FIA World Rallycross

Solberg Wins 2017 World RX of Great Britain

3 Mins read
Petter Solberg at the 2017 World RX of Great Britain. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX

Petter Solberg has powered his way to his first win of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship after dominating the World RX of Great Britain and taking victory in the Supercar Final.

The PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden driver won three out of the four Qualifying races before going on to take the Semi-Final One race win to guarantee pole position for the Final. Team-mate Johan Kristoffersson joined him on the front row for the race ahead of the middle row line up of Andreas Bakkerud and Sebastien Loeb. Timmy Hansen and Mattias Ekstrom completed the back row of the grid.

Mattias Ekstrom suffered a puncture during the Supercar Final at Lydden Hill. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX

Solberg led off the line from the start with Bakkerud, Ekstrom and Hansen in close company with him as both Kristoffersson and Loeb decided to take the joker on lap one. Solberg started to gap Bakkerud as Hansen closed in on Ekstrom for what was third place on the road.

The Double World RX Champion elected to take his joker on lap two and he came out in fourth place, Hansen suffered a puncture on lap three which saw him fall to the back of the field after a spin on the approach to Hairy Hill. Bakkerud held on to the lead ahead of Ekstrom as he looked to build a gap for his own joker lap later in the race.

Andreas Bakkerud led most of the Super Final but finished on the podium. IMG / FIA World RX

The EKSRX driver took his joker on lap five and came out in a drag race with Loeb who had enjoyed a great battle with the DTM driver during their Semi-Final battle and the former WRC Champion once again managed to beat his Swedish rival to take fourth place. Ekstrom would later slow being the second driver to suffer a puncture during the race.

Bakkerud took his joker in the final lap and the Hoonigan Racing driver came out in third pace ahead of Team Peugeot-Hansen driver Loeb with a fair gap ahead of his rival, however he was behind the two Volkswagen Polo GTi’s as they headed to the checkered flag.

Sebastien Loeb came home in fourth place for Team Peugeot-Hansen. Credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Solberg took the victory ahead of Kristoffersson with Bakkerud completing the podium. Further back Loeb came home in fourth place whilst Ekstorm finished in fifth place ahead of Hansen who crawled over the line.

The British drivers faired well during the event with 2013 BTCC Champion Andrew Jordan having the best run over the weekend. Driving for MJP Racing Team Austria, Jordan finished Qualifying in eighth place overall and finishing in fifth place in Semi-Final Two. Guy Wilks just missed out on a Semi-Final spot by two points finishing in fourteenth place overall in the LOCO Energy World RX Team entry.

Andrew Jordan guided his MJP Racing Team Austria Fiesta to the Semi-Finals of the World RX of Great Brtain. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX

2007 British Rallycross Champion Ollie O’Donovan guided his Tony Bardy Motorsport prepared Ford Fiesta to twentieth place overall after taking a race win during Qualifying whilst Oliver Bennett, who competed in what was his fourth ever Rallycross event, finished the weekend in twenty-third place overall.

With his second place finish today, Johan Kristoffersson now takes the lead in the Drivers Championship, now four points ahead of Mattias Ekstrom. After his win at Lydden Hill, Petter Solberg has closed up the gap to be only three points behind Ekstrom.

Johan Kristoffersson now leads the World RX Drivers Championship. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX

In the Teams Championship, PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden maintains its points lead on 241 points, however Team Peugeot-Hansen has now moved into second place on 172 points ahead of EKSRX who are now in third place. The next round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at the iconic Hell circuit in Norway on June 9 – 11.

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I have been a very passionate fan of Motorsport for over 30 years with Touring Cars as my favourite form of Motor Racing. I cover The TCR UK Series, The TCR Europe Series and The FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) as well as following various TCR Series around the world.
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