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| Juha Rytkonen leads seven-time world champion Johan Kristtoffersson. PHOTO CREDIT: PGRX |
Before diving into the weekend's details, in 2024 World Rallycross introduced a new concept called the 'Battle of Technologies' (BoT), where sustainably-fuelled internal-combustion engined cars would compete with fully electric-powered RX1e cars. This concept was first introduced at RallyX Nordic in 2021 in an Open 4WD Category, which proved to be quite exciting.
And, since the introduction of electric powertrains in 2022, World RX ushered in a new era with BoT, allowing teams the opportunity to choose between ICE or electric, some chose electric, which they had run just a season earlier, with a few upgrades of course, and Kristoffersson Motorsport chose ICE, developing an all-new Volkswagen Polo, named the KMS 601 RX. But, how they would fair was anyone’s guess, as electric cars pack an instant push with their immediate torque deployment, which at the start of races is essential to getting off the line cleanly, but as with any car there are strengths, and then there are weaknesses, and to balance the performance, the FIA together with World RX adopted the Equivalence of Technologies (EoT), meaning some cars would carry more weight or less weight to somewhat balance the performance.
World RX ushered in the new era at the iconic Magic Weekend in Höljes, where six-time champion Johan Kristoffersson opened his account with a double victory kick-starting the BoT era in favor of internal combustion engined cars, but with a dominant drive on home soil, could the KMS-HORSE Powertrain squad continue the momentum throughout the season, as Johan Kristoffersson looks to defend the drivers’ championship.
As the season developed, a strange pattern emerged beginning in Hungary, at Round 2, where Niclas Gronholm claimed the first victory for EV cars, but a day later, it was Kristoffersson back on the top step of the podium, this pattern continued for the next four rounds, with both Kevin and Timmy Hansen claiming a win a-piece in Belgium and Portugal, but as was in Hungary, Kristoffersson claimed an event win at both double-headers, despite the high elevation handicap for ICE cars in Portugal, to firmly establish a healthy 49-points lead heading into the season finale in China.
However, plans to race in China were scrapped in early October, with a move to Turkiye announced, all eyes turned to the world-class Istanbul Park for the season finale, and boy did it deliver! Having previously hosted World Rallycross in 2014 and 2015, the classic nine-year-old layout returned, a venue and track, at which Timmy Hansen who in 2015, and looked to return to winning ways in 2024, but straight from the off-set, it seemed like the Peugeot 208 RX1e struggled with the slippery nature of the circuit, and the KMS-HORSE Powertrain Polo’s were right on the money from Free Practice on Saturday morning with Kristoffersson and Ole Christian Veiby topping the standings, but could they retain the morning pace for the remainder of the day?
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| PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
It was finally time for the penultimate round of the championship to commence, and boy did it commence, when Niclas Gronholm had a rocket launch, so did the Hansen brothers', whilst the ICE Polo’s had okay'ish launches, and almost immediately got stuck in some traffic, as Gronholm nailed the laps at the front of the field. The seas parted Kristoffersson, as his rivals took the Joker lap ahead, allowing him to somewhat close on the leader, but try as he might despite an early Joker strategy, it was not enough to beat ice-cool Niclas Gronholm who won the heat by 1.75 seconds to Johan, Timmy, Ole Christian Veiby and Kevin Hansen, who sustained a front right puncture after a battle with Veiby.
One heat down, and another about to get underway, it was three versus one, yeah, three internal-combustion engined Supercars taking on Klara Andersson, in her CE Dealerteam fully-electric RX1e car, and from lights out, Andersson nailed the start leading the two PGRX Hyundai i20's, with 2024 European Rallycross Champion Patrick O’Donovan left on the line due to an overheating clutch.
After the start, it all became a bit dramatic, as PGRX team-mates ruled out any chances of a heat win following heavy contact between the two, whilst Patrick O’Donovan slid through on route to victory ahead of Andersson, Bossard, and Juha Rytkonen.
With some data in the bank, and an opportunity to fine-tune the set-ups, the drivers returned to the 1.351.8-kilometer Istanbul Park track for the heat two races, with the slower seed first, and, as the lights went out Klara Andersson had a very good start, but incredibly, 2024 French Rallycross Champion Steven Bossard took the lead, with PGRX team-mate Juha Rytkonen right on his heels, as Andersson and O’Donovan took their compulsory joker immediately on the first lap.
As the heat played out, Bossard extended his lead where he’d remain to the checkered flag by a mighty 3.586 seconds to Rytkonen, Andersson, and O’Donovan down in fourth.
