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

Kristoffersson extends championship despite second place finish in Barcelona.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jakub Nitka

Johan Kristoffersson extended his championship lead despite a second-place finish at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. 

The double World Champion arrived in Barcelona with a mission to keep the distance to Mattias Ekström, without taking big risks. His competitors had other things in mind, and gave him a tough Saturday. 

"I picked up 27 points today. You don't lose the title because of days like that," Kristoffersson said. 

Q1 saw Niclas Grönholm squeeze Kristoffersson into the wall at the first corner, but his Volkswagen Polo was only left with minor scars and from there he was untouchable crossing the line 3.137 seconds ahead of Gronholm, Bennett, and Scheider.  

In Q2 an aggressive first corner saw Robin Larsson squeeze the Marklund and Kristoffersson. The latter hit the tyre barrier seeing him launch up on two-wheels and coming out behind Larsson and Timmy Hansen while Marklund hit the rear bumper of Kristoffersson. 

Comfortably in the lead, Larsson's right suspension broke seeing him hit the tyre barrier, and while Timmy Hansen took the lead, but he was quickly hunted down by Kristoffersson with a damaged Polo R Supercar and ultimately be overtaken based on joker strategy. 

"Yes, the car is really well built. That could have ended much worse," he said.

Kristoffersson rounded off by winning Q3, finishing top qualifier for the fifth time this season, and picking up 16 points.

In the semi-finals, he got another knock on the rear end from Ekstrom and stuck on to lead and comfortably win the semi-final securing pole position for the final. 

The final got off to a bang, on the front row the Swede had four used tyres while Timmy Hansen on the outside had four new tyres. Whilst Johan got off to a good start, Timmy Hansen hugged the inside line and Johan hit the barrier at the first corner looking front bumper and bodywork but still led the race. 

"When I lost the front the car it became somewhat understeery," he said

Despite lacking some front end performance, he took the fight with Timmy all the way to the finish line, in what was a real rallycross battle from both of them. Both Johan and Timmy were reprimanded by the stewards for two separate collisions in the final.   

"The Hansen team were strong today. Timmy and the whole Hansen team have done a fantastic job between the races, I’ve seen they’ve been testing and pushing on and that’s what keeps us on our toes as well," Kristoffersson said

Tommy Kristoffersson, the Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS boss explains the team's tactics today.

"We could have been more aggressive with tyre and joker strategy, but today we wanted to secure qualifying points and a starting position up front for the semis and final. Collecting points was more important than securing the victory," he said.

The strategy/tactics worked out well, as Ekström was not having one of his best days, and Johan extended his championship lead from 17 to 25 points.

Written by - Junaid Samodien

Marklund happy with performance in Barcelona despite missing out on finals.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX

GCK Bilstein's Anton Marklund has been left satisfied after showing promising pace at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. 

Despite missing out on a spot in the finals, the Swede's weekend got off to a promising start with a third-place finish in the first qualifier. 

With the fastest drivers going first in Q2, Marklund would start in third-place alongside Timmy Hansen and Johan Kristoffersson on pole position. The funnel-like turn one saw four cars squeeze for the lead with Robin Larsson attempting an aggressive overtake around the outside, which basically put the squeeze on Marklund and Kristoffersson who was on the inside, ultimately seeing the latter go up on two wheels. Anton brought his Renault Megane home in third-place.

Q3 saw Anton line up on pole alongside Gronholm, Ide, and Bennett. Putting down a fight for position with Gronholm but lacking grip, Marklund finished the race in second with a 10th fastest time overall putting the Swede in eighth and onto the second row of the semi-finals.

With the Hansen's making it through turn one in the lead ahead of Gronholm. Marklund and Larsson fought all the way into turn 3, where the Swede opted to take the joker lap and come out at the tail end of the field. The GCK Bilstein driver fought back to jump Robin Larsson, but it wasn't enough to get of Gronholm for the final spot in the final. 

"Bilstein has put in a new evolution of the damper since the last round and this hard work has really paid off, the car feels great which I think we proved with our practice time and the p3 in Q1," Marklund said.  "Q2 and Q3 were more of a struggle with significant impact in Q2 and some miscalculations in Q3, which had us miss out on the first row of the semi-finals."

"The car felt fantastic again in the semi-finals and we just missed out on a spot in the final having got stuck in a little bit of traffic. P4 today feels great though because I can really feel the potential of the car for tomorrow now."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Icecool Kristoffersson is World RX top qualifier again at Barcelona

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX 

Johan Kristoffersson survived an incident in Q2 to continue his strong run of form and claim the top qualifiers spot in the seventh round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Barcelona. 

After dominating in Q1 by 3.137 seconds over Timmy Hansen, and topping Q3, the Swede fought back in Q2 after being pitched onto two wheels at turn one in an incident deemed to be caused by Robin Larsson who squeezed across the front of Marklund and Kristoffersson. 

