Kristoffersson: Our participation was hanging by a thread...

Despite its staggering success, the family-run outfit from the small Swedish town of Arvika has repeatedly struggled to raise the necessary funding to continue competing at the international pinnacle of the dual-surface discipline. It was no different this year. 

The team took to the track in the curtain-raising contest at Lousada in Portugal with a pair of its hitherto all-conquering, sustainably-fuelled Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX combustion cars – but a difficult weekend restricted multiple world champion Johan Kristoffersson to an uncharacteristically lowly fifth place in the points-paying final.

For the most decorated driver and team in the sport’s modern era, it was clear that something needed to change if they were to fight for another title – and that took the form of a return to the Volkswagen Polo RX1e that had last been used 12 months prior. Three of the highly-developed electric beasts duly rejoined the fray for round two on the squad’s home soil at Höljes –  and from there on, KMS scarcely looked back.

In the first free practice session in Värmland, Johan Kristoffersson, Gustav Bergström and Ole Christian Veiby locked out the leading three positions, with the former lapping almost half-a-second quicker than anybody else – something the 36-year-old described as ‘a powerful feeling’. But it could so very easily have played out altogether differently...

“It has been an enormous challenge, both on and off the track,” reflects Tommy Kristoffersson. “We invested a lot in our petrol cars before the season, but then we suffered a major setback when our main sponsor dropped out. Our participation was hanging by a thread, but with the help of our loyal partners Volkswagen and Bauhaus and our co-owner Erik Veiby backing us up, we managed to find a way to success.”

And how. In the five rounds that followed Lousada, Johan Kristoffersson tallied three triumphs and a pair of runner-up results to secure an extraordinary eighth world championship trophy. The two victories that did not go his way were claimed by stablemate Veiby, with KMS lifting the laurels in the Teams’ battle by the margin of 60 points. It has been, by any yardstick, a superb season.

“We have an enormously loyal staff and good team spirit, which is something we have had since the PSRX days,” added Kristoffersson Snr, a three-time Swedish Rallycross Champion in his own right. “Even though we haven’t been able to test as much as we would have liked and haven’t had the best financial conditions, everyone has done a fantastic job. That makes me proud and happy.”