JOHAN KRISTOFFERSSON KEEPS WRX PRESSURE UP IN CANADA
Hal ridge watched the reigning champion climb back to the front
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s the discipline of rallycross has grown exponentially in recent years, the influx of manufacturer support for teams has inevitably brought a host of new faces into the paddock.
But, among the sea of new blood, a large number of the old guard still hold a presence. The most successful driver in rallycross, Kenneth Hansen, plays a sporting role in Peugeot’s effort while former double European champion Lars Larsson works together with OMSE owner Andreas Eriksson. Another former Euro RX champion, Jussi Pinomaki, operates Marcus Gronholm’s GRX team.
Those stalwarts of the sport have seen it all. But, even former European Supercar event-winner Tommy Kristoffersson didn’t think his championship-leading son Johan could fight his way back into victory contention from ninth overall at the end of day one in Canada last weekend.
The target at that stage was for Kristoffersson Jr to try and make the top four in qualifying to get on the front row of the grid in the semis and make the final in damage-limitation mode.
Despite his domination before the Trois-rivieres weekend, Kristoffersson was, and still is, yet to get a pole position slot from the random Q1 grid-draw. At TroisRivieres, Kristoffersson was handed an outside grid position for Q1. And, without the straight-line advantage the PSRX team’s Volkswagen Motorsport-built Polo R Supercar had held 12 months ago, he wasn’t about to make it through the first corner first and thus spent the opening two sessions stuck in traffic.
Meanwhile, on the back of a positive test in Peugeot’s new 208 WRX in Latvia last month, Sebastien Loeb set the fastest time in both Q1 and Q2 to lead overnight. Not comfortable with Polo on the long loose-surface section of the lap, Kristoffersson used teammate Petter Solberg’s data to find both a suitable set-up for his car and some performance from himself. Against the odds, he won the start and his race in Q3 from second on the grid to secure pole for Q4, while Loeb and Audi driver Mattias Ekstrom came together at the joker lap exit in their Q3 race with the Frenchman losing almost 20 seconds while Ekstrom retired.
From pole in Q4, Kristoffersson again won the start and was never headed. He claimed pole for semi-final one by a single qualifying point from Loeb, before making the best start to win.
Solberg meanwhile, who had started alongside, had to battle his way to finish third. He had taken an early joker and ran behind Niclas Gronholm for much of the encounter in another strong showing for the GRX team.
Making the start order for the semis look like an entry list, with the VWS on row one in semi-one, Peugeot pilots Hansen and Loeb filled the semi-two front row. But, it was Audi driver Andreas Bakkerud who made the best start from row two in semi final two and squeezed between the 208s in the run to Turn 1 to take the lead, as Kevin Hansen also got involved. But, Bakkerud had broken his left-rear suspension in the move and, despite holding on until the start of lap three, he dropped back and eventually finished fourth.
Hansen had seen Bakkerud’s issues and removed himself from the traffic with an astute joker, but Loeb had lost ground behind the ailing Audi and was passed by his team-mate. Loeb then made an uncharacteristic error in dry conditions and crashed into the wall on the outside of the penultimate corner and spun. He was collected by Janis Baumanis, who then beat Loeb to the line as Loeb cut the final lefthand kink and was given a five-second penalty post-race.
Had Bakkerud dragged his car to the finish 1.5 seconds quicker, he could have been elevated to the final at Loeb’s demise.
Having seen Bakkerud’s move in the semi, Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen worked together to close the gap at the start of the final. Ekstrom ran third on lap one as Solberg slammed the door on Loeb, the pair having started on the back row.
Hansen then clipped the wall on the inside of Turn 5 in the rough loose section and had a half-spin. He held onto the wayward 208 and remained second but had allowed Kristoffersson a one-second gap he would maintain from the front of the field to score his sixth win from seven.
Solberg jokered from fifth on lap two but was covered off by Ekstrom and then Hansen on laps three and four. Loeb climbed to second before dropping back down to third when he took a lap-five joker behind Kristoffersson. Hansen, who admitted to not having pushed as hard as he might have to ensure a podium finish in a luck-limited season, closed the gap at the end of the final, leaving him wondering what might have been. Loeb returned to the podium while Ekstrom held off Solberg for fourth and Baumanis was sixth.