Montalegre never fails to produce sensational
racing, and in front of an enthusiastic crowd, the ‘Battle of Technologies’
delivered in style, truly showcasing the respective strengths of World RX’s
electric and sustainably-fuelled internal combustion cars with spectacular
sends and awe-inspiring overtakes.
It was the elder rather than the younger of
the Hansen siblings who set the pace during the heats, as 2019 world champion
Timmy Hansen won both of his races behind the wheel of his electric Peugeot 208
RX1e to top the intermediate Ranking, but Kevin Hansen then got the jump on his
brother at the start of the pair’s semi-final and remained in front throughout
to secure pole position for the final.
Timmy Hansen subsequently repaid the favour
by sweeping around the outside into the lead from the second row of the grid, as
his Hansen World RX Team stablemate darted immediately into the joker, followed
by championship leader Kristoffersson, who had exited Turn One down in sixth
place. Their tactics would prove to be inspired.
While Timmy Hansen and Ole Christian Veiby
went at it hammer-and-tongs at the front of the field – trading places on
multiple occasions – their spirited duel cost them time to the early jokers, who
were inexorably hunting them down. The top two dived into the joker themselves
on the last lap, but by then, the damage was done, as Kevin Hansen and
Kristoffersson blasted past.
All that then remained was for the Peugeot
driver to fend off his Volkswagen rival to the chequered flag, which he did
with razor-sharp precision to cement his fourth career victory and first of the
2024 campaign.
“The team has done a great job this weekend,”
Hansen enthused. “This is my first win in the electric Peugeot – it’s taken a
while! The car was flying and I had so much confidence, and we had a great
strategy in the final.
“I had to try to defend against Johan
[Kristoffersson], but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t afford to defend too
much as then we wouldn’t have caught the guys ahead. We’ve received amazing
support from the fans here at Montalegre, which has been wonderful to see. I
think a lot of them remember my father’s successes in Portugal in the past. They’ve
brought so much energy all weekend, and that has really fuelled us.”
After his hard-fought victory 24 hours
earlier, Kristoffersson had to settle for the runner-up spoils on Sunday – the
Swede’s 61st podium finish from 95 appearances in rallycross’
top-flight. Piloting his sustainably-fuelled Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX, the
KMS - HORSE Powertrain ace missed out on glory by less than three
tenths-of-a-second, meaning he must wait a little longer in his quest to clinch
an extraordinary seventh world championship crown.
Timmy Hansen rounded out the rostrum in third
as he prevailed in his crowd-pleasing scrap with Veiby, with the Norwegian
briefly nosing ahead again on the last lap before contact between the pair sent
him into the wall. That elevated Klara Andersson to fourth – the CE Dealer Team
by Volvo Construction Equipment ace a late addition to the final following a
track limits penalty for JDM Raptor Racing’s Anthony Pelfrene – with the
delayed Veiby fifth and Niclas Grönholm failing to finish after picking up a
puncture.
In the supporting series, there were title
triumphs for defending champion Nils Andersson in RX2e, two-time British
champion Patrick O’Donovan in Euro RX1 and Nils Volland in Euro RX3 – the
latter sealing the deal in a dramatic final won by his chief competitor and
home hero João Ribeiro.
FINAL
RESULT: WORLD RX
1. Kevin
HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV) 5 laps
2. Johan
KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) +
0.271s
3. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV) +
2.045s
4. Klara ANDERSSON (SWE) CE Dealer Team (EV) +
7.447s
5. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) +
26.272s
DNF Niclas GRÖNHOLM (FIN) CE Dealer Team (EV) +
1 lap
Full results for all categories can be found here.
Spain
Hungary
Portugal