Saturday’s World RX final witnessed a classic
Hansen vs. Kristoffersson duel, as six-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson
tried every which way to get past his Nyirád nemesis, Kevin Hansen. The KMS -
HORSE Powertrain ace got the job done in the joker, but a late-race puncture
then left him vulnerable to a counter-attack.
The Swede looked to have kept his countryman at
bay, only for Hansen to dart out of his slipstream heading towards the finish
line and pip his Volkswagen rival to third place and the last spot on the
podium by a scant 29 thousandths-of-a-second.
“I tried to sneak through a couple of times
earlier on but couldn’t, and then at the end it was a real drag race to the
line,” reflected the 2023 world championship runner-up. “Obviously we had a bit
of a heated moment in Hungary, but he (Kristoffersson) drove very respectfully
and it was fun to have a fair battle. It was nice not to end up in the wall
together this time!”
The following morning, the ever-spectacular
Patrick O’Donovan appeared to have hit a hitch in his bid to make it three wins
out of three in Euro RX1 this season when the rising British star struck the
tyre stack at the end of the opening lap in the third heat, performing a full
360-degree spin as he recovered, but tumbling down the order in the process.
Spurred on by his error, the Team RX Racing ace
unleashed a scintillating turn-of-speed to fight back through to take the
chequered flag first, firmly cementing his credentials as favourite to clinch
the European Championship crown at Montalegre in Portugal in a week-and-a-half’s
time (7-8 September).
“It was completely my own fault – I made a
mistake,” O’Donovan candidly acknowledged. “I tried to set up (László Kiss) for
a possible switchback move, but I didn’t have enough momentum. I touched the
deep stuff and it just killed the revs. I looked at the barrier and was like, ‘I’m
going to touch this!’ I tried to give everyone as much room as possible as I
rejoined the track, lit up the wheels and then simply pushed as hard as I could!”
Greece
Poland
Portugal