For the incident, 10-points were deducted from Larsson's Q2 classification, which saw him drop to the tail end of the field. The Swede felt that the penalty was quite harsh: "It was a rough Q2. Got a 10 point penalty after turning into the first corner. I don't know how we are supposed to race. Then something broke after the jump."

Larsson currently misses out on a spot in the semi-finals by a single point but could make the cut should JC Raceteknik withdraw Enzo Ide. 

Reigning champion Timmy Hansen finished second in the intermediate classification showing that Team Hansen's recent tests and upgrades have assisted in solving their traction issues. Whilst his 2019 rival, Andreas Bakkerud finds himself in third-place overall. 

While Bakkerud's GCK Renault Megane R.S. RX was being rebuilt following his crash in Latvia, the Norweigan got behind the wheel of Marklund's supercar to test some tweaks and improvements which has proven to work this weekend.

"Very, very happy that we scored my first qualifying heat win with the Renault Megane. So, absolutely very happy with the boys and the girl's work from the team. I think we did a great development since Riga and we are looking better now," Bakkerud said. 

Kevin Hansen, a bit under the radar this weekend with fourth-place overall. While championship contender Mattias Ekström in fifth overall after battling with clutch issues throughout the three qualifying sessions.

"Again we are struggling with the clutch. We haven't found the issue yet," the Swede said having won his Q3 heat race. 

A dejected Niclas Grönholm leads the GRX Taneco duo in sixth with Timur Timerzyanov in seventh. 

"It's been quite difficult. It's not getting any better. It's quite disappointing not to have the speed and also the car is not easy to drive," Niclas said.

Anton Marklund, Timo Scheider, and Liam Doran complete the top 10 with Oliver Bennett, and Enzo Ide also advancing to the semi-finals. 

Doran was reprimanded by the FIA Stewards for not respecting a car on the left-hand side in Q3. 

As mentioned earlier, Larsson might not advance to the semi-finals should JC Raceteknik allow Enzo Ide to take his spot on the grid. 

Tamas Karai, Patrick Guillerme, and Mandie August have also failed to progress semi-finals and will return for more tomorrow morning 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

PREVIEW - Can anyone stop Kristoffersson in Barcelona double-header?

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

The heat is on! SIX DOWN... with four to go. The fourth and final double-header of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona this weekend.

Barcelona will play host the final double-header of the season, and with this, we'll see minor naming changes. Instead of a standard name across the full weekend. The event organizers have opted for two names for each round.

Round seven on Saturday is named to support the local bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, Logitech G FIA World RX of Pirineus-Barcelona 2030 while round eight on Sunday is named the Logitech G FIA World RX of Catalunya.

This year's round at Circuit de Catalunya will be held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, all competing teams and event organizers and officials will be operating on reduced staffing levels to comply with the FIA safety regulations with 295 accredited personnel, a reduction of 55 personnel compared to Latvia. All personnel are required to provide a negative PCR test before they are allowed to enter the circuit. 

FIA World Rallycross Championship

The unprecedented 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship will continue this weekend after a 26-day break. Three different drivers have taken event wins this season, while Johan Kristoffersson leads the way having won rounds one, three, and five. 

The double World Champion has established a 17 point lead at the head of the championship, with closest rival Mattias Ekström aiming to stop his Swedish compatriot in his tracks. Ekström returned to the championship this season in place of Janis Baumanis with KYB Team JC and has won rounds two and six. 

The 2016 World RX champion has a clear plan of what he needs to do this weekend. "If I want to be world champion I think it’s pretty fair and square, I need to beat Johan at least twice and I have two chances this weekend on Saturday and Sunday to bring the lead down to single numbers. That means from 17 down to nine, beating him by eight points," he said. "That is the hope and the target."

Ekström's teammate, Robin Larsson, is currently fifth in the championship having claimed his first podium with a third-place in round six of the championship in Latvia. During the break between the Latvian and Spanish rounds of the championship, Larsson has been helping Enzo Ide get up to speed. 

Ide was sidelined for much of last season following an accident at home that left him in an induced coma for several months. The Belgian will return to World RX this weekend at the wheel of a third JC Raceteknik Audi S1 Quattro. 

GRX Taneco's Niclas Grönholm was one of the favorites heading into the season but has not had the start to the season that he had expected despite picking up a win at round four of the championship in Kouvola. And, while it hasn't been the easiest of seasons for the Finn, he currently holds third place in the championship. His teammate at GRX Taneco, Timur Timerzyanov has had the pace but has ultimately fallen foul to ontrack incidents and mechanical issues, he is currently in ninth-place in the championship standings.

Reigning world champion Timmy Hansen is still in the championship hunt just 55 points behind championship leader Johan Kristoffersson. While younger brother and teammate Kevin Hansen is sixth in the championship. 

The Hansen brothers have had a good record at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona having claimed a one-two finish last season, and will aim to replicate that result this weekend. 