The championship protagonists were up next, and after a bad first heat for Kevin Hansen, heading into the final heat of Round 9, all Johan Kristoffersson required was to finish ahead of Kevin to be crowned the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Champion, but right as the lights went out, Timmy Hansen and younger brother Kevin had really good starts driving alongside each other into turn 1, blocking any path for a potential overtaking maneuver.
Kevin immediately took his joker lap followed by Kristoffersson and Veiby, as Niclas Gronholm applied a ton of pressure to Timmy Hansen in front, Johan then began to close on Kevin, and with an over-under move, he overtook the young Swede, and began to pull away, as Veiby then had a look as well. And, in an attempt to clear and stay ahead of a charging Kristoffersson, Gronholm jokered to come out ahead, as they began to gain ground on leader Timmy Hansen, but incredibly enough, as the 2019 Champion rejoined from his compulsory joker, Niclas, and Kristoffersson was right behind him and both went in different directions to try and pull off an overtake in turn 6. Kristoffersson on the inside for turn 7 was able to pass Gronholm and then set his sights on Hansen ahead and biding his time, Johan slid through to take the heat win, and with it the 2024 Championship.
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| Seven-time World RX Champion Johan Kristoffersson. PHOTO CREDIT: KMS-HORSE Powertrain |
“First of all, that race was really, really nice. Had some great battles. This last section on this track... or the last section of the tarmac really creates a lot of great overtaking opportunities. And, when I was driving towards the hairpin, I saw the pictures of back in 2014 when Timmy (Hansen) and I, were driving towards that hairpin. So, it was a great heat."
After the two heats, Kristoffersson was not only the World Champion, but also the top qualifier, which would put him on pole position for the first semi-final, with Niclas Gronholm in pole for the second semi-final.
Due to the slippery nature of the circuit, and the wet Hoosier tyre providing more initial grip, as it is a soft compound, all the drivers in the first semi-final bolted on a set, and like you’d imagine, Timmy Hansen, the sole EV car powered to the front, as Johan Kristoffersson and Steven Bossard tangled causing damage to the KMS 601 RX Polo’s front bumper and the left-hand side door, which swang open.
Having played his cards smartly, as the race progressed, Ole Christian Veiby was able to clear the cars ahead of him and slot into second overall. And, with team game in mind, just before the checkered flag, Kristoffersson pulled aside to give Veiby the win, and with that pole position for the final.
All eyes now turned to semi-final 2, could Kevin Hansen claw back vital points to secure second in the drivers championship after Veiby won the previous semi-final. Lights out, and away Klara and Kevin Hansen went, the Hansen Motorsport driver led through turn one, as Andersson and Patrick O’Donovan collided sending the Irishman spinning to the right.
Opting to joker on lap 1, Andersson and O’Donovan tried to tactically gain some ground, but the pace out front was strong. Kevin Hansen won the semi-final by 1.247 seconds to Niclas Gronholm, with O’Donovan in third, and Klara Andersson’s hopes of progression to the final dashed with a fourth-place finish.
The tension grew ahead of the all important final, a straight battle between Ole Christian Veiby and Kevin Hansen on the front row, but having struggled with his starts all day, just when he needed it most, the Norwegian produced the best launch all season out-dragging Kevin Hansen to turn one, as Johan Kristoffersson from the second row set his sights on the Peugeot ahead.
Veiby didn’t put a single wheel out-of-place, as the gap grew and grew to Hansen, as Kristoffersson tried various attempts to overtake the younger of the two Hansen brothers’.and even attempted a dive bomb, but the door was shut, and Johan hit the tyre wall quite hard damaging his front bumper, but he recovered to third and later lost the podium finish after failing to complete the compulsory joker lap.
But, after not putting a single foot wrong in the final, Ole Christian Veiby crossed the checkered flag six seconds ahead of the nearest pursuer, Niclas Gronholm to record his maiden World Rallycross victory.
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| Round Nine winner Ole Christian Veiby PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
With round nine done and dusted, it was back to the computers to establish what could be done better for the final round of the doubleheader. And, with with the final overnight ideas brought to the circuit, the weather in Turkiye had other ideas. The heavens opened, and the circuit became ever more challening, but much like they started Saturday morning, just 24 hours earlier, the KMS-HORSE Powertrain drivers' topped the morning warm-up in preparation for the heats, semi-final, and final to follow.
It was time for some Heat action, Johan Kristoffersson started from the pole with Kevin Hansen, round nine winner OC Veiby alongside him, then Timmy Hansen and Niclas Gronholm, a battle of 2 ICE powered cars versus 3 electric cars, let the battle begin!
