The reigning FIA European Rallycross Champion Timur Timerzyanov endured a mixed weekend in round one of the championship at Lydden Hill last weekend.
The weekend started well for the Red Bull-backed driver after taking third in the first heat and then setting the fourth and sixth fastest times in heats two and three respectively in his Hansen Motorsport-run Citroen DS3.
However, a puncture ended his fourth heat early and the Russian driver was left with third on the grid for the second-semi final.
Timerzyanov capitalised well on his grid position and by the end of the first lap was in the lead. He took the joker lap on the fifth tour and held on to win, which put him on the front row of the gird for the final event of the weekend.
The Russian headed straight for the joker lap as the lights went out and then looked set for a top result when he returned to the main circuit and chased down the overall leaders. However, another puncture before the end of the race forced him to retire his car and look ahead to the rest of the championship.
“[Unfortunately] I hit a kerb too hard and got a puncture. These things happen. Last year I won the championship with an event to go and I didn’t even race at the first event, so it’s good to leave here with good points. It will be a long year.” he said.
Kenneth Hansen, team principal of Hansen Motorsport, said: “It was a shame for Timur not to get the result he wanted in the final because he was going so well. We changed the set-up of his car after the first day to make him more comfortable and he was really on it through the semi-final and final.”
The European Rallycross Championship will now move on to Portugal for a round at the end of April.
