and 15th respectively. Rene Munnich slotted into 16th.

Gregoire Demoustier [Sebastien Loeb Racing’s] finished his first full World RX season in 17th overall in South Africa, while Xite Racing's Oliver Bennett was not classified after a bad weekend. 

The Brit failed to finish in Q1 and Q2. He then posted the slowest time in Q3 after clipping a few yellow pylons and he went into the barrier at the exit of Turn 6 (joker lap). Due to the damage sustained, he failed to start in the fourth and final qualifying round. 

Loeb sets his sights on other challenges outside World RX.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

Nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb has set his sights on other challenges following Peugeot's withdrawal from the FIA World Rallycross Championship at the end of the 2018 season.

The Frenchman was the only driver capable of preventing the 2018 FIA World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson from claiming a 100% win record. 

He won 2 rounds in his World RX career, and claimed 19 podium appearances to date. 

With an uncertain future ahead for Loeb, he has targeted other challenges, and had  announced earlier this year that he will compete in the 2019 Dakar Rally, in a privateer Peugeot after the manufacturer withdrew at the end of the 2018 event. 

"Yes, its a private programme, because at the moment or next year, I don't know exactly what I will do," said Loeb. "I have been put in the same position as Mattias [Ekstrom]. Peugeot decided to retire from World Rallycross, so that was not great news for us and the team, but its like that, so I need to find some other challenges and I decided to go to Dakar with a private car."

Sébastien Loeb is aware of the challenges that awaits him at the 2018 Dakar Rally in a privateer entry, but relishes the opportunity to compete against the manufacturer teams. 

"For sure it will be different conditions then last year, but its a nice challenge. Its exciting to arrive and to try and fight with the manufacturers," the Frenchman said.

Loeb is uncertain about his future in the World RX, but has hinted of a potential privateer entry in the World Rallycross Championship, but is under no illusion that it will be easy.

"No idea at the moment. For sure I will think to try and build something with the cars and try to run it also as private, but its difficult to find all that we need to do it," said Loeb. "So, for the moment nothing is done. Its complicated!"  

Ekstrom ends full-time World RX career.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien 

The 2016 FIA World Rallycross Champion Mattias Ekstrom has called time on his World RX career as a full-timer. 

Ekstrom finished second at the World RX of South Africa, and clinched second in the drivers' standings. 

"This will be my last World RX race as a full timer," said Ekstrom. "It was a quite happy end as well."

Ekstrom, a two-time DTM Champion entered the World Rallycross Championship with his own EKS [Ekstrom] team in 2014.

"For me I think I had a fantastic five-years as a driver here and I think for the moment its time for me to close the chapter off and look for other championships," the Swede said.

Audi partnered with EKS for the 2018 season, but later in August [2018] announced their withdrawal from the EKS programme.

"What will happen with the team? We are still not 100% sure, but as soon as we have something to say, we will tell this as well," said Ekstrom. 

The Swede competed in 50 World RX championship rounds, in where he claimed 10 wins and 22 podiums. 

"You know, its been a big chapter of my life and I enjoyed a lot of the battles," said Ekstrom. 

Mattias labelled his on-track World RX battles with Sebastien Loeb as his favourite. 

"I would say my best and favourite battles were with Sebastien [Loeb], he was probably the most fair and the ones I enjoyed the most," said Ekstrom. "The ones with Petter [Solberg] I enjoyed in the beginning and then it got emotional, but that's the part of racing, and also Johan [Kristoffersson] and some other guys had great battles."

"And, again its nice to see all the people from the team here. When you know its for the last time, its something special," he concluded. 

Timo Scheider targets a full-time World RX drive.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien

Double DTM Champion and FIA World Rallycross driver, Timo Scheider has set his sights on a full-time FIA World Rallycross drive for the future. 

Scheider made sporadic appearances in the 2015 and 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship with Münnich Motorsport. The following season (2017), he signed with MJP Racing Team Austria for a full 2017 campaign.

The German returned to World RX in 2018 with the Münnich Motorsport team, but only competed in few rounds. 

"All of you know what I love (rallycross) but for sure, I am trying everything to be back full-time," said Scheider. "But like you all know that we are facing a pretty difficult time in motorsport generally and every category around the world."

