Kristoffersson aims to extend championship lead in Riga.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.

Johan Kristoffersson heads to Riga with a seventeen point advantage in the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship over Mattias Ekström, with one aim in mind - to extend the championship lead. 

The two-time World Champion has been nothing short of spectacular this season having claimed the converted top qualifiers spot in all four rounds thus far, and was only able to convert two pole position starts to victories. 

With a win in Höljes and one in Kouvola, he has amassed 111 points, compared to Mattias Ekström on 94 points and Niclas Grönholm's on 76 points. 

"Many points are up for grabs this weekend but I hope to keep the distance", Kristoffersson said.

With two doubleheaders, the first in Sweden followed by Finland two weeks ago, it has been a very demanding start to the season for all involved due to the compressed 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

"I was really exhausted coming home from Finland, but during a bike ride a couple of days later I found my way back to normal," he said. 

The Swede has not had it all his own way thus far despite a dominant performance in qualifying. In Kouvola (Finland), his Volkswagen Polo suffered from a mechanical issue, which the team was able to solve ahead of the semi-finals and final. 

To get ahead of the double world champion, Ekström and Grönholm had to capitalize on joker lap tactics and mistakes from the Swede to get ahead and ultimately win. 

While Kristoffersson rues these missed opportunities in Sweden and Finland, he is eager to get ahead of the game with a full analysis programme ahead of the Latvian doubleheader this weekend. 

"I always do a lot of analysis and this track gives you a great output if you do your job right," he said. "Lately, my office has looked like a surveillance center, with all the screens, servers, and hard drives."

"There are a lot of details in this track, with a racing character, but more technical than for example Lohéac. I look at my own performances, but also analyze my competitors. We all have different backgrounds, from rally and racing to rallycross, and every driver makes their own considerations. You have to pick the best options."

Johan has great memories from the Bikernieki circuit, where he secured his first championship title in 2017 and returned for another win in 2018. 

"17th September 2017, a day to be remembered, and coming back in 2018 was a special feeling as well," he adds.

Tommy Kristoffersson, the team boss of Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS is well aware of the importance of the weekend in Latvia and has bolstered the team with more personnel from Volkswagen Motorsport in a pursuit for the much desired third crown. A good result in Riga can put Johan in a great position for the rest of the season.

"We have boosted our team with even more knowledge from Volkswagen Motorsport, the best there is, which of course also includes our own guys, who have worked tirelessly so far," Timmy Kristoffersson said. "We are ready to fight!"

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Portugal World Rallycross round cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Portuguese round of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar has been cancelled.

Montalegre was set to host the eighth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship on 10-11 October (2020) after a one-year hiatus but the event has now been cancelled due to ongoing concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

"In light of continued global health concerns regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the current evolution of the pandemic in Portugal, the new State of Contingency enforced by the Portuguese authorities starting September 15 th, which brings new freedom of travel limitations and stricter public gathering rules, the World Rallycross of Portugal 2020, scheduled to be hosted at Montalegre International Circuit on 10-11 October, will unfortunately not take place this year," the event organizers statement said.

"The health and safety of everyone involved remain the priority as we navigate these unprecedented circumstances."

Due to the ever-changing situation surrounding the Coronavirus, the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar has undergone a number of changes, and Portugal is one of them. However, despite the cancellation of the event this year. Montalegre will return to the calendar in 2020, according to the event organizers. 

"We very much look forward to welcoming the drivers, teams, and fans to the Montalegre International Circuit for this world-class event in 2021," the statement concluded.

The revised calendar will see Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona hosting the fourth doubleheader (rounds seven and eight) followed by the World RX of Benelux at Spa-Francorchamps, which was moved to November in order to allow more fans to attend followed by the season finale at the Nurburgring (Germany) in mid-December. 

Written By Junaid Samodien

Will Mattias Ekström return for Riga doubleheader?

PHOTO CREDIT: JC Raceteknik

Mattias Ekström made an unexpected return to the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship after Jānis Baumanis ran into COVID-19 related funding problems and is therefore unable to complete the full season with KYB Team JC. 

Ekström has achieved a lot of success in his career having won two DTM titles and a World Rallycross title in 2016. The Swede competed in a number of motorsport disciplines from Swedish Touring Cars to DTM, WRC, NASCAR, and even V8 Supercars. 

In 2013, he branched out into rallycross where he competed in the Swedish round of the European Rallycross Championship in Höljes, finishing second. He subsequently announced that he was establishing his own EKS RX team to compete in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The team made their debut at the Norwegian round of the 2014 European Rallycross Championship where Ekström claimed an 11th-place finish. He returned for the German round of the championship where he claimed victory. 

He also claimed a victory at the Swedish round of the World RX championship that same year followed up with a second-place finish in Germany. 

2015 saw the Swede return for all but two World RX events, and won his home round in Sweden for the second year in a row. 

In his first full World RX season in 2016, Ekström claimed four event wins on his way to the 2016 Drivers' Championship title. The 2017 and 18 seasons would see him finish second in the championship behind Johan Kristoffersson. 

In 2018, Ekström retired from DTM to focus on his rallycross team, and with factory support from Audi Sport, all seemed rosy. Until Audi Sport announced that they will withdraw from the sport at the end of the 2018 season, which subsequently lead to the Swede announcing that he will call time on his full-time World RX career. 

After catching a glimpse of World RX on his couch in 2019, the Swedish champion returned for an outing at the World RX of Benelux at Spa-Francorchamps with JC Raceteknik in the Audi S1 that carried him to the 2016 title. 

Ekström jumps Kristoffersson to win in Sweden.
PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.

