The sport’s ‘Magic Weekend’
attracted more than 25,000 enthusiastic spectators, and they were treated to a
sensational show of wheel-to-wheel action as World RX’s ‘Battle of Technologies’
between electric (EV) and sustainably-fuelled internal combustion (ICE) cars
began in earnest.
In contrast to Saturday’s sunny
skies, Sunday was characterised by heavy rain – but not even the weather could knock
Kristoffersson off his stride. Leading the ICE charge, the KMS - HORSE Powertrain
star – who is chasing a seventh career crown at the highest level this year – won
his first heat race at a canter and then battled back from a slow start to similarly
prevail in heat two.
The rain intensified before the
semi-finals, but that only seemed to play further into Kristoffersson’s hands
as he dominated by more than 12 seconds – an eternity in rallycross terms. From
pole position in the all-important final, he similarly
sped clear of the chasing pack, completing a perfect score to build a
commanding 22-point championship lead.
“I’m so proud today,” the
35-year-old commented. “The conditions were extremely tricky, as were the
launches. I had a little bit too much wheelspin in the final, but I managed to
calm myself down and got a very good exit coming off the asphalt onto the
gravel which enabled me to come back at Niclas [Grönholm]. This car is a dream
to drive in the rain. I’m very happy.”
Grönholm bounced back from missing
out on a spot in Saturday’s final by claiming the runner-up trophy 24 hours
later for CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment. The Finn briefly
looked like posing a threat in the last race of the day, but was ultimately
obliged to settle for second in his electric PWE RX1e.
Ole Christian Veiby overcame a stall in the final to carve his way
through to third and join stablemate Kristoffersson on the podium, with Hansen World
RX Team brothers Kevin and Timmy Hansen sandwiching Gustav Bergström (Kristoffersson
Motorsport) in fourth, fifth and sixth – the trio all driving electric cars.
Following her starring performance on Saturday, Klara Andersson narrowly failed
to advance to the final but remains second in the overall standings.
In the supporting FIA RX2e
Championship, reigning title-winner Nils Andersson – competing for KMS ‘junior’
outfit Team E – belatedly celebrated his breakthrough triumph in the all-electric
single-spec series, as Patrick O’Donovan repeated his ‘Magic Weekend’ success
from 2023 in Euro RX1 and pre-season favourite Nils Volland raced to victory in
Euro RX3.
The 2024 World RX campaign
continues with another double-header weekend at Nyirád in Hungary – rallycross’
legendary ‘Red Cauldron’ – in three weeks’ time (27-28 July).
FINAL RESULT: WORLD RX
1. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) 5 laps
2. Niclas GRÖNHOLM (FIN) CE Dealer Team (EV) + 6.451s
3. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 8.193s
4. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV) + 10.194s
5. Gustav BERGSTRÖM (SWE) Kristoffersson Motorsport (EV) + 11.301s
6. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV) + 13.920s
Full results for all categories
can be found here.
Europe
Poland
Turkey