Timo believes that motorsport (in general) should fight for its future, but firmly believes that the FIA World Rallycross Championship has a good future.

"I think we should fight for the future because this kind of category has a good future and this is what I would like to see. If the name Timo Scheider is with it, we will see," the German concluded. 

Logistical issues complicate PSRX Volkswagen Sweden's weekend.

PHOTO CREDIT: Junaid Samodien (phone image)

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden have had a nightmare start to their weekend, after their cars and equipment had not arrived on time, and was stuck on a container ship waiting to dock in Cape Town.

The team missed scrutineering and also missed an afternoon shakedown session. 

Pernilla Solberg, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team principal: “Right now, the cars are still on the boat in the team’s two containers.” 

“The cars were collected as planned from Hannover on October 23. They were originally scheduled to leave Antwerp to arrive in Cape Town on November 14," said Pernilla Solberg. "For some reason, our two shipping containers didn’t make it onto that boat. Instead, they were put on the boat a week later.”

Reports suggested that the ships weren't able to dock due to high winds. 

“On Wednesday (November 21), which would have still given us time to get the containers off and everything set up," said Pernilla. "Unfortunately, the ship then encountered bad weather on the way down here and even now, high winds are making it difficult for the boat to dock.”

A long night and morning is in store for the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team to be fully prepared for the opening day of racing tomorrow. 

The PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo R Supercars arriving.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross

“We are completely in the hands of the weather and the shipping company. As soon as the boat comes in we will bring the container with the cars in straight to the track and start working on preparing the cars for practice tomorrow," says Solberg. "But, obviously, we will have to get the cars scrutineered first.”

The team have had no equipment or cars at the circuit. Today, was basically sitting around and a few media interviews. However, the team is raring to go racing...

“It was already complicated to try to make the silver this weekend, but now it’s got even more complicated. It’s so disappointing," said Petter Solberg. "Johan and me, we are here, we are ready to go, but we just have no car to drive!”


Petter Solberg will incur a 15 point penalty for an engine change after Buxtehude issues, and will be a point above Sebastien Loeb in the race for second place in the championship. 

"We have the chance to make the perfect year: teams’ title and gold and silver in the drivers’, but that is getting more and more complicated by the minute," says Pernilla Solberg. "To be honest, it’s a nightmare.”

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden have officially confirmed that the cars and equipment have now officially arrived at the Killarney International Raceway.

2018 Gumtree World Rallycross of South Africa - TRACK WALK.

The 2018 Gumtree World Rallycross of South Africa gets underway tomorrow at the Killarney International Raceway, with 18 of the best World Rallycross international drivers and 16 RX2 series drivers. 

Let's take a walk around the 1.067 KM circuit, which consists of 60% asphalt and 40% dirt. 

The staging area.

Ready... Line up on the grid gents!

The World Rallycross of South Africa GRID.

POLE POSITION... watch those lights and its GO GO GO! 

Its a long run down to Turn 1. 

We have now approached Turn 1.

Kerb your enthusiasm gents..... 

Kevin Hansen carried quite some speed into Turn 1 and slid into the lead at the exit of Turn 2 in 2017.

Turn 2... Drivers will head onto asphalt. 

Sharp kerbs... Could they lead to punctures? 

From Turn 2... Its an immediate onto the dirt section and into Turn 3.

Heading to the jump.

A rear view of the jump.

From the jump, you are straight onto the merge between dirt and asphalt.

Its still a long way to go before you reach the tight turn 4/5

You have arrived Turn 4/5

Looking back at Turn 4.

You choose... The joker or standard lap

Its rather tight taking the joker lap.

The joker lap on the outside and a dirt standard lap.

The standard lap on dirt with the sharp kerbs. 

A bit twisty on the joker lap

The joker and standard lap merge... Where in 2017 Solberg and Ekstrom had a prang.

A look back at the standard and joker lap merge. 

Its a distance to Turn 7 and 8. 

Fairly tight.. isn't it? 

A look back at Turns 7 and 8.

Its a dash to the line... 

Little bumps if you run wide.

AND....... across the line.