JC Raceteknik later acquired a further five Audi S1 Quattro Supercars from EKS RX to launch a new team named, KYB Team JC. And, whilst plans were to have reigning European Rallycross Champion Robin Larsson and Jānis Baumanis in the pair of Audi S1 Supercars. Baumanis was unable to provide the necessary funding to compete in the full World RX campaign due to COVID-19 related problems, and therefore the Swedish outfit required a driver at short notice to step into his place. 

The team principal of KYB Team JC, Joel Christoffersson called upon the services of Mattias Ekström, who he knows comes with a lot of experience, tips, and tricks, and he also knows the Audi S1 Supercars quite well.

In the Höljes doubleheader, he claimed a second-place finish in round one followed by a victory in round 2. Mattias returned for the second World RX doubleheader in Finland where he claimed a seventh-place finish in round three and a second-place finish in round four. With these strong results, the Swede is currently placed second in the drivers' standings.

The question on everyone's lips after the first four rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship is: Should Mattias Ekström return for the Latvian round of the championship or the full 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship? 

It’s a rather difficult question to answer, purely because Mattias once owned a team (EKS RX) where he could make those sorts of decisions. This time around it’s slightly different because he’d be required to bring along the necessary funding in order to race for the team. 

Whilst Ekström comes with a wealth of experience and is a master tactician, unfortunately, it counts for nothing. The Audi S1 supercars now owned by KYB Team JC were also built and developed around Mattias in 2018, which gives him an upper hand over teammates.  

Mattias Ekström did not expect to race in Sweden this year and has other commitments that will clash with the 2020 World RX season. Could we see him return for the Latvian rounds of the season?

"There’s no plan for what happens next," Ekström said. "I know that there are other people that want to drive this car in Riga, so that could also be an option. I think it will be a little while before we decide."

KYB Team JC's Joel Christoffersson would like Mattias to continue but is aware that budget and other commitments could get in way of the 2016 Champion. 

"The question I keep getting asked is about the future of Mattias in the team. It would be brilliant if he continued with KYB Team JC, but it also looks tough for him, both with budget and other commitments, so we will have to see," Joel Christoffersson said. "We have a week or so to find a solution for Riga, otherwise we need to find an alternative."

While we have no solid answer to this question. There is no doubt that many fans would really like to see Mattias Ekström complete the full season with KYB Team JC. 

Should he return for the remaining rounds of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship, we are likely to see a close title fight to the checkered flag in Germany (season finale). 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

"No point to cry over spilt milk" as Ekström claims second-place finish in challenging Kouvola double header.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX. 

2016 World Champion Mattias Ekström finished second in round four of the World Rallycross Championship at Kouvola in Finland, while KYB Team JC maintained their lead in the Teams’ championship standings.

With four races in nine days for the start of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the third and fourth rounds were held in Finland.

On day one, Ekström was again straight on the pace and qualified second in the Intermediate Classification, then was second in the semi-finals, but a rare electrical problem on the second lap saw him retire from the race. Robin Larsson had initially struggled on the Tykkimäki Circuit but made a great start in Q3 to set the second-fastest time. And, despite making the semi-finals, he retired with a puncture.

The heavens opened for round four of the championship (on Sunday), and in wet and tricky conditions, Ekström qualified third and was second in his semi-final to make it into the final. In the final, he pushed hard throughout the race and in a battle for the podium positions in the final corner, finished second behind Niclas Gronhölm. 

"Finishing second feels pretty okay. It's no secret that I compete to win, and to come second is very close. On Saturday things looked good in the semi-finals, but then the day came to an abrupt end, which was not fun for any of us," Ekström said. "Today I thought we made good laps, but didn’t have perfect starts. That makes things difficult. But, we had good speed this weekend and that’s always positive."

"Of course we want to be at the top of the championship, and to see Johan [Kristoffersson] pull away is not what we want, but there is no point to cry over spilt milk."

Reigning EuroRX champion Robin Larsson had a more difficult time. He was ninth in the Intermediate Classification after the four qualifiers but finished fifth in his semi-final when the windscreen wipers stopped working in the muddy conditions.

"It hasn’t been an easy weekend for me, things just haven’t been going my way. When you have double-header events there are not many opportunities to make changes because the days are quite intense," Larsson said. 

"On Saturday we had good pace in Q3, but I had a puncture in the semi-final. Then on Sunday I was unlucky with the start positions and didn’t really find the pace we wanted."

"I had a place for the final in the bag on Sunday but the windscreen wipers broke, and that was it. Now I’m focused on Riga and I’m fully motivated. There are still many points to race for."

Larsson believes that the only way he can improve is to compare himself to teammate Mattias Ekström.

"It’s been good to have someone like Mattias to compare myself with. Because of that, I’ve been able to see what I’m doing wrong and work on it. Without him there, it would be easy to get grumpy and more frustrated."

KYB Team JC continues to lead the Teams’ Championship, by 19 points, whilst Ekström is also still second in the Drivers’ Championship. Larsson is now sixth.

"We have a good lead in the Teams’ championship, even if we gave away a few points there. We will continue to work hard before Riga, we seem to have a car that will suit us there," Joel Christoffersson, KYB Team JC, Team Principal, said. "But, unfortunately in the Drivers’ championship, we lost a lot of points to Johan. But after the problems we had on Saturday, we have to live with that and use it to motivate us to work even harder."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

"We’ve made many, many steps in the right direction" - Andreas Bakkerud.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.

The Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel has made steps in the right direction after a difficult start to the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

The doubleheader in Sweden saw Andreas Bakkerud qualify for the final, and finish in the position he started - 6th, while his teammate Liam Doran had a weekend to forget after his Megane R.S. RX suffered from a number mechanical failures. 