Whilst the updated Peugeot 208 WRX hasn't been as strong as the team expected. Both Kevin and Timmy spent their downtime testing their supercars and found some much-needed improvements. 

"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," Timmy Hansen said

Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel's Andreas Bakkerud returns after a 120km/h crash in Latvia. He confirmed that his Renault Megane R.S.RX has been rebuilt and is ready for this weekend's action, while Liam Doran is hoping that his run of bad luck has ended. 

Timo Scheider has shown his potential at the wheel of the AllInkl-Muennich Motorsport Seat Ibiza, but last time out, it was a weekend to forget for the double DTM champion who was disqualified for the incident with Andreas Bakkerud. 

This weekend Scheider will be partnered by Mandie August who replaces Rene Muennich and becomes only the second female driver to start a World RX event.

GCK Bilstein's Anton Marklund will hope for better luck this weekend after suffering with a number of technical issues this season. 

After a tough start to the season, UNKORRUPTED announced their withdrawal from the Spanish round of the championship citing: "We have found significant issues that can not be addressed in time to be race-ready."

The French squad will hope to solve their issues ahead of the final two rounds in Belgium and Germany later this year. 

Joining the Permanent Competitors in Barcelona is Tamas Karai who will return in his Audi Supercar having also competed in the World RX of Finland double-header. 

Xite Energy's Oliver Bennett is back! The Brit returns to the championship after missing the opening six rounds. He will be driving his redeveloped Mini SX1. While Frenchman Patrick Guillerme will conclude the 16-strong driver line-up in his Hyundai i20. 

The GRID for Q1 - ROUND SEVEN of the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

TRACK STATS

Situated within turns 10 to 15 of the 4.6km Formula 1 circuit, the World RX track at Barcelona is 1,135km long and consists of 60% tarmac and 40% gravel. It uses parts of the F1 track in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. A significant change as a safety improvement since last year, the inside of rallycross turn three – the long right-hander in the first gravel section – is now lined by a steel guard rail which replaces the tyre wall previously used.

What to look out for:

Turn One: Like the previous round in Latvia, Barcelona's first turn on the rallycross circuit has a funnel-like effect. It's only used on the first lap before joining the main track but as a high-radius corner a few hundred metres after the start. Expect plenty of nudging between drivers trying to get the holeshot.

Joker exit: The fastest part of the circuit is the back straight, which runs between turns 12 and 13 of the F1 track in the reverse direction. While those on the regular lap have track position and the inside line, cars exiting the joker have a huge momentum advantage with higher corner exit speed. Look out for bold around-the-outside passes here!

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

2015 - Petter Solberg 

2016 - Mattias Ekström.

2017 - Mattias Ekström.

2018 - Johan Kristoffersson.

2019 - Timmy Hansen. 

2020 - ?

BROADCAST TIMES and SCHEDULE for Rounds 7 & 8 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona (CET):

The livestreams for the events will be carried on the official World RX Facebook page and YouTube channel:

facebook.com/fiaworldrallycross

youtube.com/RallycrossRXTV

Schedule:

Round Seven (17 October 2020)

Free Practice: Saturday 8:30 am

Q1: 10:20 am

Q2: 11:50 am

Q3: 13:40 pm

Semi-Finals and Final: 16:00 pm to 18:00 pm

Round Eight (18 October 2020)

Warm-Up: 8:30 am

Q1: 9:30 am

Q2: 10:50 am

Q3: 12:40 pm

Semi-Finals and Final: 15:00 pm to 17:00 pm

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.

UNKORRUPTED withdraws from Barcelona double-header.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.

GC Kompetition has on Wednesday announced that the UNKORRUPTED team has been withdrawn from the Barcelona double-header this weekend. 

After redeveloping the team's Renault Clio R.S. RX in the off-season. With updates including the installation of the ORECA Megane spec engine, new BOS dampers, and significant work on the weight distribution. The team had high expectations heading into the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

In a season preview video, the team highlighted weight reduction and the ability of the Clio R.S.RX to brake a lot later due to it's lighter weight, however, the first race of the season was a true reality check for the French squad with only Rokas Baciuska progressing to the semi-finals, but that's where the semi-final appearances would end. 

Kevin Abbring entered the fray in Finland but struggled to get to grips with the Clio R.S. RX sliding sideways on a few occasions and only bringing home a 13th-place finish. 

It was back to the drawing board heading into the Latvian double-header which saw the team run different set-ups and differential changes. The team also announced that they would use the Riga double-header as a test event to gather as much data as possible for a pre-Barcelona test, but following the results, GCK made the decision to withdraw the team from the Spanish double-header this weekend. 

"At GCK, we've made the decision to withdraw the UNKORRUPTED team from the upcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship event in Barcelona," the team's statement said. 

