"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