Hansen’s day did not get off to the most auspicious
of starts when an off-track moment in heat one caused damage that slowed his Peugeot
208 RX1e, and he had to give best to younger brother Kevin Hansen in heat two –
but the 2019 world champion’s trademark consistency secured him second in the
intermediate ranking, earning him pole position for the second semi-final,
which he duly dominated.
With Kevin Hansen artfully pipping earlier
pace-setter Johan Kristoffersson to the top spot in the other semi-final
following a sluggish getaway for the championship leader, the Hansen World RX
Team duo proceeded to lock out the front row of the grid for the six-car final.
Exploiting their electric acceleration, the
pair successfully covered Kristoffersson off at the start, and then produced a
masterclass in teamwork to keep their countryman behind. As Kevin Hansen
deployed his defensive skills to stave off his fellow Swede, Timmy Hansen was
able to establish an advantage at the head of the field, going on to triumph by
more than two seconds to cap a peerless performance.
“This feels fantastic!” the 32-year-old
enthused. “We knew it wasn’t possible to win here on pure pace against KMS, but
we’ve been working so hard and the car feels the best it has all year. Today’s
result was 100 per cent down to an incredible team effort. We knew what we
needed to do, and Kevin sacrificed his own race by backing the field up. I love
my brother, and I’m so proud of this team and my family.”
Behind Hansen, a tremendous tussle raged for
the runner-up spoils. Ole Christian Veiby ultimately came through to claim
second place for KMS - HORSE Powertrain – the Norwegian’s 11th
career podium at the highest level – despite finding himself almost at a
standstill at the hairpin on the opening lap of the final following contact
from behind.
A scant 0.029 seconds separated Kevin Hansen
and Kristoffersson in the duel for the last spot on the podium. After backing
his Volkswagen rival up to enable his brother to escape, Hansen emerged from
the joker down in fourth place, but a late puncture for Kristoffersson left the
championship leader vulnerable to attack, and he conceded third position right
at the line – sealing a double podium finish for a team that prior to this
weekend, had yet to reach the rostrum at all in 2024.
Klara Andersson wound up a distant fifth on a
difficult day for CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment, with
stablemate Niclas Grönholm persistently plagued by technical issues. René Münnich
completed the finalists in his sustainably-fuelled ICE SEAT Ibiza, while
Frenchman Anthony Pelfrene was desperately unlucky to be knocked out by an engine
problem at the semi-final stage following what was by some margin his finest display
in World RX to-date.
Home hero Kobe Pauwels tops the table in RX2e
on his rallycross return, with Yury Belevskiy in charge in Euro RX1 as he bids
to close the gap to Patrick O’Donovan in the championship standings. João Ribeiro
is the overnight leader in Euro RX3.
The action continues tomorrow (Sunday, 18 August)
with the remaining heats, semi-finals and finals in the support series and round
six of the 2024 World RX campaign.
FINAL RESULT: WORLD RX
1. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen
World RX Team (EV) 5 laps
2. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS
- Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 2.214s
3. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen
World RX Team (EV) + 5.006s
4. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS
- Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 5.035s
5. Klara ANDERSSON (SWE) CE
Dealer Team (EV) + 9.748s
6. René MÜNNICH (DEU) ALL-INKL.COM Muennich
Motorsport (ICE) + 13.142s
Full results for all categories can be found here.
Greece
Poland
Portugal