Round 3 in Kouvola-Finland saw Doran claim an eight-place finish after Q1, but that is where his luck ended. The British Bomb retired from Q2 with prop shaft failure, while Q3 saw him retire from the session with a broken rim and broken rear upright due to contact at turn one. 

Andreas Bakkerud on the other hand had a much smoother Saturday with consistent top-ten finishes in the three qualifying heats and ranked seventh in the intermediate classification meaning he was through to the semi-finals, while his teammate was done for the day. 

Sunday (round 4) got off to a costly start after the FIA Stewards fined the team €5,000 for a breach of the COVID-19 supplementary regulations. 

However, in a statement issued to DirtFish.com, GCK explained the reason for the breach of COVID-19 regulations: "Some of our team members missed this morning’s temperature check at the entrance gate by mistake, having used a different gate that was open to enter the circuit."

"Having arrived from a different direction today, the team members entered through the first open gate leading to their team structure to start their working day.

"However, this gate was not manned and the guys therefore missed their morning temperature check. Upon realizing, they were asked to go and retake their tests, which of course everyone did promptly and successfully."

Round 4 of the championship got off to a wet start in Kouvola. A wet day that brought tons of action and an epic comeback from Liam Doran who fought his way from 17th to 14th overall. 

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX. 

In a bold call on a moist track, Doran bolted on a set of slicks and immediately went backwards off the line to finish the session 13th overall. The Brit drove a fantastic Q2, and while leading, his hopes went rolling away after a broken wheel bearing sent him sliding off the track. 

Speaking to Niel Cole, World RX paddock reporter directly after the race, Doran said: "I might as well stay at home and let someone else drive. I don't know how much longer I can do this."

Doran came out swinging in Q3 posting the fifth fastest time, but it wasn't enough to see the him progress to the semi-finals. He missed out on a spot in the semi-finals by 5 points. 

"Happy with that clean last run today," Doran said. "I think it showed that the car and I have the pace to perform, we just haven’t been able to put it fully together yet and perform as a pair. We changed the car’s set up throughout the day and you could definitely feel the difference in the last qualifier."

Meanwhile, Andreas Bakkerud claimed a ninth-place finish in round 3, and mounted a fightback on Sunday in the wet conditions.

Bakkerud claimed a second-place finish behind Mattias Ekstrom in Q1, which slotted him into fifth-place overall. Despite some challenges with traction at the start, Q2 saw Bakkerud put down a great run boldly overtaking Hansen on the last lap to finish in 3rd.

Q3 saw, Andreas finish in second just ahead of Timmy Hansen, which saw the Norweigan claiming a spot in the semi-final with a fifth-place finish overall. 

The Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel driver would line-up in the fastest semi-final with the likes of Mattias Ekstrom, Johan Kristoffersson, etc. And despite crossing the line in fourth-place, Juha Rytkonen was handed a five-second penalty, which promoted the Norwegian to the final. 

The final didn't quite go the way Bakkerud expected despite sneaking up the inside of Timur Timerzyanov and Timmy Hansen at turn one. Timur fought back into turn two pushing Andreas wide, with Timmy getting through. From there, he was unable to make any progress after his windscreen was filled with mud meaning he would race all the way to the checkered flag blind and would finish the final in sixth-place. 

"Overall, we’ve made many, many steps in the right direction - we didn’t have any big technical issues but the super tricky conditions impacted our overall performance," Bakkerud said. "We’re proud to have put the car into the final to fight against 5 top drivers and this is where I think we should play all the time."

"Considering the quickly changing conditions, I think we tactically played our cards right but had some small issues in the semi-finals and finals, which we need to analyse further and work on ahead of Riga. I have full confidence that we will be spraying champagne at the end of the day there."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

UNKORRUPTED make strides in right direction.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.

UNKORRUPTED has made strides in the right direction after a difficult start to the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

For the first time since 2014, the tight and technical Kouvola track (Finland) returned to the championship, bringing along with it a driver change at UNKORRUPTED. 

Despite Rokas Baciuska's 11th-place finish in Sweden, he took a step back and made way for Dutchman Kevin Abbring who would return to World RX in the second Renault Clio in a bid to help the team find much-needed performance. 

On Saturday (round 1), Guerlain Chicherit missed out on a place in the semi-finals by two points after finishing Q4 in fourteenth overall. Whilst his teammate Kevin Abbring also showed glimpses of pace, until his prop shaft broke dropping him to 17th overall.

Tricky conditions greeted the French squad on Sunday, creating extremely slippery and quick-changing conditions throughout the day. It was another opportunity for the team to test the Clio R.S. RX in a bid to improve the cars' traction in wet conditions. Kevin Abbring tested a different setup to Chicherit for the team to gather data and feedback quicker. The Dutchman struggled with his car's grip finishing Q1 in 15th overall. 

Abbring fought back in Q2 sending it around the outside of Timur Timerzyanov to take the lead before a battle with Liam Doran saw Abbring drop to third behind Doran and Timerzyanov, but soon after Liam's front right driveshaft snapped. And in the end, Kevin would finish in third with teammate Guerlain in fourth. 

Q3 posed a unique challenge, as the UNKORRUPTED pair would race on a devolving track. Chicherit would finish his quali heat in 4th, while Abbring finished behind his fellow GCK stable mate Anton Marklund in fifth-place, which meant both of them would not qualify for the semi-finals. 

"We saw some progress today in lap times, both on dry and wet and while this is promising, we still have a long way to go," Chicherit said.

"The last few weekends have been an uphill climb for us and we’re just trying to find out as much as possible in the short time that we have to make changes. It’s been hard for the team, the mechanics, engineers, and us drivers, especially as the car has not been reacting consistently and very differently to what we achieved in tests throughout the winter."