"Following additional test sessions after Riga RX, we have found significant issues that cannot be addressed in time to be race-ready."

"While we're not known to shy away from adversity or give up, this decision is the safest and best thing to do at the moment. We appreciate your support through this and our drivers and team will continue to work hard to bring you exciting race action in the future." 

Rokas Baciuska took to social media to explain the reasoning behind UNKORRUPTED's withdrawal: "So sorry, but #unkorrupted team decided not to participate in Barcelona race. Since the car is just not competitive, I don't see the point in rating. My goal is not to pull back."

Written By: Junaid Samodien

GRX Taneco "are ready to fight" for good results in Spanish double-header.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco.

GRX Taneco is ready to fight for strong results at rounds seven and eight of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona this weekend. 

So far, this season has seen three double-header race weekends in Sweden, Finland, and Latvia. And, although Spain was initially set to host a single round, due to the cancelation of the Portugal event, it has changed its format to the double-header.

The 2020 season has been far from ideal for GRX Taneco, but Niclas Grönholm has claimed a win for the Finnish squad on home soil in Kouvola (Finland) and will aim to take the fight to the likes of Johan Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekström on the 1135m long World RX track in Barcelona. 

"Feeling good going to Barcelona, as we had a good pace at the last year’s race and we hope that we’ve found some improvements after the race in Riga, that didn’t go our way," Grönholm said. "It will be a tough weekend with two races again, but we are ready to fight and score some good results!"

The Coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic has drastically altered the World RX calendar this season, but the championship will return to Barcelona this weekend. And, Timur Timerzyanov is happy to return to one of his favourite tracks on the calendar.  

"Barcelona is amongst my favorite tracks of the calendar and for sure one of the best F1-RX tracks. I’m really happy, that we are able to go there this year," said Timerzyanov.

It has been a season of ups and downs for Timerzyanov through on-track incidents and technical issues, but through all the bad luck, he claimed a third-place finish in Kouvola and will aim to claim some good results in Barcelona. 

"In the previous weekends, I have had many runs with good pace, but also many misfortunes or setbacks," he said. "I hope that in Barcelona I will be able to keep the good pace and consistency."

"Every race weekend we start with an aim of the podium, and this will be no different. We just need to do our best and results will come."

“I think this goes without saying that 2020 season has been a very challenging one and, so far, maybe not as successful as we hoped for, but we keep our spirits high and every single one in the team is working really hard to deliver their maximum," says Jussi Pinomäki, GRX Taneco team manager. 

"Barcelona is a place where we, as GRX Taneco, had our first race back in 2018 and we are excited to go back there."

GRX Taneco are currently third in the teams' standings with 176 points and will hope to close the deficit to KYB Team JC in Barcelona. 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Kristoffersson hopes to extend championship lead "without taking big risks" in Barcelona.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX

Two-time World Champion Johan Kristoffersson heads to Barcelona with a seventeen point lead in the FIA World Rallycross Championship and aims to take no big risks with just four rounds remaining this season. 

The championship is now at a crucial stage with just four rounds to go, two of them being a double-header at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona this weekend, and Johan aims to collect as many points as possible. 

"60 points up for grabs. My idea, as usual, is to collect as many points as possible without taking big risks," said Johan Kristoffersson.

In the hunt for a third title, Kristoffersson got off to a winning start in Sweden but has not had it all his own way. The Swede has won the opening round of each double-header, with Mattias Ekström, his championship rival often taking the win on the second day (next round). 

While Ekström is seventeen points behind the Volkswagen Dealearteam BAUHAUS driver ahead of rounds seven and eight, Niclas Grönholm isn't too far away either, only 49 points behind the championship leader.

The Swede is aware that while Mattias is his toughest opponent this season, but admits that the Hansen brothers, Niclas and Robin Larsson are just as strong. 

"Mattias is closest in the standings and will be a tough opponent, but Timmy and Kevin (Hansen) were strong in Spain last year and then there is Grönholm and Robin (Larsson) as well," he said

Johan won his last event in Barcelona, in 2018, and even though Ekström was first over the finish line, he was later penalized for an incident with Petter Solberg in the first corner. 

The launch (start) in Barcelona can be very decisive this weekend. 

"Since they moved the start forward it has become somewhat hazardous," he says.

At the last race, in Riga, there was a lot of talk about tyre strategy. Tommy Kristoffersson, the Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS team boss thinks that the tyre strategy/tactics might be less decisive this weekend.

"This track is not that demanding for the tyres, but if you are unlucky with the draw for Q1 you might have to sacrifice a set of tyres to get back into the game," he said. 

Tommy is confident ahead of Barcelona, as the team is coming into the event with a good points advantage and admits that his team has sorted a few things out on the Volkswagen Polo R Supercar.

"We don't have to chase. Since Riga, we have sorted things out on the car and found some good solutions," Tommy Kristoffersson said. 

