Swedish hero Johan Kristoffersson starred on the way to his fifth victory of the season in round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy at the Swecon World RX of Sweden in Holjes.
PSRX Volkswagen Sweden’s Kristoffersson claimed his third maximum points score in a row
He extended his lead in the World RX Drivers’ Championship as PSRX continues to lead the Teams’ Championship points race.
Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud continued an impressive run of Holjes podiums stretching back to 2012 with second, after overtaking Team Peugeot Total’s Timmy Hansen on the last lap of the final. France’s Jerome Grosset-Janin secured GC Kompetition’s first podium finish with third place in front of a record 51,600 fans at the famous circuit.
“It was an amazing weekend here again. I won last year – to be able to win at Holjes is something extra special. The track is amazing and it’s a big challenge for the cars, drivers and engineers. I felt more and more comfortable with every outing over the weekend and at the end of Sunday I felt very comfortable – that’s what it takes to win,” said Kristoffersson, who also secured the Monster Energy Supercharge Award for having the fastest reaction time at the start of the final in his Volkswagen Polo R Supercar.
“This is the first Monster Energy Supercharge Award I have won since France last year so it’s been a while. The atmosphere here is something amazing, today we had a big crowd and some nice weather so I think there were a lot of spectators who had a great time.”
EKS Audi Sport’s Bakkerud climbed to second in the World RX Drivers’ Championship with second place in the final
“I’m very proud of my record of podium finishes here, but most of all I’m so happy with the work we have done to be able to get quicker in Q1 and Q2, so I just want to say a huge thanks to the guys that have helped me between the races and all of EKS Audi Sport,” said Bakkerud. “It’s nice to see that the work we put in is paying off and I’m super-pumped that we’re on the podium once again here at the Magic Weekend in Sweden in front of a record-breaking crowd. I just can’t wait for Canada now because that’s a good track for us.”
GC Kompetition’s Grosset-Janin was tenth at the intermediate classification, battled through to third place in his semi-final to make it to the final in his Prodrive-built Renault Megane RS. From there the Frenchman went on to be classified third and earn the team’s first podium finish in only its sixth event.
“I am so happy the weekend ended this way. Of course, I never imagined my first podium happening like this, but we were able to take advantage of all the opportunities that were presented to us today,” said a delighted Grosset-Janin. “It’s the work of the entire team and so many people that have finally paid off. We can’t forget that only three months ago rallycross was a world totally unknown to GCK and Prodrive. Now, we just have to keep up our good work and continue to progress.”
Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom finished third on track in the final but received a penalty
It was for ‘pushing and overtaking’ Team Peugeot Total’s Timmy Hansen on the last lap. Hansen retired with just two corners to go. Ekstrom was classified sixth. Kevin Hansen also started the final but didn’t make it beyond the second lap.
France’s Sebastien Loeb finished fourth in semi-final one ahead of Team STARD’s Janis Baumanis and GRX Taneco’s Niclas Gronholm. His teammate, Timur Timerzyanov, had his best event of the season but a puncture slowed him. He finished fourth in semi-final two. Norway’s Petter Solberg retired from the lead of semi-final two with technical problems and Olsbergs MSE’s Robin Larsson was classified sixth.
They do winning celebrations pretty well here in Holjes!#WorldRX #HoljesRX pic.twitter.com/Xj1LDcIFdS
— FIA World Rallycross (@FIAWorldRX) July 1, 2018