"We now have a few weeks ahead of the next round and we’ll definitely make use of those!”

Kevin Abbring believes that the set-up changes they've done in Kouvola have brought the team a step close to understanding where the car is lacking.

"We’ve done so many things since Sweden and sometimes it’s hard to know what works and what doesn’t but I think in the end, we’re a step closer to what it is that the car is lacking," Abbring said. "If you look at Q2, the car gave me a lot of confidence, a really good start and a nice send into turn 1, so that’s positive. In Q3 in the rain, we didn’t quite hit the right pace on the tarmac but on the gravel, I was one of the strongest in the sector."

"The overall results may not seem like that yet but we’re getting there."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Consistency key to maximizing results in condensed season for Timmy Hansen.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.

Reigning World RX champion Timmy Hansen believes that consistency is key to maximizing results in the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Hansen is currently fourth in the drivers' standings (41 points) behind championship leader Johan Kristoffersson, with younger brother Kevin in fifth overall.  

Whilst the season did not get off to the way Team Hansen expected, Kenneth Hansen (team boss) was able to figure out the reasons behind the team's pace in Sweden, which saw Timmy showing a stronger pace in Kouvola, after confirming that he did not feel as comfortable in the Peugeot 208 WRX as he was in 2019.

With some work done between Sweden and Finland, the Peugeot's were slightly stronger, but still off the ultimate pace of Johan Kristoffersson (the benchmark). 

On Saturday, Timmy returned to the podium with a third-place finish, while Kevin finished in sixth-place. With overnight rain saw track conditions became tricky seeing Timmy Hansen missing out on a podium finish by 0.7s.

Kevin definitely had the pace to progress to the finals on Sunday, but the slimmest of margins saw him miss out (0.060s). 

"It was a wet race so we had to set-up the car completely for those conditions, and we made some progress in that area," Kevin Hansen said. "I had the best feeling during the semi-final; I was very fast and had never felt so confident in the wet, so I was very happy in that respect."

Although only one of two cars made it to the final, Timmy Hansen had a good start from the second row of the grid, he ran a touch wide at the first corner seeing Ekstrom, Bakkerud, and Timerzyanov sneak up the inside, and while Bakkerud ran into technical issues at turn two, Timmy moved into P5. And, despite a fight in the final corner between Gronholm, Ekstrom, Timerzyanov, Kristoffersson - Timmy was not close enough and finished in fifth-place.

"The key was consistency and being able to maximize our pace when the opportunity arose," Timmy Hansen said.

The condensed 2020 World RX calendar has posed unique challenges to the teams this season, with three doubleheaders - two events per weekend opposed to the normal two day single event weekends, which will return in the second half of the season. Any mechanical or technical issues would punish drivers due to the quick turnaround times. And, Timmy credits Team Hansen for a clean start to the season thus far. 

"The team is really strong together; we're very motivated and everyone is working very hard. The car's still very strong and it got to the finish line every time with no technical issues," the 2019 World Champion said. "They've had the most difficult World RX events ever, doing two weekends with two full championship rounds each back-to-back, so the team has done an incredible job of keeping the car in one piece. So I need to thank them for all their work, for being able to figure out the problem that slowed me down in Sweden, and we'll continue to work on finding more pace between now and Riga."

Double World RX Champion Johan Kristoffersson returned to the championship this season, and whilst he has dominated qualifying, he hasn't had it all his own way only converting two of four finals into wins. Timmy Hansen believes that despite Johan's strong start to the season, he aims to get onto the top step of the podium this season. 

"I want to win a couple of races this year. Johan is incredibly strong and has been dominant so far this year but he is beatable, as others have shown twice now," he said. "I also want to get onto the top step of the podium this year and we'll keep fighting towards that."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Spa World RX of Benelux rescheduled to allow larger fan numbers to attend.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

The Spa World Rallycross of Benelux scheduled to take place on 3-4 October, will be rescheduled to 21-22 November 2020.

The Spa-Francorchamps World RX track was an instant hit since it's introduction last year, incorporating the world-famous Eau Rouge, as well as a dirt banked section which made for exciting racing, in addition to that a new World RX race winner was crowned, Timur Timerzyanov.

"The move to November is being made in anticipation of being able to welcome a larger number of fans to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. As current restrictions on the size of public gatherings in Belgium mean that only 400 spectators would be admitted to the event in October," the FIA World RX statement said.

"This decision has been made after careful consideration and consultation with the FIA, the Belgian ASN, and the local event organizer."

The rescheduled Belgian round will open up the October month for the teams, as they'll have enough time to re-prep their cars, as the calendar will switch from three rounds to two in October. Whilst the move to November will see a month break between the Barcelona and Belgian rounds, followed by an 18-day gap before the season finale in Germany. 

Marklund surprised by lack of pace at Kouvola.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.

Anton Marklund says he is surprised by the lack of pace at the very technical Tykkimäki Circuit in Kouvola, Finland. 

Having shown the quick pace of his Renault Megane R.S. RX at round 1 and 2 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Sweden last week, the GCK Bilstein driver put down competitive laps but struggled with engine issues throughout the day, which ended up seeing him finish round 3 earlier than expected in the semi-finals.

Marklund's engine was changed overnight, and he was able to return to action for the fourth round of the championship. 

It was a weekend of two halves due to weather and track conditions which was quite similar to that of Holjes, one round wet and the other dry. But the tricky conditions did not affect Anton Marklund's pace in the morning warm-up, as he comfortably posted the fastest time of the morning. However, things soon changed in racing conditions, as his Megane lost traction off the start line seeing him drop to the rear of the field in his quali races, but with a fightback the Swede progressed to the semi-finals to finish the race day (and round) in twelfth place. 

