Timmy Hansen: We didn’t have the car in Finland to do what Kevin did...

A matter of days before the fourth round of the 2025 FIA World Rallycross Championship campaign, the Swedish squad looked set to miss its first event since the series’ inception all the way back in 2014 – and then CE Dealer Team came to the rescue.

What happened next is well-documented, and it culminated in the Hansen siblings lining up on the grid in their pair of newly-liveried yellow Peugeot 208 RX1e machines – an outcome that Team Principal Kenneth Hansen described as ‘a victory’ in itself.

Despite being on the back foot, Kevin Hansen concluded the opening day in third position after taking a race win in heat two, with 2019 world champion Timmy Hansen three spots further back in sixth.

In heat three the following morning, the younger Hansen then produced what his elder brother described as an ‘absolutely legendary performance’, lighting up the launch and prevailing in a Turn Two tussle with Niclas Grönholm to snatch the lead, before successfully fending off the Finn and championship leader Johan Kristoffersson to take the chequered flag first. A visibly impressed Timmy Hansen commented: “We do not have the car this weekend to do what he just did...”

That secured last year’s championship runner-up fourth on the grid for the all-important final, which he converted into the same result in the race, prior to being elevated to third – his best finish of what has been a difficult season – by a penalty for Juha Rytkönen ahead. It felt, he admitted, ‘extra-nice after what we went through’ during the build-up to the event.

In the sister Peugeot, Timmy Hansen struggled for traction throughout, and after uncharacteristically concluding heat three at the tail-end of the order – despite a clean run – the Götene native was at risk of failing to reach the final for the first time in 2025. Showing all the skill and determination that carried him to the coveted crown six years ago, however, he dug deep in heat four to post the second-quickest time of the session and in so doing, book his berth in the weekend’s last race.

A strong start then propelled him briefly up to second exiting Turn Two, but damage picked up in the opening exchanges subsequently dropped him to fifth, which became fourth following the intervention of the stewards. 

“My podium run might have come to an end, but all that mattered to the team was that we were there and we were competing,” the 33-year-old reflected. “To come away with a top three finish for Kevin was a well-deserved reward, and we’re very grateful to CE Dealer Team and Volvo Construction Equipment for giving us this opportunity."

“We would have been happy whatever the result,” added Kenneth Hansen. “It was a last-minute call-up, so it was an achievement just to make it to the final – let alone show some pace with such little preparation. To be competing in the first place was a victory for us, and to have enough speed to challenge for the podium was great.

"A big ‘thank you’ to CE Dealer Team and Volvo Construction Equipment for making our attendance possible, and to the FIA and our fellow World RX teams for allowing us back onto the entry list. Hopefully we will be back in Türkiye to fight for some more silverware!”