Grönholm: There was nothing more to give

Grönholm was Kristoffersson’s closest competitor all season, even leading the way early on following his victory in the Lousada curtain-raising contest and second place in round two at Höljes. However, a combination of Kristoffersson Motorsport’s switch from internal combustion engines to electric power and a run of ill-fortune at Nyirád and on home soil at the KymiRing stunted the Finn’s challenge and turned the tables in favour of his Swedish rival.

He duly headed into the double-header Istanbul title-decider sitting 15 points adrift of Kristoffersson at the summit of the standings, and despite producing a stellar performance throughout the qualifying stages on the opening day – topping the timesheets in all three heats – it ultimately proved to be an insurmountable margin. 

A small mistake in the final allowed the ever-present Kristoffersson to pounce, and thereafter, Grönholm had no answer to the multiple world champion, who less than 24 hours later clinched his eighth career crown. For his part, the CE Dealer Team star rounded out the campaign with a hard-fought third place-finish on the Sunday, battling his way past young countryman Joni Turpeinen on the very last lap.

That enabled Grönholm to hold off KMS’ Ole Christian Veiby by a single point to secure the runner-up spoils in the title table – leaving him with mixed emotions once the final chequered flag had fallen.

“Going into the weekend, we knew the gap was perhaps a little bit too big to challenge for the championship, but it’s not in our nature to give up,” mused the 29-year-old Kauniainen native, who finished third in the world championship classification three times in a row from 2021 to 2023.

“We barely put a foot wrong on the Saturday. We had a great and tight battle with Johan in the final, but unfortunately, we were missing a bit of pace compared to the qualifying races. I got a decent start and was able to lead for a few laps, but then left a little bit of a gap into Turn Five and Johan was able to get past.

“I tried all I could, but there was nothing more to give. After that, it was quite clear we were only fighting for second place in the championship the next day, and in the end we managed to hold onto that so it was a decent end to the season.

“Overall, Türkiye was tough but very rewarding, and it felt good to secure P2 for the team and my best championship finish so far in World RX. It also marked the end of an era –  one filled with ups-and-downs, action-packed races and incredible people. Biggest thanks to CE Dealer Team, all of our partners and all the fans.”