"The speed we showed throughout the warm-up today was really promising for the rest of the day - the car was working really well and we were the quickest on the track," Marklund said. "Unfortunately, we lost some pace and definitely lost capacity off the start line due to lack of grip."

"We need to do a thorough analysis now to understand why the speed differed so much to Free Practice, so a lot of work ahead. We bring the great pace we’ve shown with us and just have to learn from the challenges to come back better in Riga."

"It’s disappointing for me to not be able to bring the best results back to the team as the mechanics have worked super hard over the last couple of weeks to get us out on the track every time no matter the challenges and tight turnaround time."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Kristoffersson extends championship lead despite fourth-place finish in Kouvola.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX. 

Double World Champion Johan Kristoffersson extended his lead in the FIA World Rallycross Championship despite a fourth-place finish in Kouvola, Finland on Sunday. 

The Kristoffersson Motorsport driver has dominated the sport since his return taking the TQ (top qualifier) spot at all four rounds, winning his respective semi-final, but only converted two pole position starts to wins. 

"I have lost only nine points from four races. That's really satisfying!" Kristoffersson said.

"We feel more into it now than in Höljes. The speed is better and the overall feeling as well."

Despite a dominant run on Sunday, the Swede survived a brief scare in Q2 after his Volkswagen Polo was sluggish off the line and suffered from what sounded like a misfire. He ended the session in 14th overall. However, he returned for Q3 and despite being wary of the issue he had in Q2. The Swede won the session to take the overall TQ. 

"They solved the problem quickly. It feels safe to have such a good staff," the double World Champion said.

The Swede cruised through to the semi-final after yet another good launch winning the session by 2.4 seconds from Mattias Ekström, which meant he would start from pole position for the final.

Johan had another good start with Niclas Grönholm right on his bumper, but he ran a touch wide allowing Grönholm to sneak up the inside to take the lead and hang on to win the final. 

"I didn't get through the first corner as I would have hoped for," he said. 

With a last lap joker for Niclas Grönholm and Mattias Ekström in the final. Ekström emerged alongside Kristoffersson, while Niclas shut the door on the apex of the final corner. Johan attempted to leapfrog Mattias, but opened the door for Timur Timerzyanov to claim the final spot on the podium. He would finish the final in fourth-place. 

"It's 55 points from 60 this weekend and I'm still expanding my lead in the championship," Kristoffersson said. 

Johan Kristoffersson will take a 17-point lead in the drivers' standings to Riga (the next doubleheader), where he without a doubt go in search of the perfect weekend. 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Keeping calm key to Grönholm's success in Kouvola.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco.

Niclas Grönholm withstood immense pressure from Johan Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekström to take his first win of the season on World RX’s return to Finland.

Grönholm produced his best qualifying performance of the season in the Intermediate Classification to end up second and take 15 championship points at the Kouvola track. He then won semi-final two in treacherous conditions to earn a front-row start for the final.

Kristoffersson had a clean start in the final with Niclas right behind, and as Johan ran slightly wide into turn one. Grönholm swept around the inside to take the lead. From there on, he held the lead in difficult wet and slippery conditions fending off a quicker Kristoffersson, and then Mattias Ekström, when Johan took his joker (lap) on lap three.

The GRX Taneco driver was able to withstand the pressure from Ekström and Kristoffersson to cross the line first and win at his home round of the championship. 

"We found a bit more speed [on Sunday]. Maybe a little in the car, but mainly in myself – I kept calm the whole day, and that was crucial for winning this event," Grönholm said. 

"The final was a bit stressful because Ekström and Kristoffersson were on my tail, but I kept my racing line as knew that they won’t overtake me on the outside because it was so slippery there."

The 24-year-old Finns win in Kouvola (third win in his career) is an important result for the team, as they expected a stronger performance at the Höljes doubleheader, but within the short gap between the events. The GRX Taneco squad worked on their Hyundai i20 Supercars to find some improvements, which paid-off in Kouvola. 

"This is a very important result for our team. Everyone has been working flat-out for the past week and this win means a lot for the whole team," Niclas said. 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Home hero Juha Rytkönen scores dream debut result

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

Juha Rytkönen was the star performer in Kouvola claiming a second-place finish on debut with GRX SET. 

The Finn demonstrated great pace straight from Free Practice, and after three Qualifying sessions, he was fourth overall in the Intermediate Classification. With a dominant drive, he managed to win his semi-final by 2 seconds. 

Juha lined up alongside Kristoffersson in the final, and with a good launch, he attempted to take the inside line, which was quickly blocked. With a clean run behind the double world champion, Rytkönen was able to manage his pace and claim a second-place finish for GRX SET on debut. 

"This is absolutely amazing! The team is very, very good. I did not expect this at all. The car was so easy to drive and the team around me helped a lot," Rytkönen said. "Throughout the day I learned a lot from my teammates and my spotter [Toomas Heikkinen] kept pushing me in the Final. I am really happy with the result. Tomorrow we might have a wet race, but I’d prefer it to stay dry."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Doran ready to mount Finland fightback.

PHOTO CREDIT: GCK.

Liam Doran is looking forward to mounting a fight-back after retiring from round three of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Kouvola-Finland today.

The Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel have been working hard to solve the technical issues that plagued Doran in Sweden last weekend. There hard work paid off in the opening stages of the weekend for both RX Cartel drivers. 

"I think everybody saw what happened in Sweden and that’s not good for anyone but we worked really hard this week and hopefully turned it around," Doran said. "I’ve got a lot of confidence in the car and in the team, so of course, I’m not 100% confident after last weekend but I’m not going to give up, that wouldn’t be me.”

