Mettet formed part of the inaugural
World RX schedule back in 2014, and ten years on, it will play host to rounds
five and six of the 2024 campaign in international rallycross’ top-flight.
Johan Kristoffersson will travel
to Belgium at the summit of the standings, as he ramps up his quest for an
extraordinary seventh career crown at the highest level. Behind the wheel of his
sustainably-fuelled Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX, the Swede has won three times
out of four this season – with just a contentious first corner collision with
Kevin Hansen last time out in Hungary denying him a clean sweep.
Moreover, Kristoffersson is the
only driver in the current World RX pack to have previously triumphed at Mettet
– on the way to the first of his world championship titles back in 2017.
His KMS - HORSE Powertrain
team-mate Ole Christian Veiby arrives sitting second in the overall
classification, 25 points in arrears and eager to make up ground. The Norwegian
reached the rostrum at Mettet in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in
2015, and he holds the record for the most podium finishes in World RX without
a victory – a tag he will be aiming to shake off this weekend.
Tied for third in the title
table are CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment duo Niclas Grönholm
and Klara Andersson. The Finn profited from Kristoffersson’s misfortune to
prevail in Hungary – claiming the first win for electric power in 2024 in his
PWR RX1e – with his Swedish stablemate coming within a whisker of triumphing for
the first time in the Höljes curtain-raiser, before adding another rostrum
result to her increasingly impressive CV at Nyirád.
Hansen World RX Team siblings Timmy
and Kevin Hansen are similarly closely-matched in fifth and sixth positions. 2019
world champion Timmy is a three-time podium-finisher at Mettet in World RX,
while younger brother Kevin dramatically barrel-rolled out of contention there
in 2017. The pair are still searching
for the squad’s first top three finish of the season, which they hope to
achieve this weekend.
The field is completed by experienced campaigner René Münnich (ALL-INKL.COM Muennich
Motorsport) and Frenchman Anthony Pelfrene in his brightly-livered JDM Raptor
Racing Peugeot 208, both piloting combustion-powered cars.
In addition to the unmissable world championship action, World RX of Benelux will stage the penultimate
instalment in the 2024 RX2e, Euro RX1 and Euro RX3 campaigns, with repeat
winners in each category to-date in the shape of Nils Andersson, Patrick O’Donovan
and Nils Volland. Former Euro RX3 champion Kobe Pauwels is a last-minute ‘wildcard’ entry in RX2e, as the talented Belgian teenager returns to rallycross for
the first time in almost two years at his home track.
All of the non-stop thrills will be broadcast live on the pioneering Rally.TV platform.
For more information about the
event, including the weekend timetable and entry lists for all four categories,
see here.
Tickets can be purchased either in advance here
or on the gate.
Greece
Poland
Portugal