The Hansen Peugeots had very good launches, but with the inside line, and a good start, Johan Kristoffersson took the lead, as the Hansen brothers covered off Veiby in fourth and Gronholm in fifth, but opting for a tactical advantage, Timmy and OC immediately took their joker lap, and with defensive drive, he was able to slow the Norwegian enough for his younger brother Kevin to take the joker a lap later and leap ahead on track. Back at the front, Kristoffersson was large and in charge gapping the cars behind so much so that he crossed the line 8.409 seconds ahead of Kevin Hansen, Niclas Gronholm, OC Veiby, and Timmy Hansen in a distant fifth with a front left puncture.
Timmy was not impressed with Veiby’s driving in heat 1, saying: “The first overtake was good. The second overtake until he [OC], pushed me into the tyre wall was good, but then dirty. He is just nervous so he makes many mistakes.”
The rain continued to fall at Istanbul Park ahead of the second heat 1 race, which saw CE Dealer Team’s Klara Andersson have yet another good launch, but PGRX’s Juha Rytkonen’s launch was a lot better, and he immediately took the lead. As the laps ticked by the Finn remained comfortably in control crossing the finish line by 2.777s to Andersson, Patrick O’Donovan, and Steven Bossard, who encountered a wastegate issue with his PGRX Hyundai i20.
Heading into Heat 2, the battle for second in the Drivers’ Championship continued, whilst all the KMS-HORSE Powertrain drivers just required a handful of points, they would though have to wait, with the first race of Heat 2 up first, and with the rain continuing to fall, ice cool Rytkonen had yet another blistering start with team-mate Bossard alongside, but contact between the two sent Juha into the wall at turn 1, and ricocheting into Klara Andersson, who momentarily went airborne and spun.
And, whilst Steven Bossard scampered off into the distance. With a first lap joker, Patrick O’Donovan began to draw ever closer to the Frenchman, but with a few laps remaining, Bossard began to slow, the cause, a front left puncture. O’Donovan quickly overtook Bossard, and sailed off into the distance by an eyewatering 31 seconds to Klara Andersson who eventually finished in second ahead of Bossard, and Rytkonen [DNF].
The rain continued to fall for the second and final heat race of the season, from pole position Niclas Gronholm had the inside line with Kristoffersson on the outside compared to his rivals.
From the outside, Kevin Hansen and Kristoffersson had very good starts, whilst alongside them on the inside, OC Veiby was turned sideways as a result of contact with Timmy Hansen, as Kristoffersson backed off to perform a brilliant undercut, as Timmy and Ole Christian ran wide with their contact.
Kevin Hansen led the way from Niclas Gronholm, Johan Kristoffersson, Timmy Hansen, and OC Veiby. On the first lap, Gronholm and Timmy immediately took their joker lap, clearing the way for Kristoffersson to move into second and Veiby third. With more pace and grip, Johan attempted an over-under-over move on Kevin Hansen to try and snatch the lead, but the Peugeot driver kept his cool and shut the door.
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| PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
Victory in the heat sealed the Teams’ Championship for the KMS-HORSE Powertrain squad, with Patrick O’Donovan securing the top qualifier spot ahead of the all-important semi-finals and final.
But as more rain began to fall teams quickly made some final adjustments ahead of the semi-finals, only six drivers will make the final, and three will be eliminated after the semi-finals.
Lights out, and away they went, and from the second row Niclas Gronholm had a lightning start to lead into turn one ahead of pole-sitter Patrick O’Donovan and Johan Kristofferson, but O’Donovan quickly jokered with Bossard on lap one, clearing the way for OC Veiby to gain third after his bad start.
Kristoffersson immediately began to attack Gronholm trying all sorts of alternative lines, but a small mistake from Niclas allowed Johan to squeeze through and take the lead. On lap 3, Veiby took his joker, and came out comfortably ahead of O’Donovan and Bossard. Bossard was able to overtake O’Donovan, who ran very wide at turn 4.
After his joker lap, Veiby closed on Gronholm rapidly and overtook the Finn, as he jokered, moving into second place, whilst Bossard took the attack to Gronholm, but the latter won the exchange, as the PGRX driver stopped on track.
With just a few corners to go, Kristoffersson played the ultimate team game and pulled aside just before the checkered flag to allow his teammate OC Veiby to take the semi-final win, and with those handy points in the fight for second in the championship, Kristoffersson settling for a second row start with Gronholm in third [final row], and O’Donovan and Bossard going no further.
The Hansen brothers’ lined-up in the second semi-final on the second row, but Kevin would have to win to avoid losing points to Veiby, and as the lights went out, Klara Andersson had a very good initial launch, but again Juha Rytkonen powered to the lead, as Andersson and Timmy collided at turn 1 allowing Kevin to move into second.