The British Bomb got off to a strong start finishing eighth in the standing after Q1. Doran lined up alongside teammate Bakkerud in Q2, but later retired due to a broken prop shaft. 

Q3 saw the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel driver sending it around the outside of the field to lead into turn one, but after some rear contact, he later retired due to a broken rim and broken rear upright. 

Doran is a former winner at the Kouvola circuit, one he says suits his flat out driving style. “This is definitely a great track for me, I love it. Probably one of the biggest things is when you enjoy driving a track you usually do quite well. It’s quite a flamboyant track, it requires a lot of commitment round the blind corners and crests and encourages aggressive driving. It’s my sort of track," he said. 

"We showed some promising pace this morning and can see the potential of the car. The broken prop shaft in Q2 put us on the back foot and meant I had to push massively in Q3, where contact resulted in us having to retire, which is frustrating of course but is what makes rallycross what it is. The track here is one of my favourites and it suits my driving style so much, so I’m just looking ahead to tomorrow, where we can hopefully build on this morning’s performance."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Kristoffersson thrilled with dominate win in Finland.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media

Johan Kristoffersson made it look easy on his way to a clean sweep in round three of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Kouvola, Finland. 

It was the perfect day for the double World Championship who won every qualifying session taking the TQ (top qualifier) in the Intermediate Classification, the semi-finals and finals to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship. 

"30 points for the 14th time in my career," Kristoffersson said.

Clean sweeps are hard to come by in World RX, with only three drivers only claiming a clean sweep in the history of the championship. Today, Johan has become the only driver to claim two clean sweeps in the championships history, with Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud on one a piece. 

"The first time that has happened. To come here, new to this circuit, and with no teammate to share data with, and still find ways to go even faster, that feels great," he said.

A clean sweep is not all, the Swede clinched his 22nd win the World Championship, no other driver claimed as many wins as he has to date. 

Johan lead standings by two points heading into round three in Kouvola, ahead of 2016 champion Mattias Ekstrom, but with an electrical issue Ekstrom was forced to retire in the semi-finals thus allowing Kristoffersson to extended his lead in the championship by 16 points. 

"Incredible! I have repeatedly said that you need to score points on an even basis this year. That was in my mind for the whole day, all the way through the final," he said. 

Due to the tight nature of the Kouvola track, starts are key to success, and today Johan put on a masterclass in his Volkswagen Polo R Supercar.

"I practiced starting procedures a lot in '17 and '18 and I would like to say that they are just as good now as at the end of 2018," he said.

In the final Johan had an unfamiliar driver on his left side, the great surprise Juha Rytkönen (GRX SET). Whilst Kristoffersson got off to a flying start, he had the Finn right behind in the opening laps, but was left quite impressed by Juha's debut.

"It's very impressive of him to step in here as a newcomer and deliver like he did, but that is also a message to the rest of us that we always need to be on our toes," the double world champion said.

Still striving for excellence, Johan found a good rhythm and tried some different lines around Kouvola, and went on to win the final by 3.110 seconds.

" The final was very, very good. I had a very good start, like I had all day and from there on, the track was similar to how it was in the semi-final, so we could adapt a bit and do some small changes for the final which worked out well," he said. "I found the rhythm in my driving and could try some different lines." 

Tommy Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS boss, was quite satisfied with his son's performance today.

"Already when we came here we thought the track would suit Johan and the car very well," he said. "It's very technically demanding, a bit like gymkhana, where Johan has been successful."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

PREVIEW: World RX of Finland - Kouvola returns to calendar after six-years absence.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

The 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship returns to Finland for the first time since 2014 this weekend when rounds three and four of the championship take place at Kouvola.

Kouvola, approximately 130km northeast of the Finnish capital Helsinki. It’s the largest town in the Kymenlaakso region of southeast Finland. 

Just six days after a thrilling season opener(s) in Holjes-Sweden, with Johan Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekstrom climbing onto the top step of the podium in rounds one and two. 

Originally planned to take part in the Holjes doubleheader, Ekstrom announced his participation in the Finland doubleheader earlier this week. The Swede will be joined on the grid by 18 other drivers this weekend. 

This weekend’s doubleheader event features two separate FIA World Rallycross Championship events, one full event – comprising three rounds of qualifying races, semi-finals, and the final – taking place each day.

FROM SWEDEN TO KOUVALA:

Last weekend in Sweden Johan Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekstrom claimed one victory each, Kristoffersson finishing third in Sunday’s event and moving to Finland with a two-point lead in the championship. 

Kristoffersson, is just ahead of 2016 champion Ekstrom whose KYB Team JC teammate Robin Larsson holds third in the championship having also produced a strong weekend in Sweden.

Heading into the weekend Kevin Hansen holds fourth place in the drivers' standings and clear of his older brother, current FIA World Rallycross Champion Timmy Hansen who is placed eighth after a difficult opening weekend. Both Team Hansen drivers have prior experience of Kouvola and will be aiming to recover lost ground in Finland.

Timo Scheider had his best-ever World RX weekend in Sweden with a third-place finish and a fourth-place finish in round two to hold fifth in the championship for ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport.

Anton Marklund also featured strongly in the first weekend and is sixth entering Finland, ahead of Niclas Gronholm and Timur Timerzyanov who were unable to show their true pace after being stuck in traffic all weekend.

Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel had a mixed weekend with neither of its drivers in the finals in round one due to mechanical issues, but Andreas Bakkerud hauled himself back into contention with a sixth-place finish in round two and is now laying ninth in the championship. His teammate Liam Doran is 17th after two days of mechanical problems with his Renault Megane R.S. RX.

