GRX Taneco sets sights on the finals in Canada.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco.

The GRX Taneco team heads to Canada, in fourth place in the 2018 FIA World Rallycross championship (with 121 points), but the team has now revised its target for the second part of the championship as it hopes to qualify for the final of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. 

Located 140 kilometres north-east of Montreal, the Circuit Trois-Rivières is 60% asphalt and 40% gravel. It is also the longest in the Championship with a 1370-metre layout. The lap record stands at 48.009 seconds, set in 2017.  

Timur Timerzyanov will be competing in the race for the fifth time, while Niclas Grönholm will be making his third appearance there. The Russian even managed to climb onto the third step of the podium in 2014, while Grönholm’s best result on the Canadian track – P12 – came two years later. 

“The race [in Canada] is run on quite a different circuit to what we have had so far. It is a long track with a long straight and tight turns between the walls," said Grönholm. "It’s quite an unusual setup in Rallycross but that doesn’t bother me. It should be a great race and I really hope to secure a good result to get the second half of the season off to a flying start.” 

Timur Timerzyanov used his summer break in a very different way to the other drivers. He got married...

"I’m now rearing to go! The Canadian track is one of my favourites. I finished on the podium on my first appearance there in 2014," said Timerzyanov. "Since then, I’ve always had good pace and hope to put in a solid performance this year. It’s a very fast circuit with long straights which promise some impressive peak speeds."

Both drivers have been improving their performances in the Hyundai i20 Supercars, and Timerzyanov hopes to be competitive this weekend.

"The team has done a lot of work to get the cars ready during the break and I know we’ll be competitive.”