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World RX 2025 Season Review: Kristoffersson conquers again
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For the eighth time in nine years, Johan Kristoffersson clinched the coveted FIA World Rallycross Championship Drivers’ crown in 2025, but the Swede certainly did not have things all his own way during a season that saw the title fight settled on the very last day.
That this was going to be no walk in the park for the Kristoffersson Motorsport ace was immediately evident in the curtain-raising contest in Portugal, where a troubled run left him just fifth behind the wheel of his sustainably-fuelled Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX, prompting the Arvika-based outfit to swiftly park its internal combustion-engined cars in favour of its hitherto all-conquering VW Polo RX1e electric beasts.
It was Niclas Grönholm who left Lousada – a circuit welcoming top-flight international rallycross for the first time in 17 years – at the top of the table after notching up a ninth World RX victory in front of a huge and enormously enthusiastic on-site audience. The flying Finn would hold sway until Nyirád in late July, when a torrid opening lap in the final consigned him to sixth place – and handed the initiative to Kristoffersson.
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From there on, the multiple world champion edged away – not finishing any lower than second for the remainder of the campaign – but it should be noted that had Grönholm not been nudged out of the lead of the final on home soil at the KymiRing, the pair may very well have entered the double-header Istanbul Park decider tied on points.
As it was, Kristoffersson held a 15-point advantage, and despite his arch-rival’s best efforts – with Grönholm setting the pace in all three qualifying sessions on the first day to keep the battle alive – a third triumph of 2025 for the Volkswagen driver enabled him to seal the deal upon the conclusion of the heat races 24 hours later.
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The CE Dealer Team star nonetheless held on to a career-high second in the world championship standings – having previously placed third on no fewer than three occasions – by a single-point from Ole Christian Veiby, who outscored everybody bar KMS stablemate Kristoffersson over the season’s second half courtesy of wins in Finland and Türkiye.
Grönholm’s own team-mate Klara Andersson capped her fourth campaign at the pinnacle of the dual-surface discipline in fourth position, advancing to the final more often than not and adding another World RX trophy to her collection with a third-place finish on day one in Istanbul.
Hansen World RX Team’s Timmy and Kevin Hansen failed to see out the season due to a sponsorship shortfall, but prior to missing the Turkish finale, the former – the only driver other than Kristoffersson to have been crowned champion since 2017 – was the model of consistency, reaching the rostrum in each of the first three rounds and winding up fourth in Finland.
The Swedish siblings got a little too close for comfort at the end of the final at Lousada, however, where their physical fight for second resulted in Kevin Hansen losing a position to Veiby within sight of the chequered flag.
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Despite enduring a difficult campaign, the younger of the two brothers – world championship runner-up in 2023 and 2024 – did put in a pitch for viral moment of the year, after spinning through a full 360 degrees in the downpour of Höljes for the loss of barely any time at all...
If the silverware was contested primarily between drivers in electric machinery, Juha Rytkönen (PGRX) and last year’s Euro RX1 title-winner Patrick O’Donovan (Team RX Racing) courageously flew the flag for the ICE brigade. The Finn progressed to the final three times in a row from Höljes to the KymiRing as he more than held his own in such esteemed company, and actually pipped the Hansens to the podium in front of his home fans only for a post-race penalty to relegate him to fifth.
Arguably Rytkönen’s standout performance, though, came in Sweden, where the Suonenjoki native twice was twice Kristoffersson’s closest competitor in the qualifiers to claim third in the intermediate ranking, before beating both Kevin Hansen and Veiby at the semi-final stage.
Rising British star O’Donovan similarly made it into the final at the ‘Magic Weekend’ after getting the better of Andersson in the other semi-final. The 21-year-old went on to secure an excellent fourth spot in the post-heats classification in his last appearance of the season at Nyirád, but damage from first corner contact in the semi-final unfortunately curtailed his challenge.
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