Whilst Krisztian Szabo is currently placed 10th in the standings after Sweden. However, 2019 Finnish champion Juha Rytkönen will take the wheel of the GRX SET Hyundai i20 Supercar this weekend. 

Kevin Abbring will also replace Rokas Baciuska this weekend at UNKORRUPTED alongside Guerlain Chicherit after the team struggled with set-up issues in Sweden. 

ALL-INKL Muennich Motorsport's team boss Rene Muennich is currently placed 14th overall with Jani Paasonen in 16th.

Jere Kalliokoski will return to the premier class this weekend after a part-time programme with STARD in 2019. The Finn will drive a Ford Fiesta. 

Fellow countrymen and multiple Finnish Champion Atro Määttä will also make his RX return this weekend, whilst Hungarian Tamas Karai steps up from the European Championship in his Audi Supercar as well. 

Tanner Foust leading Timur Timerzyanov at the 2014 World RX of Finland.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

KOUVALA TRACK STATS:

Tykkimaen Moottorirata, the Tykkimaki Circuit, at Kouvola is an undulating rallycross track that is 1060 metres long and consists of 55% asphalt and 45% gravel surfaces. It has hosted the FIA World Rallycross Championship once before, when American Tanner Foust won in a VW Polo Supercar in 2014. It has previously hosted the FIA European Rallycross Championship and is regularly used in Finland’s national championship.

CHAMPION FAST START AWARD:

Johan Kristoffersson leads the new Champion Fast Start award that was introduced at the first event, but with 20 more points up for grabs this weekend that could easily change.

LIVESTREAM and BROADCAST TIMES SCHEDULE (CET):

The livestream for the events will be carried on the World RX Facebook and YouTube channels:

facebook.com/fiaworldrallycross

youtube.com/RallycrossRXTV

NOTE: The Semi-Finals and Finals will be broadcast on TV with no livestreams. CHECK YOUR TV LISTINGS HERE: https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/tv_listings

SATURDAY - Round Three (29 August 2020):

Q1 - 10:30 am

Q2 - 11:50 am

Q3 - 13:15 pm

TV Broadcast - 15:00 to 17:00

Semi-Finals and Final - 16:00 to 16:50

SUNDAY - Round Four (30 August 2020):

Q1 - 09:40 am

Q2 - 11:30 am

Q3 - 13:15 pm

TV Broadcast - 15:00 to 17:00

Semi-Finals and Final - 16:00 to 16:50

Kristoffersson ready for leap into unknown in Finland.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool. 

Johan Kristoffersson is preparing for a journey into the unknown as he heads into the second doubleheader of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, at a circuit he has never been to before. 

The double World Champion made his World RX debut in 2014 after the Finnish round of the championship, which meant he never actually got to race at the Kouvola track. But this season the Swede will finally beable to turn a wheel on the track he has only seen through videos and heard from other drivers. 

"I've never been to this track before, but from what I've heard it's very fun to drive." Kristoffersson said.

The 31-year-old Swede is currently at the top of the drivers' standings having won the first round of the championship in Höljes on Saturday, with a maximum score. Sunday was almost as good, with Johan claiming the top qualifiers spot, but finished in third-place after a most race penalty. 

"Just four points away from full score. You can't ask for more," he said.

With no real time for thought after a gruelling doubleheader in Sweden, Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS are making there way to Kouvola in Finland for the third and fourth rounds of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The Kouvola track will return to the championship for the first time since 2014.

"I remember watching that final as Tanner Foust won, having had a great launch in the rain," the Swede said.

After a great duel between Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekström in Höljes, the pair will meet once more in Finland, and while Johan enjoyed his ontrack battles with Ekström. 

He believes that his rivals in other machinery is just able capable of winning or challenging for a place on the podium as he and Ekström are.

"That's fun. Mattias is inventive and always on a high level, but it is not all about him. Niclas Grönholm, Robin Larsson as well as Timmy and Kevin Hansen are all very capable but were a bit unlucky in Höljes," Kristoffersson adds. 

Tommy Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS team boss has revealed that his team is a bit short-staffed due to COVID-19 restrictions and believes that they are also at a disadvantage due to running one car, while others have the benefit of gathering data and information from two cars. 

"We are a bit punished in that sense because we can't share different tasks between two cars," Tommy Kristoffersson said. "However, we are very inspired for the coming weekend and up to the challenge."

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. 

Nitišs is back for Latvia RX doubleheader.

PHOTO CREDIT: REINISNITISS.com

Double European Rallycross Champion Reinis Nitišs will join ESmotorsport for the fifth and sixth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, at the NESTA World RX of Riga on September 19-20.

Nitišs has been a World RX regular from its inaugural season in 2014 and competed almost full-time until 2017, before switching back to Euro RX in 2018, where he claimed his second title. In 2019, Nitišs fulfilled in a Development Driver role in the Gronholm RX and has been focusing on rallying since that.

ESmotorsport Skoda Fabia Supercar at 2019 World RX event.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX. 

"I’m grateful to the ESmotorsport for this opportunity to be a part of an exciting project. I think everyone knows that rallycross is in my heart and it really feels good to be back in a 600bhp World RX Supercar. Especially do be doing it in my home country, in front of my Latvian fans," Nitišs said.

"I know the team has been working hard on the development of the car and now it’s up to me to make use of that in real racing conditions. For sure, every team have been working hard over this long break, so we want to see where we stand against the best of the sport."

The ESmotorsport team is owned by a former FIA European Rallycross Championship Super1600 driver Ernestas Staponkus, who started developing the team’s Škoda Fabia World RX Supercar in 2018, with the team contesting eight World RX rounds in 2019.