During the break between Riga and Barcelona, while some of his rivals have been out testing other machinery or even their supercars, as they aim to close up on the championship leader. Johan made two guest appearances in the Carrera Cup Scandinavia series and picked up two podium finishes. 

While Johan Kristoffersson has been fairly dominant on the opening round of a double-header weekend, the question remains: Can secure a double win? We will surely find out this weekend!

Written By - Junaid Samodien

World RX: The best poker game ever?

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool.

After a dramatic end to the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship, everyone eagerly awaited the start of the 2020 season, with the COVID-19 pandemic helping to increase this anticipation. 

However, while the new season would see four of the last world championship winners on the grid, most carried caution to their anticipation as Johan Kristoffersson left the championship in 2018 after a very dominant and quite predictive nature. This might just have been why the 2019 season was so spectacular, but with the return of the latter, everyone feared that we might go in the same direction as Formula 1 went with Lewis Hamilton during the past few years. 

Most would have rightfully betted that Kristoffersson would lead the championship after three double-headers, but fewer would have predicted that the former powerhouse would struggle a bit to keep the rest behind. 

    1. A tactical warfare 

Even fewer would have predicted that tactics (and not sure speed) would be at the order of the day. With Mattias Ekström taking Jānis Baumanis’ (JC Raceteknik) seat at the last moment, the paddock became increasingly wary of this. 

The Swede might just have amazed himself at Höljes, taking the second win of the championship and changing his plans for the following weekend as he would once again take part in the Finnish double-header. 

While Kristoffersson and Niclas Grönholm won the next two rounds, Ekström kept consistent. Grönholm again took the top qualifier position in Riga on Saturday, but a chaotic start to the final saw Kristoffersson take the win, with Ekström taking second. It went even further as the latter took the top qualifier spot on the next day and won the Sunday event in Riga. 

Yet, with both Kristoffersson and Ekström in the pack, it is becoming evidently clear why and how the 2016 – 2018 championships were won by these two. Tyre strategies, mind games, and team help is now the order of the day and we might just see this until December when the 2020 championship finishes. 

Niclas Grönholm leads Mattias Ekström and Johan Kristoffersson in Finland.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

    2. GRX Taneco with immense start-line power 

For some, Niclas Grönholm stands as the 2019 champion, who never took the title. Missing two rounds due to an appendicitis operation, the Finn entered the last Cape Town round with a mathematical chance of still claiming the title. While this was never to be the case, he took the win at the Killarney International Raceway. 

Ending the Höljes weekend, the odds were stacked against the GRX Taneco team as they seemed to struggle with pace and set-ups, compared to the Volkswagen Polo and the Audi S1 Quattro’s.

The next weekend, however, saw different circumstances as Juha Rytkönen finished the first day in the second-place. The taste of champagne became even sweeter on day 2 as Grönholm silenced critics by fending off immense pressure from Kristoffersson and Ekström to win his home round, with teammate, Timur Timerzyanov with him on the podium. 

Showcasing that this was not just a once-off, Grönholm took TQ on day 1 at Riga, however, a difficult first corner propelled Kristoffersson to the win. 

Joining the GRX SET squad from EKS machinery, Krisztián Szabó showcased his true form this year by finishing inside the top-10 consistently and winning his race heats. All this basically comes down to immense starts with all three of the Hyundai’s having great starts in almost every race. 

Will these good launches (starts) give the team extra armor in the fight for the championship?

Andreas Bakkerud leading rival Timmy Hansen and Mattias Ekström.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

    3. Where are the 2019 contenders? 

Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud finished the 2019 season behind a controversial curtain, which will be disputed for many years to come. Finishing the season on equal points, many regarded them as the two fiercest competitors for 2020. 

Unfortunately, this is yet to be proven, with Hansen only claiming a season-best third place on the first day in Finland followed up by third in Riga. While this might not seem that bad,  Hansen Motorsport is yet to prove its consistency, compared to GRX Taneco, KYB Team JC, and Kristoffersson Motorsport. 

With even more bad luck, the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel combination started off much worse than anticipated. Following GCK’s progress during the past few years, it was thought that the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel's connection would propel them to the front. 

Andreas Bakkerud is yet to reach a podium position in 2020, with the Norwegian seemingly struggling to find his same form with the Megane as he showcased with the EKS run Audi in 2019. 

A sparkle of hope came through as Bakkerud started to show some form on the final day in Riga as he slotted into the second row of the second semi-finals. Fighting it out with Timo Scheider for P3 in the second semi-finals during race 6, the Megane of Bakkerud came second best, hitting a grass bank pretty hard. 

A broken driveshaft sees the wheel come off Doran's Renault Megane.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

    4. British bomb not igniting

Liam Doran, the package deal for the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel link-up, is finding the best of bad luck in 2020. The British driver seems to have a combination of bad luck and problems with the car during every round this year. 

