The writing was on the wall early on. Johan
Kristoffersson left his home circuit of Höljes with a full scorecard from the
first three events on the 2023 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar, and
while a change of car for the remaining four rounds offered his rivals a brief ray
of hope, ultimately, nobody could stop the Swede from speeding to an
extraordinary sixth career crown.
Kristoffersson has long been acknowledged as
the benchmark in modern-day rallycross, and he came out-of-the-blocks in
imperious form with back-to-back victories in Portugal, Norway and Sweden to
establish a daunting 27-point advantage over his nearest competitor at the summit
of the standings.
The events of Lydden Hill put the title fight
on-hold, before the action resumed in South Africa in October, with the entire
field taking to the track in identical ZEROID X1 machinery in Cape Town and
Hong Kong.
After relinquishing his hitherto unblemished
SuperPole record on the opening day at Killarney International Raceway,
Kristoffersson responded in the only way he knows – with a crushing victory,
the 39th of his glittering career at the international pinnacle of
the sport.
The Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS star headed
to Hong Kong for the double-header season finale sitting 36 points clear of his
closest pursuer. By the end of the first day around the city’s Central
Harbourfront circuit, the job was done, even if a technical issue denied him a
chance to pip Kevin Hansen to the top step of the podium in the final. No
matter – he took his revenge 24 hours later, with a demonstration drive that
celebrated his coronation in style.
It was the younger Hansen brother who secured
the runner-up spoils in the championship table – a career-high – courtesy of
four rostrum results from seven starts, including his brilliant triumph on the
streets of Hong Kong. The Hansen World RX Team ace gelled immediately with the
ZEROID X1 following the mid-season switch – unsurprisingly, perhaps, given his
background – and has unquestionably marked himself out as a potential future
champion in the sport.
For the third consecutive campaign, Niclas Grönholm
wound up third, not winning for the first time since 2018 but progressing to
the final on all-bar-one occasion. Timo Scheider placed an excellent fourth – four spots
higher than his previous best in World RX – racing to an unexpected podium
finish in Hell and claiming a hugely popular and well-deserved breakthrough victory
in Cape Town by getting the better of Kevin Hansen and Kristoffersson.
Ole Christian Veiby and 2019 world champion
Timmy Hansen endured difficult seasons in fifth and sixth respectively, with
the pair famously coming to blows in Norway both on and off-track.
Klara Andersson advanced to the final five
times for CE Dealer Team as the young Swede continued to build upon her
impressive rookie campaign in the top flight in 2022, while Sébastien Loeb
rolled back the years with some vintage performances behind the wheel of
Special ONE Racing’s Lancia Delta Evo-e RX in the early rounds and British
teenager Patrick O’Donovan stunned with a third-place finish on his world
championship debut in Hong Kong.
Championship Standings
1. Johan Kristoffersson 141 pts
2. Kevin Hansen 104 pts
3. Niclas Grönholm 94 pts
4. Timo Scheider 89 pts
5. Ole Christian Veiby 82 pts
6. Timmy Hansen 78 pts