Kristoffersson: ‘Proper fightback’ made eighth world title special

After beginning the campaign with the sustainably-fuelled Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX, Kristoffersson Motorsport swiftly elected to park its internal combustion cars in favour of the electric Volkswagen Polo RX1e, following a disappointing curtain-raising contest at Lousada.

Kristoffersson – the most successful driver in World RX history – wound up an uncharacteristically lowly fifth in Portugal, leaving him 12 points shy of the championship lead. It was not until Nyirád in Hungary at the end of July that he settled into his habitual position at the summit of the standings – but after that, he never looked back.

Indeed, from Höljes onwards, the Swede either won or finished runner-up in every round, and heading into the double-header World RX of Türkiye season finale in late September, he held a commanding 15-point advantage over closest rival Niclas Grönholm.

After adopting a cautious approach throughout the qualifying races on the opening day around Istanbul Park Circuit – unusually not topping a single session – Kristoffersson turned up the wick in the all-important final. 

Determinedly prising the door open, he demoted Grönholm to second midway through behind the wheel of his specially-liveried Polo, blending the classic colourful Harlequin design with the future electric ID. Polo camouflage to celebrate the popular German supermini’s 50^th birthday. 

He subsequently sprinted clear to clinch his third victory of the campaign and the 48^th of his illustrious career at the international pinnacle of the dual-surface discipline – in so doing, further tightening his grip on the coveted Drivers’ crown. 

That increased his margin over the Finn to 19 points, and by the time Sunday’s heats were over, the job was done, elevating the 36-year-old Arvika native above the likes of Formula 1 legends Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher in terms of FIA world championship trophies. Only nine-time FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb now stands above him.

“All titles are special in their own way,” reflected Kristoffersson, who has prevailed in every World RX season he has contested since 2017, candidly admitting that ‘the years before that, in 2015 and 2016, I simply wasn’t good enough as a driver – I couldn’t create the conditions for myself to win’. “This year, we had a tough start and had to pull off a proper fightback. It took a long time before we were in the championship lead.

“The Saturday [in Türkiye] was one of those days when things didn’t go smoothly. The plan was to absolutely not do anything stupid, not to get into any fights with the other drivers, but before the final, the character of the track changed a lot, with better grip and we found something. We had good pace and I managed to find a gap...

“We then finished with a really strong day for KMS on the Sunday. Huge thanks to my team, family and friends for their hard work to achieve this – not only those on-site, but all the many mechanics and engineers back at home, too. We pushed hard all season and the team did an absolutely perfect job to always give Ole Christian [Veiby – team-mate] and I a very good car.

“It’s these moments when you think of all of the sacrifices you have to put in to be able to perform at this level. Maybe I’m not the easiest person to live with, but I put a lot of effort into this and it’s amazing when it all pays off.”