With this, he is certainly the most inconsistent driver thus far, with no necessary fault of his own. 

Only one top-10 position thus far proves this. 

Is it due to Doran’s vigorous driving style or might it just be the GCK machinery not working as well? 

In 2018, it might have been easy to place money on Johan Kristoffersson as the likely champion, yet, the 2020 season is promised to be far less predictable, with the double World Champion yet to win a Sunday event. Having won 50% of the 2020 events thus far, he is not as dominant as he once was with PSRX Volkswagen Sweden. 

Will Kristoffersson take his third championship, Ekström his second, or Grönholm his first? 

Written By - Franco Theron (Galimoto Media)

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

Ekström hopes to return, while KYB Team JC claim double podium in Lativa.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

Mattias Ekström claimed his twelfth career victory at the Neste World RX of Riga (Latvia) at round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, to remain in contention for a potential second title. 

It was another relatively strong weekend for KYB Team JC in Riga-Latvia. On Saturday (round five), both drivers made the final, while Mattias finished second after winning his semi-final and Robin Larsson brought his Audi S1 across the line in sixth. 

Whilst round five wasn't an ideal result for the team, they worked hard overnight and found some improvements, as KYB Team JC claimed there first-ever double World RX podium finish, with Mattias on the top step and Larsson in third-place. 

"What a fantastic result. We had a good day on Saturday, but we struggled a bit with the tyres, so it was good to get a P2 and both cars in the final," Joel Christoffersson, KYB Team JC Team Principal said. 

"We had a good debrief overnight and really put our heads together to try and find a setup to try to manage the tyres as well as possible. We worked late, and today it paid off. We had the pace in the morning and through the day, the semi-final went just as we planned, and then in the final, I was a little curious about how Robin wold get on because we didn’t have as many new tyres for him as we did for Mattias, but it was such a nice feeling to get both cars on the podium."

"I’m almost happier for Robin than Mattias because we have worked so hard with Robin and he’s driven so well but we’ve never had the last luck to be on the podium," Christoffersson adds. "Now finally he could step up there and it’s a huge relief for him. It’s so nice to have two top drivers in the team and it’s fun to be looking at the points in both championships."

Joel Christoffersson hopes that Mattias can complete the season with his team.

"There aren't many races left still and I guess I need to call Mattias and try to discuss what we can do in the future. Hopefully, CUPRA and ABT can let us have him back again," he said.

Ekström made a surprising return to World RX this season with KYB Team JC and has brought the team to the forefront with his wise tactical decisions and setups skills. It's also worth noting that the Audi S1 Quattro was built for him by Audi Sport in 2018. 

The 2016 World Champion took a maximum points haul on Sunday at the Bikerneiki Sports Complex to close the gap to World RX Championship leader Johan Kristoffersson to 17 points.

For the first time in 2020, championship leader Johan Kristoffersson did not win a qualifying session. The only time Ekström was beaten throughout the day was by teammate Robin Larsson in Q3. 

"For me, Sunday in Riga turned out very special, after being dead last in the Q1 grid draw really means having no draw at all, just to take the place that’s left over. It was feeling like a big challenge, but after a good start and a clean Q1, that was the base for our weekend," Ekström said. "Then to win again in Q2 was another key. For Q3 we were just doing tyre management to save the best for the semi-final and final. That was a big strategic thing." 

"I can’t say about enough about our starts because that was a key to success too. Robin finished P2 in the semi-final which was very good and important points for the team, and then the final battle with Johan, such a close race from the start into the first corner and all the laps he was on my bumper. I did no mistakes and in the end, finished in front. It felt amazing and probably one of the best victories."

Heading into the Latvian double-header, Ekström was announced as the first driver for CUPRA's entry into Extreme E next year and was given permission by ABT and CUPRA to race in Riga. 

"I can’t wait to go home and digest this one and to call the guys at CUPRA and ABT to say thanks for the permission to come here and do this race, and I will also ask for permission to go to the next races," the Swede said. "I hope I will be able to give an update on this soon because that’s what the team wants and what I want also."

Reigning Euro RX and RallyX Nordic Champion Robin Larsson used a good race strategy to finish in third place, his first World RX podium with KYB Team JC, which moved him up to fifth in the Drivers’ Championship.

"I didn’t expect to be as high in the Intermediate Classification on Sunday after the tiny mistake in Q2. We had to use four new tyres in Q3 to go for it to get the fastest time. It went well, and made up a bit for the really disappointing Q2," Larsson said. 

"I knew then we couldn’t fight for the win when we used those tyres because you need them so much at the end, so I just tried to be behind Mattias in the semi, and it ended up really well in the final with Niclas Gronholm behind and I could really push on the lap that we took the joker."

"I’m more relieved than happy, that we could show pace, especially for me on this track, I’ve never been fast here and struggled before a lot," he adds. "I’ve tried to look at Mattias and the v-Box and everything to get as much data as I could. I’m really happy for Mattias and the team for the double podium. Finally!"

