Hansen sets pace in qualifying practice in Belgium

Kevin Hansen has thrown down the gauntlet to his adversaries in the FIA RX2e Championship at Mettet today (5 August), dominating the qualifying practice session that determines the grid positions for heat one in Belgium.

Having already comfortably topped the timesheets during free practice, Hansen was one of the first drivers to take to the track around the Circuit Jules Tacheny in qualifying practice, and his lightning-fast 39.082s benchmark would not subsequently be beaten. Indeed, none of his rivals even came close...

Making only his second appearance in the single-spec FIA World Rallycross Championship support series, Marko Muru subsequently popped up into second position – albeit more than 0.8s adrift of Hansen’s best – with Kristoffersson Motorsport duo Ole Christian Veiby and Johan Kristoffersson slotting into third and fourth respectively, although a puncture for the Norwegian and a technical issue for the Swede curtailed both of their efforts a lap early.

Timmy Hansen – world champion in 2019 – wound up fifth, just over a second shy of his brother’s time – with Ole Henry Steinsholt the quickest of the RX2e regulars in sixth. Title protagonists Isak Sjökvist (#YellowSquad) and Nils Andersson (Team E) proved to be evenly-matched in seventh and eighth respectively, separated by a scant two hundredths-of-a-second.

Pablo Suárez, series debutant Molly Taylor, Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Filip Thorén completed the order.

The full times can be found here.