Disappointment for Timmy Hansen at Lydden Hill this weekend; the Swede entered the fifth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship full of confidence, after the convincing pace he showed at the last event, a fortnight ago in Belgium. Back then, he was challenging for a win, until a puncture struck him on the last lap of the final, dropping him to second behind Johan Kristoffersson.
Here at Lydden, Timmy’s confidence gained a big boost after he won Q4, so he thought a podium finish could be within reach. In the all-important final, however, misfortune struck again, as the Swede picked up yet another puncture, meaning he could finish no better than sixth, while his French Team Peugeot-Hansen team-mate, Sébastien Loeb, was fourth, behind the dominating Volkswagens of Petter Solberg and Kristoffersson and Andreas Bakkerud‘s Ford Focus, but ahead of reigning champion Mattias Ekström (P5).
Timmy, then, has plenty of reasons to feel disappointed: “Although we didn’t have the speed to challenge for this weekend’s win, I thought a podium was on the cards, especially after my win in Q4. Unfortunately, my chances in the final were dented by a puncture and the main thing after that was to make sure I reached the finish, without really being able to push.”
“Looking back at the early part of the season, it’s nice to see that I have started all five finals, so that’s very encouraging for the rest of the year.” , he says.
Hansen is now looking forward to the next meeting, the crowd-packed weekend of Hell, Norway (10-11 June): it was in Norway that Timmy scored his second WorldRX win, back in 2015, after dominating the last three qualifying sessions of the weekend, his semi-final, and the final, ahead of his then team-mate, Davy Jeanney of France.