The next two rounds of World RX championship takes place in Barcelona, Spain on October 17-18. 

Written By - Junaid Samodien

We weren't 'quite strong enough' - Anton Marklund.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.

It's been a season of ups-and-downs for all the GCK run teams in 2020, and it was no different for Anton Marklund in Riga, Latvia, as he failed to make the final in rounds 5 and 6 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

The fifth round of the World Rallycross Championship was a difficult one for the Swede who was languishing in 16th overall after the first qualifier, but he was able to work his way up to 14th overall after the second and three qualifying sessions, which meant that he would not progress to the semi-finals or final. 

Day 2 of the double-header event was slightly better for Marklund. In Q1, he posted the 10th faster time followed up by the ninth fastest time in Q2, and the eleventh fastest time in Q3, booking him a spot in the semi-finals. 

On row 3 in semi-final 2 following action into turn 1 pushing through from the back, Anton took the joker [lap] straight away. He then fought his way into fifth place, and on lap 6, the race was red-flagged following a big shunt for Andreas Bakkerud after contact with Timo Scheider. Scheider was later disqualified for contact with Bakkerud, resulting in a fourth-place finish in the semi-finals for Marklund, and he would go no further. 

"We’ve been working very hard on the car this weekend and everyone on the team had to absolutely put their everything in to try and mitigate some of the niggles that already reared their heads yesterday. We started to pick up some pace in the end but it wasn’t quite strong enough," Marklund said. 

"The semi-final had us finish in 4th due to Scheider’s disqualification, however, as a result of the race having been red-flagged, the previous lap’s standings stood and Andreas would’ve got the grid spot and of course was unable to so Kevin Hansen took the spot in the final ahead of me. A close call to the final but it wasn’t to be today [Sunday]."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

UNKORRUPTED uses Latvian double-header to gather information.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition.

UNKORRUPTED has used the Neste World RX of Riga (Latvia) as a test session after a poor start to the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship. 

The French squad had high expectations heading into the 2020 World RX season after making significant changes to the Renault Clio R.S. RX that made it's debut in 2019. However, there expectations were not matched with on track performance. 

The fifth and sixth rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Latvia was used as a test event, as the UNKORRUPTED crew trialled differential changes and tweaks to the set up in order to gather data for post-event analysis. 

To date, Rokas Baciuksa has claimed the team's best result, an 11th-place finish at round one of the championship in Holjes, Sweden. Fast forward to Riga-Latvia, rounds five and six saw the pair leading the tail end of the field in 15th and 16th respectively. 

Team founder and driver Guerlain Chicherit admitted that it was difficult heading into the weekend knowing that he would not be competitive.

"As an athlete, for sure it’s tough to turn up when you’re not fighting for the top but motorsport is not easy, and it was important to get this weekend’s runs to gather enough information and test the changes made ahead of our pre-Barcelona testing," Chicherit said. "I’m really grateful to the mechanics and the rest of the team, they just keep pushing on despite frustrations as we try to learn as much as possible in what is an incredibly short, hectic season this year."

"I’m really happy to see the work I’ve put in over the off-season on my own driving style come through as we can see it’s got much cleaner. Now I hope we make some progress ahead of Barcelona to see it come together."

Teammate Rokas Baciuska has also been left frustrated despite earning the teams' best result of the season to date in Holjes, Sweden. 

"A weekend like this is hard because I want to race to win but we knew it was going to be a data-finding exercise and need to focus on the changes we can make and the improvements we can find," the Lithuanian driver said. 

Ahead of round seven and eight in Barcelona, Spain, the UNKORRUPTED team will analyse all the data obtained in Latvia to integrate it into a test programme planned for the next few weeks.

Written By - Junaid Samodien

"We still have some work to do" - Niclas Grönholm.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX.

The 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship has been filled with ups-and-downs for early championship favourites, GRX Taneco. 

And, despite a win in Kouvola-Finland, the Finnish squad still has a long way to go to beat the likes of Johan Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekström [KYB Team JC]. After six rounds, there have been glimpses of pace, while GRX SET's Juha Rytkonen showed the true pace of the Hyundai i20 after a magnificent performance in Kouvola. 

The fifth round of the championship, also held in Riga, Latvia, saw Niclas Grönholm claim the top qualifiers spot. Lining up alongside, Ekström in the semi-final, the 2016 Champion had a much better launch with Niclas making it into turn two in second-place where he would finish the race. 

While teammate Timur Timerzyanov did not have a good start in semi-final two and got through turn two in fourth-place. However, it went from bad to worse when the Russian got a knock on the rear, which damaged his rear suspension and meant he was crabbing around the track fighting to keep his Hyundai going in a straight line. He  finished the semi-final in fifth-place. 