Both Klara Andersson and Timmy Hansen took their compulsory jokers on lap one, but it was clear to see that the CE Dealer Team driver struggled on the wet gravel sections, and as quick as she made a mistake, Timmy slid through to take third, but ahead of him was Rytkonen pulling away from his younger brother.
Rytkonen and Kevin Hansen opted for a last lap joker, but that did not pay off for Kevin, as Timmy was able to take net second, and later moved aside for his younger brother to gain the important championship points, which meant, Rytkonen would start the all-important final from pole position with Kevin on the second row, Timmy on the final row, and unfortunately, Andersson would go no further.
With the drivers’ and teams’ championship all but secure, the battle for second and third in the drivers’ championship was hot, all Ole Christian Veiby required was to finish two places ahead of Kevin Hansen to claim second overall in the drivers' championship.
The tension was high, the rainy mood was set, who would win the final round of 2024 ‘Battle of Technologies’, and could the KMS-HORSE Powertrain squad complete the perfect 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship and Teams’ Championship?
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| Juha Rytkonen leads to turn one, with OC Veiby still on the start line. PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
Kristoffersson applied some pressure with mud flinging onto his windscreen, visibility became challenging, but that didn’t stop him from trying to close on the Finn. Timmy Hansen then began to gap Niclas Gronholm and take his joker on lap 2, and with perfect execusion, Timmy emerged behind younger brother to keep Veiby at bay.
Following Niclas, Kevin Hansen spotted a mistake from the CE Dealer Team driver and moved into net third, as Veiby attempted to pass Timmy, but they too drew closer to Gronholm, and then Timmy sents it up the inside making the move stick for fourth-place – OC Veiby tried to follow him through, but as a result of some contact, he got rotated on the barrier at the pinch point dropping him to stone last.
But, try as he might, he kept pushing and slowly began to gain of Gronholm, but lost too much time as a result of the spin, and ended up behind Gronholm after the Finn’s joker.
Back at the front, Juha Rytkonen took the checkered flag 3.026 seconds ahead of seven-time World Champion Johan Kristoffersson, with Kevin Hansen in third, and with second in the drivers’ championship secured. Behind the top three were Timmy Hansen in fourth, Niclas Gronholm fifth, and Ole Christian Veiby in sixth-place.
"Winning a World Rallycross Championship event for the first time is a difficult feeling to describe. It's hard to find the words and I have to admit that I'm the first to be surprised at the idea of having achieved such a performance. On Saturday, in the first race of the weekend, we had a few problems. It was difficult to find my bearings behind the wheel, but Sunday went much better. I felt really comfortable with the car and that allowed me to drive at my own pace," Rytkonen said.
"Inevitably, the wet track conditions also worked in my favour, as the second half of the season in the French championship has mostly been marked by rain. In other words, I had some obvious reference points on how to use the car in limited grip conditions."
"I'd like to thank the PGRX team for the confidence they have shown in me throughout the season. On Sunday I had the speed to go for the win and that's what I did. In the end I don't know what to say except that I'm very happy. Being up against the best drivers in the world could only push me out of my comfort zone. I had to push myself to the limit and I'm really proud to have won ahead of the last two reigning champions, Johan Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen. To be honest, I hope to be back in the FIA World Championship as soon as possible."
The result not only made it two new World RX winners in as many days – following OC Veiby’s breakthrough win on Saturday – it also marked the first time since 2021 that Kristoffersson ended a weekend without having stood on the top step of the podium.
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| PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
FINAL CLASSIFICATION - WORLD RX OF TURKIYE
ROUND NINE - FINAL RESULT:
1. Ole Christian Veiby - KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE)
2. Niclas Gronholm - CE Dealer Team (EV) + 6.017s
3. Kevin Hansen - Hansen World RX Team (EV) +7.654s
4. Timmy Hansen - Hansen World RX Team (EV) + 10.991s
5. Patrick O’Donovan - Team RX Racing (ICE) + 11.811s
6. Johan Kristoffersson - KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 6.768s*
* Classified in last position and -1 championship points penalty for not taking joker lap
ROUND TEN - FINAL RESULT
1. Juha Rytkonen - PGRX (ICE) 5 laps
2. Johan Kristoffersson - KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 3.026s
3. Timmy Hansen - Hansen World RX Team (EV) + 12.428s
4. Kevin Hansen - Hansen World RX Team (EV) +14.465s
5. Niclas Gronholm - CE Dealer Team (EV) + 18.783s
6. Ole Christian Veiby - KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 19.370s
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