Rewind the clock for a moment
to Montalegre on 18 September, 2022. Kevin Hansen was in exultant mood, after defeating
Johan Kristoffersson in a straight fight in the pair’s progression race. He is
planning on making it a much more regular occurrence in 2024...
Hansen overtook his fellow
Swede not just once but twice during that famous five-lap duel in Portugal, and
after taking the chequered flag, he triumphantly declared: “Anybody wondering
if you can beat him, there you go!”
He ended last season in similar form, getting the
better of Kristoffersson on the opening day in Hong Kong to win the first city-centre
contest in FIA World Rallycross Championship history, as he cemented a
career-best second in the Drivers’ standings behind his all-conquering countryman.
The Hansen World RX Team star – already an RX
Lites and FIA European Rallycross Champion – is aiming to go one step higher
this year, in what will be his eighth full campaign at the highest level. The key,
he insists, will be to maximise pre-season preparations.
“I’ve got better and
better as the years go on and I’m able to withdraw more performance from myself,”
Hansen said in an interview with Motorsport News. “The only title I don’t
have is the world championship. 2023 was a great step forward, but we need to
have a good car and it wasn’t quick enough last year. That’s something we need
to work on as a team.
“We’re confident that if
we get the package together, we can win. We’ve done it in the past. We’re
increasing the work on the engineering side to try to extract more performance.
“Fair play
to (Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS) – they have great engineers and (Johan Kristoffersson’s)
able to withdraw the performance from the car. We just need to try to create
the same opportunity, but I’m confident that when we have the material, we can
compete for the title as well.”
Portugal
Sweden
France