The round five final was a heated affair with six drivers jostling for position, while the 24-year-old Finn came out of turn two in fourth-place. And, later on in the final, Niclas was faster than Kevin Hansen and tried an alternative line to get past the young Swede. But luck was not on his side and he hit a barrier. Grönholm crossed the finish line 6.275 seconds behind Kevin in fifth-place. 

Sunday (round six) was slightly more challenging for GRX Taneco, with both drivers in fifth and ninth after three qualifying sessions. Niclas progressed to the semi-finals, while Timur could only manage a fifth-place finish. In the final, the Finn claimed a fifth-place finish. 

"Quali runs were up-and-down again and starting from the outside didn’t help. I had a quite good start in the Final and came out of the first turn as fourth," Grönholm said. "I managed to keep up with the frontrunners for a couple of laps, but eventually my tires overheated and I lost the pace."

"We came here well prepared and with high expectations, but couldn’t capitalize on that. The car was better than in first races of the season, but we still have some work to do."

Despite some good clean runs in qualifying, Timur wasn't able to achieve his plan of making it into the Semi-fiinal, and ended round six in eighth-place. 

"P5 in the Semi-final was not the result I was hoping for, especially after the good and clean run in Q2, where I finished 4th," Timerzyanov said. "We had a plan for the Semi-final, but it didn’t play out as we anticipated and even though I was driving as fast as possible, it was not enough to proceed to the Final."

Jussi Pinomäki, GRX Taneco Team Manager adds that it has been a frustrating weekend in Latvia, but admits that his team needs to keep working and improving throughout the season to reach the level of their rivals. 

"This weekend in Riga was a difficult and sometimes even a frustrating one, but I know that everyone in the team did their best and I am proud of them," Pinomäki said. "For sure we would have wanted a better result, but races in Riga prove the level of the sport and that we have to keep working and improving throughout the whole season."

Krisztian Szabo in the third Hyundai i20 run by GRX SET had a topsy turvy weekend, and while Saturday (round 5) was much smoother. Sunday (round six) saw the Hungarian's car catch alight in Q2 due to a broken manifold. The GRX team was able repair the car and got him out for the remainder of the weekend where he was able to finish in sixth-place in the semi-finals. 

"I was missing a couple of tenths here and there comparing to yesterday and I can’t really explain why it was like that. Still, I reached the Semi-final and I am satisfied with this result, especially after the thrilling Q2 session," Szabo said. "In Q2 I noticed smoke inside of the car, but I kept going until, on the last lap, when an actual fire came into cockpit and I was forced to stop. Mechanics did an unbelievable job, getting the car ready for Q3, where I set the 5thfastest time."

Written By - Junaid Samodien

Bakkerud appreciates safety equipment in Mégane after 120km/h crash.

PHOTO CREDIT: GC Kompetition

Andreas Bakkerud was given the all-clear on Sunday evening following a heavy crash in the semi-finals of round six of the World Rallycross Championship in Riga-Latvia.

The 2019 World RX runner-up came wheel-to-wheel with Timo Scheider as the German emerged from the joker lap at the end of lap five, and while Scheider was able to keep the Norweigian behind. On the last lap, Andreas saw a gap and went for the overtake on the inside of the German but in the short run to turn five, Scheider defended and squeezed him into the grass bank with significant impact, that tore the front-left corner off the GCK Mégane R.S. RX. He was immediately helped from the car by marshals and taken to the hospital for further evaluation, and was released on Sunday evening. 

Scheider finished the semi-final in third-place, but was later disqualified by the FIA Stewards for "unsportsmanlike" behavior. 

Bakkerud has not had the smoothest of seasons with GC Kompetition, but put his Renault Mégane in sixth-place overall after the three qualifiers, and progressed to the semi-finals where his weekend abruptly ended. He finished round 6 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in seventh overall. 

"Today was really a day about consistency for us in Riga and the target was the podium for sure," Bakkerud said. "I felt we were strong in Q1 and Q2 especially, then we struggled a bit in Q3, got safely to the semi-finals, and saw a lot of action there."

The Norwegian talks us through what happened in the semi-final, including the heavy 120km/h shunt.  

"First following the start which had us pushed out but then I caught up to Scheider twice and knew I had the opportunity to overtake him. I saw him break a little late to defend and I took a wider line, cut back to then take the inside line," he explained. "Then I just felt one big punch into the front side of my car that changed its direction entirely and hit the barrier on the left doing 120km/h at the time. There were parts everywhere and I literally just closed my eyes hoping that Marklund and Doran would avoid me."

"At that speed, you never know what can happen. The track medical team did a great job and the Riga hospital did a lot of tests on me, which I really appreciate."

"It’s moments like this that you appreciate the work we’ve done on our safety equipment in the Megane, the seatbelts, our hybrid device, the helmet, and so on - you sometimes take it for granted but now I’m just happy that we use safety equipment that is well proven and of great quality."

Written By - Junaid Samodien