Petter Solberg started his 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship campaign in the perfect way as he took victory in the Supercar final ahead of Andreas Bakkerud and Reinis Nitiss.
Throughout the weekend Solberg fought a fierce battle with Timur Timerzyanov as they shared two wins each in the heats leading up to the semi finals, there was also some controversy in the second heat when Timerzyanov collided with Solberg in the opening corner, leaving the Norwegian to retire from the race. Timerzyanov was initially disqualified from the heat but later reinstated after an appeal.
Semi-Final 1 would see Nitiss take victory in the Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST ahead of team-mate Bakkerud, and Anton Marklund in the VW Polo. Timerzyanov would be the biggest loss of the heat as he failed to make it in to the top three with Marklund defending hard. Derek Tohill finished in fifth place while Alexander Hvaal failed to finish the race when he retired after just three laps.
Semi-Final 2 was all about Solberg as he took the win with 2.917 seconds ahead of Toomas Heikkinen and Koen Pauwels. Team Peugeot-Hansen would be left to wonder what could have been as Timmy Hansen also failed to make it in to finals as he finished in fourth place. Jos Jansen finished in fifth place after making contact with Ramona Karlsson, a move that would see the Swedish driver in the gravel with her Saab 9-3.
As the Final got under way it looks as if Solberg would lose out in to the first corner when he was a little slow to get away from the line. Fortunately for ‘Hollywood’ he had the inside line and took the lead in the first corner, from that moment he wouldn’t look back, driving an almost faultless race to take victory in the opening round of the 2014 WorldRX Championship.
Behind Solberg the battle went on, the two Marklund Motorsport VW’s looked set to complete the podium in the opening stages of the race but couldn’t quite do enough to get ahead of the two Olsbergs Fiesta’s of Bakerud and Nitiss who took their joker lap on the opening lap. As the two VW’s took their joker laps, Bakerud and Nitiss slotted in front of them and held on to the end of the race to take a 2-3 finish, dumping the VW’s in to fourth and fifth. Koen Pauwels took the last point of the final in sixth place.
The next round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at Lydden Hill in Kent, UK on 24/25 May. You can win tickets here.
