Petter Solberg took his fourth win of the season at Round Nine of The 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship in what has been recorded as the closest ever finish in a SuperCar Final, beating DTM star Mattias Ekstrom by five thousandths of a second and EuroRX points leader Robin Larsson finishing third.
Solberg began the event in impressive fashion by leading the Day One standings ahead of Peugeot-Hansen driver Timur Timerzyanov, DTM star Mattias Ekstrom, Tommy Rustad and Monster Energy’s Henning Solberg. He fought back after suspension damage in Heat Three to qualify for the Semi Finals and went on to win the final ahead of Ekstrom and Larsson.
Ekstrom was fast all weekend and showed that he had lost none of the talent that won him the Swedish WorldRX round earlier in the year. The Swedish driver won his Heat One race and progressed through the Heat stages, again proving his EKSRX Audi S1 was a force to be reckoned with. Robin Larsson showed the Audi’s were on the pace in home turf at the tough, fast Estering circuit by finishing third in his Audi A1, which was back to its front running form as witnessed back at the WorldRX of England event.
VW-Marklund Motorsport driver Topi Heikkinen profited from the mechanical woes of his Ford OlsbergsMSE rival Reinis Nitiss over the weekend. With Heikkinen on the pace all weekend and going on to finish fifth in the Supercar Final, he now sits second in the drivers championship, 52 points behind Solberg. However Nitiss is only two points behind Heikkinen and the fight for second place will resume in Italy this weekend.
Team Peugeot-Hansen continued their good pace from France with both Timerzyanov and young Timmy Hansen moving through the Heat Stages and both being just as quick as Solberg and Ekstrom. However an issue in Semi-Final One prevented Timerzyanov going any further whilst Hansen could only finish Fourth, ending the teams run of consecutive podiums.
Ford OlsbergsMSE continue to lead the Teams Championship after valuable points gained by Andreas Bakkerud, who made up 20 places after ending Day One in 27th position to qualify for the Final and finish fourth. This means that the team now holds a 10 point lead over VW-Marklund Motorsport with three rounds left.
Albatec Racing had a tough weekend with Andy Scott joined by Ramona Karlsson for the event. With the team being regular Semi-Finalists, it was not to be as Scott managed a Heat win in Heat Four whilst Karlsson wasout in the Heat stages also after suffering damage to the Peugeot 208 WRX. Monster Energy WorldRX also suffered a tough event for both Henning Solberg and Davy Jeanney. Whilst Solberg was looking good on Day One being in the top twelve, damage in Heat Four halted his progression as Jeanney suffered in the Heat stages also.
The Championship heads to the all new World RX circuit of Franciacorta in Italy this weekend where Petter Solberg has his first chance to wrap up the Drivers Championship.
