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Wednesday, 14 July 2021

The Hansen brothers aim high in final combustion-engined season.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool
Heading into the final season in the combustion-engine era, Timmy and Kevin Hansen are aiming high in 2021, after unveiling a striking new livery on their Peugeot 208 WRX Supercars. 

The closely-knit family team has achieved a lot of success in rallycross, with the most successful driver in rallycross history, Kenneth Hansen leading the team (father), having clinched 14 European RX titles. Whilst, Susann Hansen (their mother) is the only female driver to have won a European title in rallycross. 

Their eldest son, Timmy clinched the World Championship crown in dramatic fashion in 2019 with younger brother Kevin racing to glory in FIA Euro RX, RX Lites, and the Junior Rallycross Cup.

This season, the Hansen brothers are hoping to continue their momentum into 2021, targeting more victories and competing for both the drivers’ and teams’ world championship titles.

"I’m super excited to start this season. I hope now the work we are putting in will pay off, that in the beginning we can be there and fight for wins right from the start, and if we keep doing that through the season hopefully, we’re thereabouts to fight for the championship," Timmy Hansen said. 

"We’ve got a short season again. It’s very different from 2020 because then it was all very unexpected. Now for 2021, we know we’re coming into this very compact calendar, with a lot of races in a short time."

The 2019 Champion is under no illusions that the 2021 season will be smooth sailing, and admits they need to be at their best to beat their rivals. 

"It’s going to be a very tough season; everyone’s working very hard and no one is leaving anything to chance. Kevin is strong, he’s growing year by year. Johan Kristoffersson is strong – he was the champion last year. I know Niclas Grönholm is super fast and his car is a weapon," he said. "I really hope this car will be competitive against both of them – they have really strong cars, and we need to be at our best to beat them."

Like his older brother, Kevin has increasingly established himself as a key player in recent years, claiming his first World RX win in Abu Dhabi in 2019 and collecting seven podium finishes.

The 23-year-old makes it clear that he has more silverware in his sights over the following months.

"We're coming into the last season of the petrol era and I really want to take the world championship title," he said. "Going into this season we didn't want to repeat any of our mistakes from last year. We want to enter the season well prepared, and I think that's what we're doing this year. We're testing a lot more and we're thinking about small details all the time, leaving no stone unturned. With this team behind us, we can aim for 1-2 in the championship."

"We've been the most successful team in rallycross history so far and we plan to close this chapter by winning both titles."

With the new electric RX1e era on the horizon, the Swedish siblings are excited about the electric future. 

"In 2022 we’re moving to electric rallycross, going to faster cars, more technically advanced cars, and stepping into the future," Timmy Hansen said. "It’s massively exciting to be part of something new like that." 

Kevin Hansen admits that there will be challenges incorporating the Kreisel electric kit, but his sure the team can solve any issue quickly.

"To incorporate this kit into the current cars will be a challenge for everybody, but I believe Hansen World RX Team is not an inexperienced company. We know what we need to do, we'll get our heads down and figure it out quickly," Hansen said.

The 2021 World RX season will get underway with a Friday/Saturday evening showdown at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next weekend (23-24 July), before rounds in Germany, Sweden, France, Latvia, Belgium, and Portugal completing an eight-round schedule.

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