"I’ve known Reinis for some time and I know he is a perspective and fast driver. Above that, he is also a very positive person. I hope we can work with him not only on these two races in Riga, but other rounds as well,” Ernestas Staponkus, ESmotorsport team owner, said.

Written By - Junaid Samodien 

Character-building weekend for UNKORRUPTED in Sweden.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition/Eric Fabre.

The 2020 FIA World Rallycross season kicked off in Sweden over the weekend with what has become known as the ‘magic weekend’ at the world-famous rallycross track in Holjes. 

It was magic, as a new team joined the grid in 2020, but unfortunately, that was where the magic ended for the newly established UNKORRUPTED team. While GC Kompetition was an independent team in 2019, this season they oversee three teams, with UNKORRUPTED being one of them. In addition to that team owner Guerlain Chicherit switched his Megane R.S. RX for the new evolution Renault Clio R.S. RX and will team-up with Rokas Baciuska in 2020. 

Hopes were high as the Renault Clio R.S. RX underwent further developments during the off-season with updated suspension, an updated engine, and a 30kg weight reduction. The updates allowed the Clio to brake a lot later than it's competitors, but the team were unable to unlock its true pace. 

The opening round of the 2020 World RX season got underway in mixed conditions, which saw Chicherit finish the first and second qualifying sessions in fourth-place, but due to evolving conditions he was ranked 16th overall in both sessions. 

The Frenchmen's third qualifier was only good enough for P14, which meant he would go no further finishing round one in sixteenth overall. 

Having worked through the night to change various aspects to the car’s set up, Guerlain finished Q1 in eleventh overall, but contact in Q2 saw him finish the session in twelfth overall.

In an attempt to hang onto a semi-final spot, Chicherit pushed but it was just not enough to qualify for the semi-finals, which saw him finish round 2 in thirteenth overall. 

"This was not the start to the Championship we had wished for sure - we’ve done a lot of testing over the winter and showed a very competitive pace, however, arriving in Sweden showed the track environment to be extremely challenging for our setup and we struggled with grip," Chicherit said. "The team thinks they may have found the problem and will now work hard to find a way to adjust the car ahead of Finland but it will be tight with only 5 days to go."

"It’s frustrating and upsetting for sure but I’m not someone to give up and I will fight to come back stronger. We’ve got some of the best drivers and cars in the paddock this year and I want to see the GCK Clio R.S. RX battle with them."

Chicherit's teammate Rokas Baciuska raced his way into the semi-final in round one having put down increasingly competitive pace and performances. After the three qualifying heats, Rokas was 11th overall despite turbo failure in Q3 and bagged a spot in the semi-finals. 

Having turned the car around in time for the semi-final, the Lithuanian only managed to complete three laps before another issue with the turbo forced him to retire in sixth-place. 

The second round (on Sunday) got off to a rough start for Rokas after contact with Robin Larsson caused engine issues which saw him drop to sixth overall with two qualifying sessions remaining.  

In Q2, Baciuska managed fought back to 11th overall, but his weekend came to an end after finishing his Q3 race in twelfth-place, which meant he would go no further. 

"We’ve definitely had a tough race weekend here at the first couple of rounds of the Championship in Sweden - from the turbo breaking which resulted in some engine issues later to struggles with the car setup from the beginning of the weekend, we’ve been fighting hard to find a good way for the GCK Clio R.S. RX to take on the rest of the pack," Baciuska said. "We did a lot of testing on very different tracks and our setup didn’t match what we needed here, so there’s work to be done now to find competitive pace."

 Written By - Junaid Samodien

Mixed emotions for Larsson after strong showing in Sweden.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

Reigning EuroRX and RallyX Nordic Champion Robin Larsson made a competitive return to the FIA World Rallycross Championship last weekend with KYB Team JC, ending the Holjes doubleheader second in the drivers' standings. 

Larsson returned to World RX for a one-off outing in Latvia, as a gift from JC Raceteknik after clinching the 2019 EuroRX Championship with one round to spare. Despite a strong event, a disqualification in the second qualifying heat meant the Swede was not able to progress to the final despite a fightback. 

Whilst Robin raced with JC Raceteknik in 2019, the Swedish outfit announced it will compete in the World RX championship in 2020 under a new team banner "KYB Team JC". 

KYB Team JC originally planned for Larsson and Janis Baumanis to contest the full-season, but due to financial problems caused by the coronavirus. 2016 World Champion Mattias Ekström was called upon to step in for the season opener. 

It was a successful doubleheader on home soil for KYB Team JC with a win and a second-place for 2016 World RX Champion Mattias Ekström. 

Larsson started his season with a consistently fast pace but missed a final start in round one due to a five-second penalty. While on Sunday in round two, he continued to impress, and beat teammate Ekström to win semi-final two. In the final, he was in the running for the podium but due a puncture had to settle for fifth.

The Swedish outfit leads the team standings' by 28-points, and drivers Ekstrom and Robin Larsson hold second and third in the Drivers’ Standings heading to Kouvala in Finland.

“It was a good first World RX weekend for the team. It was intense, but we were consistently in the top five. Having Mattias has been a very big bonus for me and the whole team." Larsson said.

"It just shows how important it is to have a fast driver like him by your side, we took tips from each other and without him I probably would not have been able to continue to develop my speed. I hope we see more of him this season."

"The puncture in the final today was a shame because it would have been perfect to have a one-two in the final. It was also sad to miss the final yesterday, but in terms of points things look good in the Teams’ Championship and I too scored good points. That Mattias beat Johan on pure pace shows we can fight with him. We’ve done the best we can as a team and we will carry that to Finland."

Written By - Junaid Samodien